Who else can’t sleep with hair down?

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I use to think I could as long as I had a silk or satin pillow case but this doesn’t seem to be the case for me. Whether I wear it down and loose or technically “down” in a braid, I see breakage.
My ends were doing so good since I started wearing it up to sleep 100% and stopped braiding before bed, then the last few night I slept with my hair down because I missed waking up with my natural curl pattern.
immediately I notice bent L shape ends with white dots and 1 split. The same kind of bent hair I saw when my hair was down in a braid for bed months prior.
I will have to s&d it out when I get home tomorrow from work, but it’s terrible but I just gave myself a monthly trim a week ago.
But is anyone else like this? Apparently not even a nice pillow case and gentle FOE ribbon hair ties help.
I guess my hair really is fine and fragile.

[Beeboo123]

Yeah, I can’t either. Buns and braids cause tons of breakage for me too. I just stuff my hair in a silk sleeping cap, it preserves most of my waves (but not the volume, darn), and my hair doesn’t get damaged. Win.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I couldn't, apart from everything else, it's too long and would probably strangle both myself and DH...

[school of fish]

Now that I've been sleep-bunning for 4 years or so, I couldn't go back to wearing it down for bed. The rare nights that I do leave it down for sleeping I regret the next day! It just gets too tangled...

I do wear it down pretty much all the time during waking hours, but since I'm awake and aware of it I can detangle/move it out of the way/put it up if necessary/treat it as it demands moment to moment... That's what probably makes the difference for me - if I was able to do all that while sleeping I'd probably have it down then too :p

ETA: the sleep-with-it-down tangles did give me damage as well, although not immediately - it's more a cumulative mechanical damage thing. Back before I was bunning it didn't bug me so much to have to undo the night knots, but my hair wasn't quite as long then as it is now, and I was also not so adverse to ripping through knots if necessary back then... My tolerance for tangling has gone down since LHC ;)

[lapushka]

No it's not the same for me. I can sleep on a cotton pillow case and not have issues with my hair. But I sleep on a microfiber pillow case (soft as silk) and it is really smooth & smoothing for the hair. Whether I actually "sleep" is a different story. ;)

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

Now that I've been sleep-bunning for 4 years or so, I couldn't go back to wearing it down for bed. The rare nights that I do leave it down for sleeping I regret the next day! It just gets too tangled...

I do wear it down pretty much all the time during waking hours, but since I'm awake and aware of it I can detangle/move it out of the way/put it up if necessary/treat it as it demands moment to moment... That's what probably makes the difference for me - if I was able to do all that while sleeping I'd probably have it down then too :p

ETA: the sleep-with-it-down tangles did give me damage as well, although not immediately - it's more a cumulative mechanical damage thing. Back before I was bunning it didn't bug me so much to have to undo the night knots, but my hair wasn't quite as long then as it is now, and I was also not so adverse to ripping through knots if necessary back then... My tolerance for tangling has gone down since LHC ;)

I’m not even talking tangles! Somehow I get very little if any tangled bits, but LOADS of bent ends and splits.
My hair gets a tangle or two, bun or not. But the bent ends.
I have a feeling either my hair is getting trapped under me and getting bent or DBF is rolling over me while we sleep lol

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

No it's not the same for me. I can sleep on a cotton pillow case and not have issues with my hair. But I sleep on a microfiber pillow case (soft as silk) and it is really smooth & smoothing for the hair. Whether I actually "sleep" is a different story. ;)
See, Cotton will result in both knots and splits.
Silk and satin are bent ends and splits.
I guess my hair just really prefers to be put away.

[school of fish]

I’m not even talking tangles! Somehow I get very little if any tangled bits, but LOADS of bent ends and splits.
My hair gets a tangle or two, bun or not. But the bent ends.
I have a feeling either my hair is getting trapped under me and getting bent or DBF is rolling over me while we sleep lol

Oof, yeah... my own breakage and splits seem to be mostly from the mechanical damage of undoing the fine-hair tangles, but I don't seem to get damage from pillow friction - so not exactly the same thing.

I do remember that back when I had bent ends it was because my hair was super dry and begging for moisture. Pretty sure my dryness was thanks to heavy henna use and no conditioning or moisture of any kind :p Any chance keeping it loose on the pillow is wicking moisture out?

