how nature provides and nature takes...pp hair loss

[valentinemum10]

im ebf on demand and is going ok considering shes teething[4mth old] &ripping my nips to pieces! But the last few weeks i have notice big clumps of my hair coming out in the shower and its 'moulted' all over the house on carpets,clothes etc. Its now noticeable my shoulder legnth hair has thinned and its really upsetting me. Apparently its a side effect of bf?
Anyone else experiencing this and how when does it stop? As much as i enjoy bf i feel /look like crap. Weight gain,hair loss..nice combination!! Im scares im gonna go bald.
I dont want to take anything for it in case it affects the milk.
Last week the playgroup assistant asked me if i was expecting.until then i didnt let the whole weight thing get to me but now im feeling v.self conscious plus the hairloss.
Im hoping things will get better from the 6month mark but its the fear i'll never look myself again..notherhood can really suck out a lot of confidence and its a major struggle to rebuild it!

actually i noticed this with my first son who was FFed but not my second who was EBF.

i spoke to a hairdresser when i noticed and she told me that pregnancy effects your hair and it can take up to 2 years to start growing properly again. she was spot on with me anyway because around about the 2.5 year mark i noticed my hair suddenly getting really long very quickly. so it mightn't be EBF at all that is causing it but just the effects of pregnancy taking it's toll.

have you considered taking a supplement for healthy hair and nails? tehre are some specifically for nursing motehrs.

omg! 2 years???? Thats so crap! Yes of course pregnancy gave me lush locks and post preg scgraggly strands but 2 years??
I will look into vitamins then. I was hoping it would get better once i stop or cut back bf. Booooo....

It's nothing to do with BFing and is solely down to the stresses pregnancy puts on your body, the condition is called telogen effluvium, you can look it up. If you're actually losing it in -clumps- like bald spots appearing, I'd talk to your doc!

It's normal. DD is 6 months and my hair is regrowing, though theres still alot on the brush.

Same here - loads came out in the brush at 4 months, but now at 8 months I have lots of new hair growth, so don't give up hope!

Losing hair everywhere here as well. DD is 5 months and I started moulting 3 months after she was born. It's everywhere. Sweep the kitchen floor and the next morning it's covered in my hair again. Poor DS keeps getting it in his mouth. It's nothing to do with BF though. It's just another one of those things no one tells you before you get pregnant!

It happened to me about 2 weeks after dd was born. She is now 9 months (ebf for 5 months and still bf) and while my once thick and long curly hair doesn't feel exactly as it was before, it is not as bad as in the first few months. My hair didn't fall out in clumps but I did loose lots and the condition of it was terrible; dry and lank and infact all my skin felt very dry. I look back at some of the photos from when I was pregnant and can't quite believe that was me as I looked classically 'radiant' and now I look the complete opposite!

its nothing to do with breastfeeding as it happens if you bottlefeed too. When you are pregnant your hair remains in a growth stage and you lose very little. After birth you lose all the extra hair - I lost loads with dd and used to find it everywhere (even in her nappies!). It does slow down and stop...eventually!