What are your thoughts on colouring your hair?

[Babyluv]

Hello ladies,

I'm nearly 11 weeks and my hair is a nightmare, I haven't had it coloured in 3 months because I've been to scared whilst pregnant.
I'm a blonde and get foils and right now my hair is shocking I don't think I can hang out any longer.

What are your thoughts on getting your hair coloured during preg? Is it safe? Foils ok?

Thanks for your help girls

[alioops]

I coloured my hair with both number 2 and number 3 and never had any problems. Semi permanent sticks better in my hair than permanent so I use that anyway.

[Party-of-five]

i lightened my hair whilst pregnant with my three

[Daydream Believer]

Foils are fine as they do not touch your scalp, the only main concerns would be if you were an all over bleach blonde, (a tint is fine) or if you perm your hair. A normal hair colour is not an issue either however the hair may not absorb the colour evenly, however in saying that I never had any problems with that on myself

[Persephone1]

The "natural" approaches to pregnancy argue that you should not colour your hair during pregnancy at all because there are no research giving the "all-clear" for hair dyes and the effect on the fetus. There are some serious chemicals in most dyes which you wouldn't pour down your throat, so why would you give it to your baby?

The less strict approach says you shouldn't do it in the first trimester because the dye can/does pass through to baby as the placenta is not fully-functioning yet. After the first trimester the placenta takes over and the dyes don't cross over to the baby.

My own personal experience:
We were going through IVF, so every month there was a potential pregnancy and that meant I couldn't dye my hair. But at some point my hair looked terrible, so I dyed my hair in a colour that was really close to my natural colour - so that I wouldn't have to do it again. That was April 2009, incidentally when we were having a break from IVF cycling, and I haven't dyed it since. I have thought about it doing it during my pregnancy, but my hair looks okay being the one colour at the moment and I figured my vanity could take the hit, for now.

I think the usual approach is that after first trimester it's okay, but it really is a personal decision.

ETA: there are some "natural" dyes you can buy from health food shops which might be a good middle ground, but obviously that's just a bottle of dye, not foils.

[Roryrory]

My DH is against coulouring during pg so I didn't when pregnant with #1 and #2. I dyed my hair at about 8 weeks when pregnant for the third time and ended up with a blighted ovum at 11 weeks (not that I necessarily think there is any correlation). I am not dyeing during this pg.

I figure if you (like many pg women) are going to give up coffee, artificial sweeteners, chemical cleaners, "dangerous" foods, alcohol, scuba diving, bungee jumping, smoking, hard drugs, drving recklessly, unsafe sex (ok now I am getting carried away LOL!) then giving up hair dye is a small thing.

Besides, havn't you heard that "grey" is in LOL!

[Babyluv]

Haha too young for Greys yet but have a lovely brown stripe
Just spoke to the pregnancy & drug info unit at monash hosp & they said it's fine considering it's foils and the dye doesn't touch my skin

[deletedit]

Hah, forget the stuff on your head. Its easy to deal with.

Check out some of the other threads - when you're really pregnant you'll find hair you just can't reach/see anymore

[Miss.September]

Foils are fine as they do not touch your scalp

:yeahthat:

I didn't colour my hair at all while pregnant, but only found out afterwards that I could have used foils because they didn't touch my scalp. I miscarried with my first baby, and while I think it was because of a medical condition I have, I had also dyed my hair just before I found out I was pregnant, so it has spooked me a bit. Like many things though that we're all told not to do, this is another uncertain area, and for me, I was happy to leave my hair ala natural when I fell pregnant again.

Corelly x

[Persephone1]

I figure if you (like many pg women) are going to give up coffee, artificial sweeteners, chemical cleaners, "dangerous" foods, alcohol, scuba diving, bungee jumping, smoking, hard drugs, drving recklessly, unsafe sex (ok now I am getting carried away LOL!) then giving up hair dye is a small thing.

:yeahthat:

For LTTTCers it's pretty usual to give up caffeine, soft cheeses, etc, so giving up on the dye isn't such a big deal.

[black_rose]

I had foils for the first tri but didn't feel like sitting for so long now that I am almost in my third tri so I have dyed it brown again.

[Cherished]

I would have preferred to have not coloured my hair while being pregnant but before I got my BFP I had lighter foils so I got it redone a couple of times but have now just put a semi permanant over the top to go back to my natural brown. Having said that it's still lighter than my natural colour so I think I will have to dye it 1 or 2 more times before the baby is due. Looking back I wish I had not done the foils in the 1st place and then I wouldn't have had to do any dying at all. Honestly it probably doesn't make much difference so just do whatever you want