“Baby’s nap time...oh wait, that means 'me time'. Quick, in the shower! Speedy scrub down with the soap; but wait where is mine? It's gone, argh! Right, the baby bath-time bubbles will do. Razor, ouch! I've cut myself, just great. Wet hair, shampoo on, foamy foamy; …and a clump of hair in my hands, ew! Rinse and watch more hair go down the plug hole! Conditioner time; oh man, same thing as with shampoo - I'm gonna be bald after this shower! Get out and brush hair and, yup, more clumps of hair. Screw this..I’m shoving it up!” And there we go - the trusty messy go-to 'mum bun’.
Does this sound familiar? Well, let me tell you why and what you can do too help your locks.
Remember back when your hormones and body were changing and the days when you thought "oh my god, I'm a whale “, then someone would say your hair looked great or so healthy and you felt great again for a little while. That was because your hair did look great thanks to being pregnant. The average woman, without realising it, naturally loses 100 strands of hair a day. Sounds a lot right? But we have around 100,000 hair follicles, so losing 100 a day is not affecting the way our hair looks. But when we ladies are pregnant something changes. Our oestrogen levels increase which leads to the growth rate for our hair to change. It develops a longer life cycle as we are also growing our beautiful baby. This hormone promotes extra shine and thickness in the hair too. Then when baby is born and your oestrogen levels start falling, at around 3 months post partum, the oestrogen starts levelling out again and your hair goes back to the normal cycle and sheds the extra it was holding onto. This can be quiet dramatic and can leave some women with actual bald spots; this condition is called telogen effluvium.
Cohen also loves pulling at my hair which makes things 100 times worse as he snaps the healthy hair I have got remaining. Throw in Covid-19 and no hairdressers, and the 'mum bun' is in all the time! It can take some time for your hair to get back to your ‘normal’, sometimes it can take as long as 12 months postpartum. If you suffered from balding patches it could take a little longer.
In the mean time here are some things you could do to make yourself feel more confident and may help your hair loss rate.
Get a hair cut - I know your thinking "I'm losing my hair why would I want to cut it and have less?", but getting a style that suits a thinner head of hair will likely look less affected. It's why many mums can end up with short bobs and cropped pixie looks.
Try skipping the blow dry, hot curling iron and straighteners where you can. It's not a secret that they can dry out and make your hair more brittle. If you need to use them, use a heat defence spray to protect what you do have.
Try using a volumizing shampoo and conditioner, or one with caffeine to help stimulate growth.
Mousse is also a great one if you're doing your hair nice for anything and want to bulk out the look of your thinning hair.
Use a non-abrasive comb/brush such us a "tangle-teazer" or a wide toothed brush or comb.
What am I doing and why ?
I have almost always had shorter/mid-length hair and when Cohen was born I got it chopped into a style which would need as little maintenance as possible. My hairdresser was amazing! It was a bob with very few layers, which meant it didn't need much styling at all. As Cohen had such bad silent reflux along with colic he couldn't be put down for long so I needed a very speedy option. I also always used my tangle-teazer and recently switched this up with my awesome new bamboo wide toothed brush by Bambooi. Both of these are super gentle on my hair. I will generally use the brush, but if its been up and in the 'mum bun' for a few days and has not been brushed in between (yes, we all know it happens), then I need the tangle-teezer to get the knots out first. I try to do this while my hair is wet and when in the shower while my conditioner is in to give some lubrication and to reduce friction on those poor strands. I am very strict that the beauty products I choose to use are cruelty free and I try to get them vegan too (when I can). For this reason, I have used Umberto Giannini hair products for quite some time and now is no exception. The only change is that I've started using a new range of his called "grow long" ( pictured at the top of the post). I chose this because of the ingredients to try to help combat this postpartum hair loss.; mainly caffeine to stimulate growth at the root but also Organic Pea Sprout Extract which is there to accelerate hair growth and prolong hair life cycle. It's this last particular detail that really got me to change over to this range. Since I’ve started using it my hair feels amazing. Cohen is still grabbing it and breaking it prematurely but I've definitely noticed a difference in the health and strength of the hair I do have even in the short time I've been using this for.
I hope this has been helpful and lets you know you are not alone and there are some steps you can take to help yourself feel better about it. Remember, it is only a temporary situation and your hair will eventually go back to normal but until then..
Enjoy reading , have courage and be kind !
T.x
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