Best for sleeping?

[katydid317]

Is it better to sleep with your hair up or down? My hair isn't really long enough and is too layery to stay in a braid while I sleep, but I am wondering if I should be sleeping with it up instead of down? Any style suggestions if so?

[jojo]

I started braiding mine for bed when I hit bsl

[freckles]

you could try a banded ponytail (elastics along length of ponytail) to keep those layers contained?

[JamieLeigh]

I don't like the friction from braids worn in the daytime, so I definitely don't wear them to bed when there's more chance of rubbing it around under my body. (Besides, I don't think I could sleep with a braid under my back...I'm already enough of a light sleeper!) I just leave mine loose. Sometimes I throw it over the pillow towards the headboard, sometimes I throw it off the side of the bed. I've been doing this all my life and it has never caused me a problem. :)

[Tess2319]

Is it better to sleep with your hair up or down? My hair isn't really long enough and is too layery to stay in a braid while I sleep, but I am wondering if I should be sleeping with it up instead of down? Any style suggestions if so?

I started braiding my hair for bed when it was shorter than yours and heavily layered. Before it was long enough for a single braid down the back I would put in in two french braids - more behind my ears than down the back - to catch the short ones in the front. It didn't always totally stay, but good enough.

I can't stand hair in my face while I sleep, so it's important to me to pull it back.

[katydid317]

It doesn't bother me to just leave it loose, I was just thinking in terms of preventing damage. I may try a couple of french braids for sleeping but I bet I will be too lazy to keep it up.

[florenonite]

...I sleep with my hair down <...<

I used to braid it, but didn't like the braid waves. I tried a bun on top of my head, but that always fell out midway through the night (I couldn't find a good way to secure it), so now I just sleep with it loose. I find it helps to oil lightly before bed, but I need to be careful: if I oil too much I end up not being able to keep it up the next day! If you're finding your hair difficult to detangle in the morning, you might want to put it up, but if it's fine in the morning (I often don't even comb/brush mine; just a quick finger-comb), then you can probably get by without securing it.

[Deborah]

I've slept for most of my life with my hair tossed up and over the top of the pillow. This has always kept it out of the way, and is probably a pretty safe location for it.

Now-days, sometimes I put it in a braid first, but I think that's just due to LHC peer pressure. I never use an elastic, as that would defeat the idea of keeping the hair safe, so the braid doesn't usually stay braided. Once in a while I'll use a cut off piece of toddler tights to secure the end. This seems to work pretty well.

Until your hair is long enough to get in your way or get caught under you, I don't think you need to do anything. If I were you I'd wait until it starts to bug you, then experiment to see what is comfy. :)

[Pierre]

I always put it in a Buff, except when hennaing. I often keep it in the same style as I wore during the day. Sometimes I braid it before sleeping so that the strands' curl can align to the braid.

[piratejenny23]

I usually put my hair in a high bun for sleeping. Braids bother me as I end up sleeping on them, and I don't like the waves. However, the bottom layer of my hair gets a lot of split ends, and since that's the part that's exposed when my hair is in a bun, I started thinking that maybe there's some pulling and friction going on?

An African-American friend once showed me a cotton pillowcase after she had slept on it, and it was covered in little broken hairs. She said, This is why I sleep on a satin pillowcase! Also, cotton is absorbent so mightn't it absorb oil & moisture from your hair?

I'm trying to get in the habit, when I put my hair in a bun before bed, of putting a little hair lotion or hair strengthener on that bottom layer. Or using a satin scarf (wrapped like a towel turban). But I'm looking for suggestions too!

[Laylah]

My hair ended up in one huge dreadlock (almost!) after a night of sleeping with my hair loose. Although there is friction caused by the braid, I'm sure the breakage caused by attempting to detangle my hair would be much greater. I don't use an elastic to tie off my braid, instead I use a scrunchie or a regular rag of cloth.

[Aer]

I would still try putting it up in some way, but if you don't want to, and it isn't really long yet, you probably could get by leaving it down until you reach a longer length.

[maxzeen]

An African-American friend once showed me a cotton pillowcase after she had slept on it, and it was covered in little broken hairs. She said, This is why I sleep on a satin pillowcase! Also, cotton is absorbent so mightn't it absorb oil & moisture from your hair?

I agree with the pillowcase. I use to use just a regular cotton pillow case and my hair would end up in a tangled and knotty mess with a lot of damage. When i switched to a silk/satin pillowcase, my hair literally glides off the pillowcase, and now when I wake my up in the morning, my hair is nice and silky, and not all tangled.

[Anje]

I usually sleep with my hair loose inside a satin sleep bonnet. Satin pillowcases are OK, but I tend to end up sleeping on my hair with them, and I can't sleep in a bun. They don't feel good on my face, either -- I like cotton!

[twolunarspring]

Because my one-year-old daughter comes into bed with me at night and generally clambers about, I end up migrating off my lovely silk pillowcase at some point, so I don't get maximum benefit! When I do manage to stay on it, though, it's really good for my hair. I am trying to find a way to wear my hair up in silk overnight.

[Vijikanth]

I usually put it into a ponytail as loose as possible or go for a low pigtail just below the ears so that I can twist and turn without any issues.

[feb26]

My hair's bra-strap length and I sleep with it loose, tossed to the side. Doesn't bug me at all to have it loose and braided it's a mess to deal with in the morning...do whatever works best for you! Try it loose, then braided: n let us know what worked! (curious now)

[Amara]

Lately I've been taking my usual cinnabun or figure 8 bun down, but not unwinding it. It stays pretty twisted throughout the night, so it doesn't get tangly, but I also don't have any hairtoys to worry about while I'm sleeping. It's been working lately!