[Ligeia Noire]

I wear my hair up every day so I try to wear it down at least 2 to three days a week to give my scalp a rest. Those days are right after I wash it on sundays and then I sleep with it loose that night, monday and tuesday. I have a satin pillow case and I just toss it over the pillow. I had longer all my life so I think even when I move in bed during sleep, I move my hair first or try to move without my hair moving. It seems strange but I wake up with my hair exactly where I left it. I am a very light sleeper but I do move a lot though. I get the usual tangles of course but I do not care much. My hair tangles even in braids so... I think one just has to find a balance between scalp and length benefits.

[Aredhel]

My hair gets wrecked if I sleep in braids, and leaving it loose results in the most infuriating tangles. I have to sleep with my hair loosely bunned on the top of my head.

[Suze]

Never slept with my hair down, even when it was around CBL/ APL I always made a high bun with an elastic. Started wearing a braid or two braids when I comitted to better hair care. But the braids are starting to strangle me or get caught in my armpits and/ or elbows. A diagonal french braid eats up a lot of length so I either do that or I've started to wear a high cinnabun with hair pins. After washing though my hair is extremely slippery and I have to wear it in braids for 2 nights.

I never had my hair this length before so to me it feels long, well only when my braids wrap themselves around my neck when I try to sleep (nót during the day).

[AZDesertRose]

Yeah, even on night's when I don't move much in my sleep, I feel like my hair is either going to strangle me or it gets caught in my arms or under my body. I sleep better with it loosely bunned either at the nape of my neck or the crown of my head. (I don't do a full-on topknot because my hair isn't used to me pulling it that far up, because if I pull my hair all the way on top of my head for public consumption, I look like a middle-aged Pebbles Flintstone if she grew up to have dark auburn hair rather than the bright red of her childhood! :laugh: )

[gustavonut]

How do you guys secure your high buns? I usually use a medium sized claw clip, but my bun is usually a mess by the morning because of how much of a crazy sleeper I am.

[T0n1c]

I can't wear my down for bed either. I am a rowdy sleeper, rolling, flailing and all that, so I have a feeling that even with a satin pillowcase or sleep cap, it would end up damaged and tangled.
Plus, when it was long (MBL) a few years ago before I chopped it, I would wake up with it caught under me, my husband, or the cat.
And I hate being choked/strangled by my hair when it decides to try out life as a necklace or go spelunking down my throat!

[AZDesertRose]

How do you guys secure your high buns? I usually use a medium sized claw clip, but my bun is usually a mess by the morning because of how much of a crazy sleeper I am.

I know they're hideously out of fashion, but I usually use a scrunchie to secure a sleep bun (or a just-puttering-around-home bun, for that matter).

[Eastbound&Down]

Maybe a light oil, like jojoba or almond can add some slip and protection? Although, if you don't have a problem sleeping with it in a bun, why change it? If it ain't broken, just leave it be! I personally can't sleep with my hair up, I can't get comfortable with a bun (and I have to wear it bunned all day for work), but I and oil to my hair 1-2 times a week and I don't have any serious tangle issues, even when it's longer.

[melesine]

I don't get breakage, when my hair was hip/tailbone I usually wore it up at night in a bun just to keep from getting trapped with it under me when I moved around. Now I usually just fan my hair out above the pillow. I tried a satin sleeping cap but it won't stay on my head.

[lapushka]

Bent ends are probably mechanical wear and tear and not splits or any of the like. See what your hair does once you've washed it again after discovering them. You may be laying on it funny.

[Cg]

It's a choice for me, not a necessity. I invert and bun in order to avoid totally flat hair in the morning. (It's not stunningly successful, but any little bit helps.)

I topknot inside a sleep cap. I don't clip, because that will always result in headache. Often I have to rebun during the night when the blob flops down and my head presses on it.

Not the most convenient of containment methods, but until I think of something better, this will just have to do.

[ghanima]

I wear my hair down but not 'down my neck', that annoys me a great deal, they have to be laid on the pillow over my head.

[Aredhel]

How do you guys secure your high buns? I usually use a medium sized claw clip, but my bun is usually a mess by the morning because of how much of a crazy sleeper I am.

I just use a Ficcare. :)

[school of fish]

How do you guys secure your high buns? I usually use a medium sized claw clip, but my bun is usually a mess by the morning because of how much of a crazy sleeper I am.

Short hair stick for me. It's a little disheveled-looking by morning but usually maintains most of its structural integrity :)

[T0n1c]

I know they're hideously out of fashion, but I usually use a scrunchie to secure a sleep bun (or a just-puttering-around-home bun, for that matter).

Same here. I've been wearing scrunchies for several years now. Even before the wealth of wisdom here on LHC I learned they were gentler on the hair.

