Hair Coloring During Pregnancy

I always heard that too, so with my first pregnancy I did not color my hair at all. With my second preganancy I colored it only once, and absolutely nothing happened. If you are due end of July, I see no reason why you can't go ahead and do a color now to carry you through.

Hi K.,
No there is not a problem for you or for the baby as to coloring/perming or anything else during pregnancy. It's a "semi-myth". The "semi" being that you need to be prepared for the color not to turn out as planned due to the hormones raging in your body right now. It could alter the color you're aiming for. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. You just have to decide if it's important enough to you to take that chance. But it is perfectly safe for you and for the baby, especially since you're this far along in your pregnancy. Problems with breathing in chemicals are very rare and if they happen, usually happen within the first trimester when the fetus is most vulnerable and things are taking shape on a rapid basis. BTW, we earn every gray hair we get, so don't be ashamed of those. We are women, wives, mothers and so much more to so many people, it's not a wonder we start turning gray early! I wear mine proudly! God bless.

highlights are supposed to be okay (according to my OB), at least it'll cover some : )

Hi there
congratulations! I think as long as you wait past week 12 or 14, you're OK!

I didn't color my hair with my first pregnancy but I did with my second 2 times after the 1st trimester. Both my dr and my hairdresser said its safe. I only had my hair highlighted so I don't know about coloring. My baby is healthy and happy with no problems. Ask your dr if you are worried. Im a blond by birth and after having my first baby my hair did funny things and started getting super dark. MOre so with my second pregnancy and like you, I didn't like it. The joys of having babies.

Good luck & congrats on baby #2.

SAHM/Zombie with 2 super funny acitve boys. 3.5yrs and 10 months walking at 7 months.

Just a quick word of caution that you may have already received. I tried to color my hair in late pregnancy with both kids, using the safest color possible and both times, with different shades, my hormones turned that hair color a fierce BLACK!! I'm thinking that highlights may be a good thing to try. Best of luck mommy!

Congrats for thinking this through and being concerned. Good Mommy! I colored my hair with both pregnancies, because my Dr said it was safe... she did it. And, we didn't have any problems either.

colored my hair with both of my kids. 1 year old and a 3 year old and they are fine. Talk to your Dr. and just google it and see what your find. My mom has been a hairdresser for over 30 years and did hair while pregnant with me and my sister, perms, hair colors etc. and we are fine. Think of all the people who do hair while thay are pregnant. Again, research it on-line and talk to your Dr., mine said it was fine.

Hi!

I too am prematurely gray (not so prematurely gray NOW as I am 43!) - and I chose not to color my hair for both pregnancies. My son is nearly 3 and my daughter, 14 months. It was painful to look like a haggard pregnant lady... but TOTALLY worth it to me to play it safe when pregnant. here is the deal as I see it and my rad hairdresser sees it. It is ok to have bleach near scalp, but not ok to have tint near the scalp. That said... we did a little bleach blended with the gray. This process was done every 2 months... instead of the usual 5 weeks I do now. let me tell you the time DRAGGED by with my first pregnancy.. but with the second I was so busy with my first that it wasnt really a big deal. I feel good about my decision... and would do it again in a heartbeat

My hairdresser is in San Francisco. If you need his name and number, feel free to contact me on this site.

btw... I use zero voc paints... healthy cleaning supplies... the whole deal. This is how I roll and it helps me minimize my family's toxic intake.

Good luck on your decision.

I heard teh same thing so I found a natural hair color...it's at Whole Foods or other natural food stores, it's in a green box, I don't have the name right now, but they would be able to help you in the store. I have used it for the last almost 4 years- I have a 3 1/2 year old and an 8 month old and I really like the color!

That was one of the first questions I asked my Ob when I found out I was preggers. He said it was fine to go ahead and do it. I did full color and my little one (now 5) is just fine. You need to take care of yourself as well as the baby during your pregnancy -- and if that means coloring your hair - I say you do it.

My OB said it was perfectly safe. And I figure, if I'm going to look like a beached whale, at least my hair can look good!! =) Seriously, I continued coloring my hair during both pregnancies, and my little girls turned out brilliant and beautiful - I think you will be perfectly fine coloring your hair!

Hi.... you are so right.. it is not safe to color your hair while pregnant.. the toxins go right in to your brain and to the blood system and the baby... very harmful.

