postpartum and losing my hair!!

Please help!! My son is 4 and 1/2 months old and a few weeks ago I started noticing I was losing a lot of hair when I brushed my hair or in the shower. I don't know what to do. My hair used to be really soft and shiny and full and thick and now it's coarse and brittle and it's getting thinneer and thinner. Especially in the front on my forehead, it's really noticable. I don't know why this is happening or what to do. Does anyone have any ideas?

[tiredbuthappy]

It happened with both of my pregnancies and is common. I lost a LOT of hair from about 3 months post partum until after 6 months. My OB and hairdresser both said it is common. My best advice is to get a haircut. You may feel better if you dye it too. I lost so much, i now have bangs. I never cut bangs- it's just all of that hair growing back in. My baby is now 14 months.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Hormones during pregnancy can sometimes prevent the normal shedding of hair, this is why many women find their hair is lush and thick during pregnancy.  Once the pregnancy comes to an end and the hormone levels even out, your body will start to shed the excess hair that it retained during the pregnancy.  You can lose a great deal of hair, but it's just hairs that you would have lost anyway, you just lose them in a shorter period of time.  It's happened to me with all 6 of my full term pregnancies.  I've lost so much hair after each of them I swore I was going to be bald.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

I wanted to add that if you are noticing a bald spot or an area that is much thinner than the rest of your hair, it would be a good idea to speak with your doctor as this could be a sign of something else such as thyroid problems.  But if you are just noticing a lot of hair falling out during brushing or shampooing but no noticeable bald/thin spots then its most likely normal.