Sheila,

As a licensed Cosmetologist, I'll share with you what I learned.  The reason
for curly or straight hair is the shape of the hair follicle...the area just
below the scalp line where the hair is formed.  It is not something you can
alter, though I have heard of people's hair growing in differently after
chemotherapy which has always baffled me.

When you get a perm (permanent wave), that first solution they are putting on
your hair breaks the protein bonds in the hair, then the second solution
(neutralizer) rehardens the protein bonds which are now wrapped around a perm
rod giving it new shape.  That's why the perm doesn't last forever.  You're
not changing the follicle, just the protein bonds in the existing hair, which
grows out, gets cut off, and therefore, leaves you with the straight hair you
had before the perm.

Weaning *should not* have any affect on whether the hair grows in straight or
curly.  My question would be... is she perhaps letting her hair grow longer
now than in the past?  Sometimes as people's hair grows longer, slight curls
or waves that are not visible in shorter hair become more noticeable.

Hope this helps,
Veronica Scott,
Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Coordinator