I've switched to satin scrunchies, so as to be even gentler on my hair, and that is how I secure either a high bun or a 'pineapple' for sleeping. Heck, I wear them out too (wearing one now) I just do a lower bun. Fashion be darned, I just want my hair up and protected. If I'm feeling extra punchy, I will coordinate with my clothes (from my whopping 4 colors of satin scrunchie!)

[Suze]

I use hairpins or a scrunchie, or sometimes even spin pins. Tried a short hairstick but it was a big no. But that could also be due to the (lacking) length of my hair.

[Dark40]

I also use to think that I could sleep with my hair down too but over the years sleeping on cotton pillows I haven't been able to. I have to either put it in a ponytail or braid it in 2.

[vampyyri]

I can't... the one time I tried, my husband kept rolling onto it, and since I'm a restless sleeper... shudder:

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

Bent ends are probably mechanical wear and tear and not splits or any of the like. See what your hair does once you've washed it again after discovering them. You may be laying on it funny.

Well, for one, after washing 50% of them seem to “disappear” but it could be because during washing they’re actually snapping off. I always do the bend test before snipping them out and half of them usually do. Plus by the time I’ve showered and gotten out and depending on where I am, the light changed and I can’t find every single one again. And secondly it seems to just always look 10x worse after a braid or if I’ve slept with hair down. Like I just can tell a huge difference.
So for me, I’m assuming my ends are getting rubbed and just getting really broken apart.
My boyfriend also loves to just randomly rub my back, it’s sweet, but he’s doing it when my hair is down and ends up doing the same rubbing motion as I would probably end up doing in my sleep. I don’t like to snap but sometimes I have to remind him my hair is there and he NEEDS to move it before rubbing me lol
But all in all, I’ve tried the whole wash and see what happens and yes some do go away. I know the nature of the beast when it comes to wavy hair. But not all of them go away, and I think a lot of them are from the rubbing going on during sleep.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

How do you guys secure your high buns? I usually use a medium sized claw clip, but my bun is usually a mess by the morning because of how much of a crazy sleeper I am.
Spin pins give me the most secure hold. But it completely ruins my pattern.

[mira-chan]

I couldn't, apart from everything else, it's too long and would probably strangle both myself and DH...

Something like this. My hair would eat both of us if I let it loose. I move too much in my sleep too for it to stay in one place. I braid mine in single braid with a folded up end. I don't really get damage from sleeping with it loose or tangling too much as my hair is quite coarse. I more fear strangling myself with it by accident.

[Reyn127]

I've never tried satin sheets, but I don't think there's any way I could really wear my hair down while I sleep. The amount of tangles would be insane, even with good sheets I would be rubbing against the blankets and everything. I used to have myself trained to flip my hair up over my pillow while sleeping, but that didn't entirely prevent tangles. Now that it's getting even longer I don't think that would be enough.

My braid gives me pretty bad damage, as well. I don't use heat but I get tons of white dots, I think, from braid ties and just rubbing. I've also tried sleeping caps but they just do not stay on. These days, when I'm sleeping I usually have my hair in a nautilus bun on top of my head, held with a short hair fork so I can move around without my bun getting in the way. This way so far has been the most gentle on my hair while sleeping.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I've never tried satin sheets, but I don't think there's any way I could really wear my hair down while I sleep. The amount of tangles would be insane, even with good sheets I would be rubbing against the blankets and everything. I used to have myself trained to flip my hair up over my pillow while sleeping, but that didn't entirely prevent tangles. Now that it's getting even longer I don't think that would be enough.

My braid gives me pretty bad damage, as well. I don't use heat but I get tons of white dots, I think, from braid ties and just rubbing. I've also tried sleeping caps but they just do not stay on. These days, when I'm sleeping I usually have my hair in a nautilus bun on top of my head, held with a short hair fork so I can move around without my bun getting in the way. This way so far has been the most gentle on my hair while sleeping.
Sounds A LOT like my hair.

[T0n1c]

I've never tried satin sheets, but I don't think there's any way I could really wear my hair down while I sleep. The amount of tangles would be insane, even with good sheets I would be rubbing against the blankets and everything. I used to have myself trained to flip my hair up over my pillow while sleeping, but that didn't entirely prevent tangles. Now that it's getting even longer I don't think that would be enough.

My braid gives me pretty bad damage, as well. I don't use heat but I get tons of white dots, I think, from braid ties and just rubbing. I've also tried sleeping caps but they just do not stay on. These days, when I'm sleeping I usually have my hair in a nautilus bun on top of my head, held with a short hair fork so I can move around without my bun getting in the way. This way so far has been the most gentle on my hair while sleeping.

