Dealing with Postpartum Natural Hair Loss + Shedding

Hi Curlies,

As you know I have an 18 month old whom I carried for 10 months and nursed for 13 months! I began to notice a lot of shedding and breakage especially on my crown and along my edges shortly after weaning. I did some research and discovered that it is perfectly normal to experience this after nursing and birth.

During pregnancy, your estrogen levels (hormones) are really high which cause you to hold on to your hair and shed way less of it. However, after pregnancy is over then your estrogen levels begin to go down and all of that hair that didn’t shed starts to shed. It’s totally normal to see breakage and shedding along your edges and the crown.

Here are some tips on how to deal with postpartum natural hair loss and shedding:

1) Styling – Stick to styles that camouflage your ends like twist and curls which involve doing two strand twist or flat twists and using perm rods, flexi rods, or rollers on the ends. This will blend the lengths. Wash and go styles also blend very well. Protective styling is also a great option!

2) Finger Detangle – Stick to finger detangling so you can personally feel every knot and destroy it!

3) Accessorize – You can accessorize by doing roll, tuck and pin styles to also camouflage the different lengths. Be creative!

4) Hair Shadowing – Using temporary color on the ends will help camouflage the different lengths as well.

5) Stick to a Routine – You really need to take care of your hair by sticking to a routine and giving your hair some TLC. Your new thick hair growing in will appreciate it!

6) Moisturize – Thin hair needs moisture as it is more prone to breaking and shedding. Moisturize almost daily if you have to.

7) Trim while blown out – A curly girl cut may be kind of hard to do because of the different lengths. Use a heat protectant and blow your hair out so you can trim and dust those different lengths.

8) Research Product Ingredients – Look for ingredients that help with thinning hair and hair loss like garlic, MSM, etc.

9) Take Vitamins & Supplements – There are many on the market such as The Mane Choice, Hair Essentials, Hairfinity, and Mielle Organics. You can even hit up your local health food and drug store to find something that has biotin and other postpartum shedding supplemental ingredients.

10) More – Eat Right, Protein Treatments, Etc.