Fellow Braid Sleepers...

[Kaya]

I usually sleep with my hair in a single braid down my back and it has worked wonderfully for the most part. I shower before bed, so my hair is damp and I get lovely braid waves. :cloud9:
My issue is now that my hair is getting longer, so is the braid. I turn over and shift a lot in my sleep, and my braid has started to get in the way. I certainly don't want to wake up to my braid strangling me one day! :bigeyes:
Any advice about how to deal with a longer braid? (My braid is about BSL right now.) I don't want to give up the style; I'm not much for buns, or sleep caps.

[tinti]

Toss the braid over the side/bed? Or stuff it under the pillow above your head?

[muppetcrayz]

Hmm. Throw it over your shoulder? Pin it to your shirt? I'm not good at advice :P

[tinti]

What you also could do is wrap it around your hand once or twice and secure it that way with a tie, so that it gets a bit shorter and doesn't strangle you :p

[Tiina]

Start the braid high on your head (straight up the top if necessary) and put it over your pillow. Or tie/pin the tassel of the braid to the start of your braid.

[Fairlight63]

I have also been wondering what to do with the braid as it gets longer. What I do is curl it up on my pillow behind my head if I am laying on my side.

[squiggyflop]

i throw it above my pillow, but this is an old habit i had for wearing my hair down to bed when it was short.. i toss and turn a lot due to chronic nightmares..

[enfys]

I just leave it dangle off the edge of the pillow. If I roll over I'm so used to it I can move it out of my way in my sleep. Never woken up dead from being strangled yet :D

[Yozhik]

I usually put it above my head or just let it flop around. So far I haven't been strangled :p, but then my hair isn't that long yet and I'm a still sleeper.

[MeganE]

I've been doing two braids at night. That way there isn't a heavy braid bunched directly under me, and they are smaller and less annoying at night. I have totally wondered about the braid/s strangling me at night though. The joys of long hair! :)

[pepperminttea]

I double-up my low braid and tie it with an old scrunchie, so the tassel sticks up. I sleep on my front and side for the most part though, if you sleep on your back it might not be so handy.

[ravenreed]

No matter what I do, it ends up underneath me because I am an active sleeper. I just move it out of the way before I sleep and usually it doesn't bother me once I am asleep. Usually...

[In2wishin]

I double-up my low braid and tie it with an old scrunchie, so the tassel sticks up. I sleep on my front and side for the most part though, if you sleep on your back it might not be so handy.

Came here to say this. I don't do it often because I just seem to be able to move it out of my way in my sleep.

[WaitingSoLong]

I get strangled occasionally by mine. I have begun to braid it to the side (around front) instead, but it doesn't stay as well as downt he back (gets loose on the other side).

I guess I just got used to tossing it out of the way. Once in awhile I wake up with it completely wrapped around my neck. I just unwrap it, toss it aside and go back to sleep. I guess I am not loosing sleep over it. I do wear my custom made sleep cap when I get over the braid bump. Sometimes it still g ives me headaches so I wear my cap. Or sometimes I am too tired to braid before bed. Here is what it looks like:

Sorry the pic is so big, apparently I never edited it for size.

http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp17/Poetry4me75/P1030518.jpg

My hair sticks out the ends now but it got me through TBL just great.

[FluffSpider]

try making a loop of the braid, to shorten it:p
you know, like when you do a pony, and the last coil you only slip over partially, forms a loop.

[islandboo]

My hair strangled me much more when loose than now that I have begun braiding at night (of course, that makes sense because it is functionally shorter). On the other hand it is much easier to remove it now than it was trying to pull all of the individual hairs away, so I don't wake up as fully as I did before and that is nice.

[Magdalene]

scrunchie bun on top of the head- you can still braid it if you like, but it's the only way I can stand to sleep!

[spidermom]

I lay across the bed so that my hair is hanging over the edge and then braid it. That way it ends up in exactly the right place at the top back of my head so that I can direct it over the top of the pillow.

I tried bending toward the floor and braiding it, but it seldom ended up in the right place and would pull when I laid down.

[UP Lisa]

I just tuck mine inside my shirt or nightgown.

[Rivanariko]

I toss it over the pillow and I haven't had a problem with it strangling me if it's braided... I have had it get stuck underneath DF on occasion, and I've rolled onto it and woken myself up by pulling it before, but no strangulation :) I've been thinking of trying a sleep cap, but I don't know if that would feel totally alien or what.

So I guess I have no helpful advice, haha.

[BrightEyes7]

I braid starting at the crown and braid straight up so it goes over my pillow. I move around A LOT in my sleep, so I know what you're talking about. Try doing that.

