So you’re finally starting to get past the initial crazy newness of having your baby at home and trying to let your body feel better as it recovers.

But now you have a NEW annoying thing to deal with - dramatic hair loss!  There is a new animal that grows on the drain of your shower every time you try to get a moment of relaxing peace with the hot water.

Or you’re combing out your locks and feel you may just go bald after how much hair is gathered on your brush.  It never seems to end.  What’s going on?

The Tragedy Of Postpartum Hair Loss

You’ve been enjoying your full, thick and luscious hair during pregnancy, but now the tables have turned.  Your hair seems to be falling out in droves and you think something is wrong.

Is this part of losing baby weight?  Or am you just so sleep deprived that your body has to make up for it somewhere?  Neither.  I doubt your hair weighs enough to consider it part of losing baby weight anyway.

What’s happening can be blamed on your hormones again.  Yes, those dreaded hormones.  It’s a love/hate relationship with them.

During your pregnancy, your estrogen levels were awesomely high, causing your hair to stay in a growth phase.  You hardly lost any at all and it seemed thicker and fuller.

Well, after that baby arrives, your estrogen drops like a rock because it’s no longer needed at such high levels anymore.  This means your hair is responding to the lack of estrogen, causing it to recede to a resting phase - meaning no extra growth, but letting go of what isn’t necessary.

When you’re not pregnant or going through your periods, your hair naturally stabilized to a balance between resting and growth.  You lose a regular amount of hair in a gradual basis.

But now your hair is making up for that huge hormone difference and shedding all it can before things stabilize again.  Your increased hair loss tapers of and returns to normal somewhere between 6-12 months after your delivery.

Here are some tips to help prevent or decrease the hair loss.  Not all things will work for some women, but it’s worth a shot if you’re tired of cleaning up the strands.

So you get to deal with that gross monster in your shower drain for awhile longer.  Especially if you have longer hair (like me).  Some women with short, fine hair don’t notice it as much.

But you lovely ladies with the thick, long, dark tresses…..we’re in the same boat.  However, those of you with long, fine hair, you’re more likely going to deal with this next issue that affect your baby.

Baby’s Tragedy With Hair Tourniquet Sydrome

A lesser known travesty that can befall your newborn is called Hair Tourniquet Sydrome, and they unfortunately get it from you.  But it’s not a typical illness or anything, it’s what it sounds like.

Your hairs that are traveling everywhere-on the floor, in the blankets, with the laundry-can get caught on your dear little one’s appendages.  How many times have you opened your baby’s hands or diaper and found random hairs in there?  Quite often I imagine.

Well, those hairs can end up wrapping themselves around fingers, toes and even genitals, causing a tourniquet.  Slowly squeezing those little limbs, it can cause swelling and pain from the tight hold.

Imagine when you’re getting your blood drawn and the nurse wraps that tourniquet tight around your arm, squeezing the blood and fluids downward to keep them in your lower arm temporarily.

Well, if a hair tourniquet goes unnoticed, the same pain, pressure and problems can arise in your baby’s digits.  All because your darn hormones took the plunge and your hair started to fall out.

If left unchecked, your baby’s limb passed the tourniquet can have abscessed edema and eventually lead to necrosis in rare cases.

Signs Your Baby Has A Hair Tourniquet

The hardest part about babies is we don’t often know what’s wrong when they cry.  We go through the usual:  are they tired? hungry? wet? soiled? hot? cold? need love? need quiet?  But then nothing helps.

Excessive crying is the ONLY way your baby can tell you they’re in pain.  You HAVE to check their little body.  Check:

• every finger
• every toe
• your boy’s penis and testicles
• your girl’s clitoris and labia

It’s hard to imagine how such things can get caught, taught, and forgot when they’re so tiny right now.  But all the more reason to check very carefully-BECAUSE things ARE so tiny.  It can be an easy miss.  Check them:

• as you change their clothes
• when you change their diaper (check out the diapers I use)
• before or after their regular bath, it’s when you should be cleaning their nooks and crannies anyway

Make it a routine so that it becomes a habit and you’re not missing something that can lead to further problems.

And what are you looking for exactly?

• red, sore looking skin
• swollen appendages
• divots in the skin that look like a band of skin overlap
• any darkening or change in color

DON’T be looking for the hair that’s actually causing the problem.  It’s likely you won’t even see it because it’s wound so tightly and the swelling has covered it over.

Does Your Baby Have A Hair Tourniquet?

DON’T try to remove it yourself.  A physician will skills hands and experience will do far less damage with the proper tools than you may be able to with just the kitchen scissors.

Your baby’s fingers or toes are SO small that trying to use something you have around the house to cut that hair off could end up badly.  You don’t want your little one to lose a chunk of tissue off a vital part of their body.

Your doctor can conduct a tiny surgery to remove the band.  Often cutting through the skin is necessary.

But no worries, your baby’s little finger or toe will be spared and repaired just fine over a bit of time.  Be sure to follow your doctor’s instructions on how to clean the area or treat it afterwards.  You don’t want some other sort of infection to befall it, leading to another issue.

Back at home, you can:

• check your baby as I already described
• vacuum and sweep the floor regularly
• shake out blankets and clothing before wrapping your baby in them
• keep your hair pulled back so the main loss of strands is when you’re washing or brushing it

Combat Every PostPartum Symptom With This Bundle

Has anyone every had this with their little one?  I haven’t , and certainly hope I don’t.

Here’s to dealing with that dreadful hair.