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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Hair loss and breastfeeding

29 replies

Koji · 18/06/2008 12:03

Can anyone suggest anything before i go completely bald and crazy???? I have been BFing my dd for 5mths now and over time my hair has been been slowing falling out. I put it down to normal hair loss after pregnancy but its not stopped and what used to be curly hair is now very thin lank straightish hair. Also my knee joints are so very sore.

Does anyone have any suggestions on supplements etc?????
Thank you in advance.

OP posts:
kittyw3kittens · 18/06/2008 12:10

Dont despair too much its still early days.

I used to have curly hair and then as my first pregnancy progressed ir started going straight. Wierd? It was like a perm growing out. My hairdresser said if it was going to go back curly it would within a year. It never did.

Is it just single hairs ? or have you got any bald patches ? Some hair loss is completely normal, but if you thinks its beyond that then I'd see your GP.

Sorry, cant help with the knee joints but again probably very normal.

Original poster
Koji · 18/06/2008 12:20

no bauld patches yet but like you said its like a perm growing out...hope it does come back hair v thin before.

OP posts:
DontlookatmeImshy · 18/06/2008 12:28

It's suprising just how much hair is does fall out. With ds1 it seemed to go on for ever, well past 5 months. Ds2 is now 4 months and the hair is falling out quite merrily again with no sign of stopping yet. I do wonder why i'm not compleyely bald yet. So much fell out with ds1 I actually managed to grow a small fringe at the front when it started growing back!!

MsDemeanor · 18/06/2008 12:30

Agree hair loss (lots of hair loss!) is normal after having a baby and nothing to do with breastfeeding. However, I found taking a really good multivitamin seemed to help a bit. Also, if you feel tired and achy in your joints etc it's worth going to your gp and asking for blood tests for thyroid and anaemia.
I also had a hideous tufty fringe because of hair loss.

hazeyjane · 18/06/2008 12:44

I don't think this is to do with b'feeding, i bottlefed both my dd's and lost a lot of hair (partly I think because I gained so much in pregnancy, I've got really thick hair, and partly because dd2 likes to pull out handfuls of my hair whilst feeding/trying to go to sleep). Also my joints have ached since having dd1 2 years ago, the doctor said it is the body recovering after all the ligaments being stretched throught pregnancy, and the new and wonderful strains you put on your body hefting babies around, crawling around the floor etc.

thequietone · 18/06/2008 12:48

Phew, happening to me too. I'm getting tired of clogging the shower plughole. I used to have gorgeous natural curls, and it's all gone limp and half straight, half curly. I didn't think that could also be related.

Happened the first time round for me, so I was expecting the loss, but not the lacking curls. Sniff..

MrsJamin · 18/06/2008 12:51

I love the fact that my hair is falling out! I have such ridiculously thick hair that my hair at full term pregnancy was laughable. Now it's approaching looking normal!

Original poster
Koji · 18/06/2008 12:53

I knew I would lose some but I didn't really gain much in pregnancy and as I said before my hair was never really very thick in the first place so can't afford for it to go limp and not be curly as it gives it its 'bounce' . Makes it look thicker than it is.

OP posts:
VictorianSqualor · 18/06/2008 13:02

It's not related to bfing.
I posted pretty much the same thread a couple of weeks ago.
When PG the normal cycle of hair loss-hair growth is suspended, so when you have started to return to normality afterwards, it restarts and all the hair you didn't lose whilst pg starts falling out.

Bensonbluebird · 18/06/2008 13:08

Mine is growing back at 13 months and I have that revolting tufty fringe thing going on too, and tufts in front of my ears (just got long enought to tuck behind ears, phew!). My hair has got straighter too, which I kind of like because I have such a ridiculous amount of hair that it is massive when it is curly too.

Ryobi · 18/06/2008 13:09

i have weeeeird tufty bits too

Original poster
Koji · 18/06/2008 13:16

Any suggestions on how to stop me from losing the curl? Did anyone take anything?

OP posts:
Lastyearsmodel · 18/06/2008 13:30

Don't think the loss itself is to do with bf, but when you begin losing hair seems to be connected to bf and associated hormone levels. My hair began falling out when dd was 10mo and had dropped a feed or two (periods also came back about this time). This time, with ds, the fallout has begun a lot earlier - 14 weeks in - but is steadier, not clogging the plughole as much.
I didn't notice at the time, but a lot came out around my hairline, so when it began growing back I had a sort of second hairstyle going on underneath. And it's curlier (normally straightish) - sorry Koji, perhaps we should swap hair.
Also have the aching knees and ankles - apparently quite common after pregnancy when I googled it, but GP also said it's related to extra weight of pregnancy.
Mrs Jamin, me too! Couldn't get hairclips to fit in last weeks of pregnancy.