That is why I haven't tried a sleeping cap yet. I don't have a lot of faith that it would last through a night of my tossing and turning.

[Reyn127]

Sounds A LOT like my hair.

Yeah it kind of seemed that way to me, too. Like fine and a bit unruly? What I use when I sleep is just use a double ended knitting needle that I bent in the middle, so the two sides are now more or less parallel, the prongs a little less than an inch apart. It's only like 4 inches long which is JUST long enough, but it also doesn't have any extra bulk to snag on things while I sleep.


That is why I haven't tried a sleeping cap yet. I don't have a lot of faith that it would last through a night of my tossing and turning.

Yeah... I gave sleeping caps a really good try, but they always came off. I tried sooo many ways of tying it, but the best I ever got it had me putting it back on "only" once in the middle of the night, haha. And I always had to tie it uncomfortably tight to give it any chance of staying on, which just caused my head to feel kind of squeezed.

[PixieP]

I haven't slept with it loose since it was between SL and APL. I turn around a whole lot and I kept waking up because my hair got trapped under me. I pile it into a high cinnabun, held with a small fork (inserted from the back, prongs pointing towards my face). I sleep on my side, back and stomach, and this way my hair is never in my way. I only have my natural texture on wash day before bed, but honestly it's not like I wear it loose a lot anyway, only when I go out, and I'm home most days.

[ShahMat]

I've slept with my hair loose until I've found out about LHC (which means waist+/almost hip), and I just couldn't figure why my hair was such a frizzy, tangled mess every morning.
Little did I know xD
Now I couldn't sleep without my cinnabun and not wake up looking like Cousin Itt.
I also tried a low ponytail or braids but both try to strangle me in my sleep, I think it's because I move too much o.o

[enting]

I'm still cutting out splits and shreds from sleeping with it down for a week when I was sick a while ago. Sleeping with it down is a definite no for my hair. I either braid it or bun it in a topknot with pins or a small hairfork. Even those can allow damage, though. The braid shreds, the topknot can rub my headboard, but they're still a far sight better than leaving it all down. I've never yet tried a satin pillowcase.

[Dendra]

I'm considering switching from an English braid to a high bun. I did try a high bun once and it was an exploded mess by the morning, so I'll try a claw clip rather than a fork. To be honest I don't notice much damage from braiding or even wearing my hair down to sleep, but surely the friction can't be great for it.

[Beeboo123]

That is why I haven't tried a sleeping cap yet. I don't have a lot of faith that it would last through a night of my tossing and turning.

Anchor them to your earrings!

[Frankenstein]

I always slept with my hair down until two years ago. Now I can’t be without my satin sleep bonnet.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I can't be without my sleep bonnet. Sometimes it will slip off, but to combat this I tie an old stretchy long sleeved shirt around my head as a blindfold, and not only does it keep the cap on and my head extra warm, it stops the light waking me up early in the morning. What does it look like? Well, I don't have to see it so I don't care :D :p

[Lisa Long4Life]

I can't, because I toss and turn and strangle myself.
I have to either braid it (but I get waves), wear my cap (which flattens my hair and I have to pin away from my fringe), or bun it. So I have been bunning lately.

[Lisa Long4Life]

How do you guys secure your high buns? I usually use a medium sized claw clip, but my bun is usually a mess by the morning because of how much of a crazy sleeper I am.

spin pins or a short hair stick recently: a scrunchie and a cinnbun ish type bun I guess.

[enting]

I'll add that no matter how I secure my hair for sleeping, it's still a mess by morning. It's safer than when let loose, but I usually wind up with a loose, frizzed out braid or a giant puffed halo of hair with my "topknot" slipped over to one side or the other, depending which way I tilt my head. It's quite amusing-looking, really.

[melikai]

I wear my hair down all day, but once I got to waist I had to start putting it up when I sleep. It gets trapped under me when I toss and turn in bed, and is annoying. So, I put it up in a high pineapple bun, with the extra ends wrapped around and clipped down. I sleep on a silk satin pillowcase, as well.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I'll add that no matter how I secure my hair for sleeping, it's still a mess by morning. It's safer than when let loose, but I usually wind up with a loose, frizzed out braid or a giant puffed halo of hair with my "topknot" slipped over to one side or the other, depending which way I tilt my head. It's quite amusing-looking, really.

Its about the same for me. I am a very violent sleeper!
I wish I could wear a sleep cap like some of you do but it slips off at night 89% of the time, so I have the pillow case instead.