[spidermom]

I just tuck mine inside my shirt or nightgown.

Really? I hate for my braids to touch my skin because all the little hairs poking out make me itch.

[ravenreed]

Oh my goodness! I thought I was the only one. One reason I trim so much is that split ends poke me even through my clothing and drive me crazy.


Really? I hate for my braids to touch my skin because all the little hairs poking out make me itch.

[Lielananna]

I generally sleep with either a caterpillar braid or a simple english braid. I'm sleeping with a big wrap-around pillow right now, so I have to semi-wake-up when I switch sides anyway so I toss my braid at the same time, but when I was sleeping on a regular pillow, I noticed that my braid just stayed behind me whenever I would flip so there was no worry of it tangling or choking me. The only caveat I have is that I always slept with my hair down and free when it was your length, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not, sorry.

[Deborah]

I have had long hair all my life. I just make a low braid, then flip it up so that it is mostly above my pillow. That way when I flip around in bed, it usually stays out of my way, up above my head.

[Madora]

I put it in a large bun on the very top of my head, secured by 7 3 inch crimped pins. Works like a charm and a breeze to detangle in the morning.

[RitaPG]

When I'm being picky with it, I just tuck the braid under my pj :p

[skyblue]

I just throw it up over my pillow works pretty good ;)

[PrincessBob]

I usually just toss it up toward the top of the bed. I sleep in pigtails, though, and pretty much stay on my back, even if I am sleeping restlessly. (I don't toss and turn in the normal sense I usually end up with my body pointed in a different direction or splay my legs, because it hurts to much to sleep on my side and I suffocate on my tummy.)

[Kaya]

Much :cheese: for everyone who has responded! Thank you!

I think I'll try to do the high braid and drape it over the top of my pillow route. That way it will flop around over the top of the pillow versus flopping over my face and neck when I braid it low! Hopefully it will work with my length. The curve of my memory foam pillow, along with the satin case, likes to send my braid length sliding back down the pillow. Grrrr! Grow hair, grow! :mad:

[Quezie]

Why not take your braid, and then kind of fold it in half and secure it like that with a pony tail holder? Like I've shown in this lovely illustration. XD

http://i54.tinypic.com/140ar92.jpg

[Lostsoule77]

I just throw mine over the pillow. I'm a side sleeper and this tends to keep it out of my way even when I switch sides. If you have a silk pillow case it may not work for you. In that case I wouldn't overly worry about it. Just keep doing whatever you have been and you'll most likely be fine. I think at worst you might lose a dot of sleep while you unwrap your braid. Good luck.

[Phexlyn]

I get strangled occasionally by mine. [...]

I guess I just got used to tossing it out of the way. Once in awhile I wake up with it completely wrapped around my neck. I just unwrap it, toss it aside and go back to sleep. I guess I am not loosing sleep over it.
This, exactly ;) I'm not sure what to do against it, and it's not enough of a bother to try sleeping with a bun on my head.


I just tuck mine inside my shirt or nightgown.
I've done that several times, but my braid managed to wiggle out of my shirt. Sneaky hair :D


I have had it get stuck underneath DF on occasion, and I've rolled onto it and woken myself up by pulling it before
And this as well. DBF has managed to pin me to the bed with my braid several times so I couldn't get up without waking him :o

I've tried throwing the braid over the pillow before I go to sleep, but my hair just loves sneaking up on me. I'll try it with a braid higher on the head again. Thanks for starting this thread! :)

[jackiesjottings]

I braid over one shoulder and that seems to stop me lying on it most of the time.

[AnqeIicDemise]

I have discovered that sleeping with a French braid with the tail tucked inside the pocket made at the skull works.

But with your length of hair, I doubt that's possible. Hmm.. heidi braids pinned in place with amish pins, or is that too convoluted?

[UP Lisa]

The only thing about it that usually bothers me is getting poked with the thing I use to hold the end of the braid.



Really? I hate for my braids to touch my skin because all the little hairs poking out make me itch.

[bunzfan]

I was wondering the same thing, my hair is about the same length as yours and recently if i don't have it over my shoulder the braid gets caught and my head gets yanked back not pleasant. I cant wear it in a bun as i wake up with sore shoulders for some reason ....

[LadyCelestina]

I don´t really have long hair,but I have curls and if I don´t want them to end up all smashed up and messy the next day,I just have to put them up.But since a plain bun on top of my head with a scrunchie always gives me strange bun waves - I braid my hair into two braids,then put them up and secure with a scrunchie. Then I tuck the ends of the braids in.

This may not work for extra long hair through.