BouncingTurtle · 18/06/2008 15:32

I've still got a fair bit falling out, but it seems to be getting less (ds is nearly 6mo). My hair doesn't seem any thinner, though I'm blessed with very thick hair anyway...

AmIDoingThisRight · 18/06/2008 15:39

I could have written your post word for word Koji - my hair is coming out and clogging the plughole and my knees are really painful.

I only gained about a stone and a half in pregnancy so not sure about the extra weight stress thing.

I now also have sharp pains in my right wrist which I put down to awkward feeding positions in the early days.

My son is 4 months old - thought it would start to have all calmed down by now! He's definitely worth it though.

Original poster
Koji · 18/06/2008 16:34

Well what can i say AmIDoingThisRight, my wrists also hust, neck, lower back, and knees. I also put on very little during the pregnancy but put alot of the other stuff down to terrible feeding positions too (anything to help dd's colic) Lets hope its going to get better hey .

Fingers crossed on the hair though.

OP posts:
Bensonbluebird · 18/06/2008 18:56

AmIdoingthisright, have you had your wrist checked for Carpal tunnel? it is common after pregnancy. I think you can get some numbness down in to your fingers as well as pain in the wrist.

BouncingTurtle · 18/06/2008 20:19

It's weird you mention about wrist pain, I've been getting a lot of pain in my right wrist - thought it was due to me falling and banging my arm in a swimming pool a couple of months ago, but now my left wrist is hurting too.
I also have an awful lot of stiffness in my legs, hips and lower back, sometimes downright painful!
Let's face it I'm just a clapped out old hag now

AmIDoingThisRight · 19/06/2008 08:14

Carpal tunnel! That's a thought - makes sense. Don't yet have pain in fingers though - will watch out for that.

It's so nice to know the same thing is happening to other mums. I feel a lot less clapped out now!

Bensonbluebird · 20/06/2008 09:35

I felt like a right old crock a few months ago - sore knee, sore foot, sore back and my pelvis felt unstable. It all seems to have resolved itself now (maybe feeling better coincided with AF starting again? not sure)

Seashell71 · 21/06/2008 02:08

Your hair loss has nothing to do with bf, it just happens around 3/4 months after giving birth, regardless of whether you bf or not.

Good luck xxxxxx

Califrau · 21/06/2008 02:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

twelveyeargap · 21/06/2008 07:36

You actually only lose the hairs that you didn't moult during pregnancy. Hard to believe, but true, I'm told by very technically experienced hairdresser (my mum). You get used to having thicker hair in pregnancy and then they all fall out together from around 3-4 months after the birth. So instead of a slow normal moult which isn't noticeable because hairs are falling out from different parts of the head each day and gradually being replaced as normal, you can get whole clusters coming out together thus you can end up with a thin fringe and so on.

Eventually the "normal" moult catches up. It took almost a year with me and I'm about to have #3 so will be back to clumps coming out of the shower before long! Gah!

Nothing to do with breastfeeding. Try glucosamine for joints, but worth mentioning to a GP as well, I think.

Original poster
Koji · 21/06/2008 13:55

Thanks for the advice twelveyeargap, can i take that stuff whilst bfing? I get that my hair will fall out but its the lack of curls that is troubling me more.

OP posts:
twelveyeargap · 21/06/2008 16:57

Oh, I forgot to say, you can get changes to the hair follicles and shaft, meaning straight hair can go curly and vice versa! Unfortunately I ended up with wavy round my face and straight everywhere else. Nothing I can do about that, but get it straightened every so often.

I'm reading that you shouldn't take glucosamine when breastfeeding, unfortunately. And comfrey, used in joint care creams, is also not advised for breastfeeding! Tsk.

I would ask the GP about the joint pain, or if you can afford to just go to a physio, then do. Since SPD is caused by hormones weakening the ligaments in the pelvis, then I suspect it can affect other joints. Also, if you've done any damage to your sacroiliac (where hip joins back) joint whilst pregnant, then the pain can often "travel" to other parts of the body due to weakened muscles and so on.