Is it safe to dye my hair?

[Nanoon]

I'm going grey - groan

I have in the past used a semi-permanent colour but an considering biting the bullet and doing a permanent one (not sure whether at DIY job or at my hairdressers). Anyway does anyone know if its safe to do while pregnant?

Thanks

I'm shall we say an older mother - so with you on wanting to hide grey hair.

I always had highlights done during both my pregnancies. Though I believe that you are supposed to avoid the first trimester - not sure if this is true though.

Can't really see the stuff in hair dyes is going to pollute our blood and then cross the placenta - but I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong.

I had an all over colour in December (when I was 5 months) with highlights - my hairdresser said it was up to me really. It was really expensive though so two days ago I had it done again (38 weeks) by a hairdresser friend who was adamant it was fine - really glad grey is gone again!

Think as long as it isn't peroxide it should be ok but ask the hairdresser doing it.

I had mine done last week as 20weeks, i asked my hairdresser she said it was fine. I trust her i we have had the same hairdresser for about 15yrs, i know she now uses vegetable dyes i don't know if this makes a difference.

Yes, it is totally fine. I'm blonde (with a little help ) and have been for the last 12 years or so and I had no intention of having a massive image change when I got pregnant. I'd studied cosmetology a number of years back and so I knew from my training then that there is no risks involved with hair dye and unborn babies. I also checked with members of my family who are in various medical fields and all concurred there's no risks. In past generations, such as my grandmother's generation, the levels of chemicals, specifically amonia, were very high in hair dyes and there was concern as a result of the effects on an unborn baby. Having said that, there was even back then no obvious direct link with hair dyes and birth defects or other problems.

The biggest problem in pregnancy can be two things when it comes to hair dye:

1. The colour may not take the same as a result of various hormonal changes, so be warned you may get a slightly odd or different shade or tone to normal. This happened to me twice but for whatever reason it settled down and stopped, probably as hormonal levels stabilised since it was in the second trimester that it stopped affecting the way the colour took but it did affect it in the first trimester.
2. The fumes from the dye may make you light headed during pregnancy so you must make sure the salon or whatever room you are colouring your hair in is properly ventilated and at a cool temperature or you're asking for trouble!

Basically, there's no risks at all involved to your baby so don't worry but just do whatever makes you comfortable. If you want to switch to highlights which doesn't touch your skin b/c you will be less nervous than you should do that, but there's no reason to forgo dyeing your roots if you don't want to. You can search for days through various literature and studies trying to find links to birth defects and hair dye or other problems with the baby but there is simply nothing concrete to be found. Not in modern studies with dye used in the 21st century anyway. Women have been dyeing their hair since the dawn of time and there's really no known problems in their babies. Just be aware you may not react normally to the dye but it's not going to affect your baby!

thanks all, some really good advice here

My hairdresser said it was fine to have your hair coloured during pregnancy but I think hotmama could be right about avoiding the first trimester.

A wee tip my hairdresser gave me was to drink a pint of water beforehand, as apparently that helps to get rid of any toxins from the body!!

I haven't given in yet but roots are starting to show....

I dyed my hair all the way through preg with ds1 and also with this one. I'm not that old but have really grey hair if I don't.

I researched on the internet and too found that risks are to the Mum and not the baby, ie. your scalp could be more sensitive so you could be more likely to have an allergic reaction, or the colour could come out not quite as expected. Basically as long as you do a sensitivity test before hand on a small patch of hair and thats OK you should be fine.

Lastly, if hair dye was so dangerous to pregnant women, pregnant hairdressers wouldn't work - which they do.

Sure it will be fine.

Asked my doctor who said it was fine. Your hair is dead!

Only thing was the colour was slightly different that I expected it to be. Got hair dyed dark brown and alot of red came out in it!!! still nice but beware it does happen.

Your hair is dead but your scalp isn't so if you have any concerns you'd be better off getting something like highlights which are much less likely to touch the scalp when applied, as opposed to a full head colour which goes all over the place

My best friend is a hairdresser and I asked her when I found out I was pregnant if it was still safe to dye my hair. She said the same as Lemmiwinks, that the only problem is becuase there are so many new hormones in your body, the colour might not take properly. But there is no risk to the baby.

(I think many years ago it was considered dangerous becuase of all the nasty chemincals in the dyes but these are much safer nowadays).