I am a nutritional consultant and I work with lowering body burden and helping women carry babies in a healthy environment.You can go to www.ewg.org and look at the study done with the Red Cross on toxic body burden and babies in utero. Over 287 chemicals running through babies and a huge challenge for this generation of children's health.

I would like to encourage you to go to www.sharethecause.com/live... a 9 minute documentary on the toxic issues.. very informative.

If you would like more info on how to reduce your toxic body burden and that of your babies while pregnant.. please feel free to contact me. L. Medina... ###-###-####

Hi K.,
My OBGYN said to wait thru the 1st trimester. I had an appt. scheduled for the day my 2nd trimester started! :) My son is 15 mos. old and healthy!!

This use to be the case years ago but now it is sompletely safe now to color your hair - just ask your ob/gyn.

As a former cosmetologist and mother of 3, and my ob ... it's safe.

However, chemical processes such as hair color or perms may or may not turn out the way you want them to. The hormonal (aka chemical) changes your body goes through can affect how they turn out.

I've done perms that turned out completely flat on pregnant women and hair colors that turned a different shade than we were going for. Or were too strong in the base color. a golden blonde for example looked more brassy and an ash blonde went WAY ash (aka greenish bluish). this didn't happen all the time. But since you don't know how your hair will react till after the process is done. I'd go with a semi-permanent color over a permanent one. Semi-permanent wash out in 6-8 weeks and are easier to strip if they go weird due to the hormones. Or patch test a small hidden section before going whole head, that way you know how it's going to react.

That's my advice. Good luck :)

K.,

If you are set on coloring your hair while pregnant, wait until you are least 12 weeks along. There is conflicting advice on both sides as far as safety goes- but the fetus develops the most during the first 12 weeks-- so to avoid potential birth defects, wait.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Molly

My son is 3.5 and I waited until after my first trimester to color my hair. I colored my hair probably 4 times while pregnant with permanent hair color and he turned out just fine. I am pregnant currently with baby #2 and have colored my hair again. Everything is progressing as planned, all ultrasounds have been normal. I think it is just fine, but you may want to wait until after the first trimester when the majority of development occurs.

I completely understand the not wanting the gray photos!! My daughter is 6months old. I dyed my hair 2nd while I was pregnant. My doctor said to wait until I was 3 months. Both times it slipped off! I waited to dye it the last time until right before I was due, so that I the least chance of it 'slipping' before she was born. Hope this helps!

I know a lot of people say it's safe, but with all of the toxins in everyday products (shampoo, soap, perfume, etc.), it's no wonder we are seeing a generation plagued with all types of cancers--many of which develop later in life. I'd play it safe and try organic hair colors, or do highlights which aren't close to your scalp.

I didn't color while I was pregnant, because I figured I would rather be safe than sorry. If I had to do it again, I might consider using a natural color product that is non-toxic because these products actually exist now! I don't know the line my current hair-dresser uses, but when I walk into the salon all I smell is essential oils, not chemicals and I love my hair! I know the hair care products are Euphora, but I can't remember the hair color product line, I just know it's non-toxic.

I hope that helps...

It isn't safe unless you use natural, organic stuff. Don't risk it. Those chemicals are nasty and no one knows the full extent of their potent danger, even a doctor.

I colored my hair, not as frequently as I usually do, with BOTH of my kids. They are both fine! I did it every 4 mos.

I've been told it's okay as long as you stay away from "alcohol" based type of colors. I'm getting my gray colored tomorrow and I called the salon to confirm they can and do have products for me since I'm in my 2nd trimester. I also found this article on babycenter.com about whether or not it's safe to color: http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-safe-to-color-my-hair....

If you do a google search on "hair coloring while pregnant" you will get hundreds of hits. The best thing to do is check with your ob/gyn. One interesting thing my doc told me is the color or process (i.e. perm etc) might not take while you're pregnant because of hormones. I'm guessing you didn't color with your last one....

Hi there! I had heard different things from the nurses/doctors and people who had done it or not during pregnancy. I wasn't sure I wanted to go ahead with all the chemicals etc (just in case) and I wasn't too keen on the smell so I started using the Nice 'n Easy 10 minute root touch up. That worked perfect (my problem was/is grays as well) and it worked perfect and took only 10 minutes!!!!!!! Yippee!!! Good luck!

J.

I dyed my hair when I was pregnant and had no problems. I made sure to use a dye that had no amonia or harsh chemicals and had my friend dye my hair outside so that I wouldn't be breathing any fumes.
Hope this helps