Nighttime styles for thick dense APL hair

[hairhair]

I'm having some serious issues with my hair at night now. I was going to take a photo of the tangle I had to cut out this morning (with paper scissors because I don't have hair scissors yet :rolleyes:), but anyway, I digress. Basically, it's a good thing I've got LHC because I've just been reminded why I never grow much past APL.

I want to braid my hair at night but the problem is that it's really dense, so even though the ponytail is almost APL, its length-thickness ratio is really small, so it's quite a stubby ponytail. Not only is it hard to braid, but I have to use two normal hair ties and a headband rolled around multiple times to keep (most of) my hair in a ponytail at night. I was considering starting the braid high on my head, which might resolve the length issue somewhat.

Do you think this would work? I've only been losing a few hairs/day since I switched to combing only, but today I must have lost/broken at least twenty, not including the 12-15 that were in the nightmare knot.

Thanks!

[HumanBean]

I started braiding a night when APL also. I did two braids, because it wasn't staying in just one. I also learned to Dutch braid, as for some reason this contained my layers better than a regular English braid. Just a couple of suggestions.

[ladylowtide]

I did to dutch braids for while. Like the above poster said they seem to be easier to do on very layered hair. Anything with two is more likely to contain your hair.

[Cinnamoon]

I'll concur with two braids. Twin french braids are especially good.

[ariesfairies]

Doing two braids... how?! :P When I do it I wake up with a birds nest in the back of my head :(

If hairstyles still get you down, try a good old fashioned night cap :)

[Sylvestrix]

I have issues with keeping my hair up at night too- mostly caused by the fact that I tend to rub my head against my pillow when I'm asleep like some sort of insane nuzzling creature!

It tends to jump out of braids the minute I move my head, and the only style I've found so far that I can rely on is a bun right on the top of my head. It's not particularly attractive, but it is comfortable, and keeps my hair up and out of the way :)

[pink.sara]

What kind of hair do you have? Is it straight, curly? this would make a difference on suggestions.

Also this probably wont be enormously helpful as I had the same issue but I couldn't make 2 braids or even one until my hair got to about 24 inches as it was too thick, so I slept with a pony on the top of my head.
This did make for tangles in the escaping nape of neck hair in the morning but if I oiled lightly before bed it made them easy to untangle.

Now it's a bit longer I bend over the bed and french braid from my neck upwards to my crown then put the rest in a topknot to keep it out of the way and stop all the escapees at the bottom.

This might be possible for you (?) and with a little practice only takes a minute to do.

[hairhair]

Thanks so much guys! I've had it in braids for two nights now, and since discovering how nice that looks on me, two days as well! It's worked really well in keeping the tangles out and it's also encouraging as my braids are almost as long as they were back in 2010 right before I cut. I always used to cut around this length due to the tangle issue -- which I've now overcome -- onwards to waist!

Thanks guys! :)