My hair is getting rediculously long, but I’m sure as heck not going to pay someone to cut it or hack at it myself. So until my mom makes it up for a visit, it shall remain long. I’ve had long hair most of my life, and a problem has always plagued me. What do I do with it when I go to sleep? If I leave it loose, unbound, I end up rolling on it and getting tangled in it. Also it inhibits my movement (I get stuck.) If I twist it into a bun, which I usually do, I have a huge wad of hair and clip that I have to rest on - completely uncomfortable arrangement. I asked my boyfriend, who also has long hair, and he complained of the same problems. So. . .any suggestions?
I, of course, meant “ridiculously.”
Personally, I leave it loose and dream of the huge snarls I’ll have to deal with when I get up, and delight in the cursing of my SO when he’s removing them from, shall we say, inopportune places? 
but you want to have it somewhat contained? how about loose braiding?
My kid has fairly long hair and she braids it loosely. Eons ago when I wore mine long, I rolled it up in curlers for the night… what was I thinking???
I have the same problems you complain of, as well as the unpleasant feeling of suffocating when it wraps around my head.
I used to braid mine for bed, which works pretty well. Lately I’ve been too lazy for that & just ponytail it, usually with 3 or 4 bands spaced fairly evenly down the tail.
Either of these mean that it’s only lumpy when I forget to pull it over my shoulder & lie on it instead.
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My hair is better traveled than I am. I’ve had friends call and complain because they’ve found my hair in their houses…houses that I’ve never seen, much less entered. I have a LOT of hair. 
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Hummm. A braid’s a good idea except then my hair would be all kinky in the mornin. I’ve never tried a “loose” braid. Perhaps I’ll give it a try and see how I like it. Thanks!
FairyChatMom, curlers!? Ugh, I can’t imagine.
redtail23, that’s one of the disadvantages of easily distinguishable hair. . .everyone knows it’s your’s.
My hair isn’t as long as it used to be, but when it was all the way down my back I used to sweep it up over the top of the pillow. It got to be so much of a habit that I automatically ‘resweep’ it whenever I turn over. It pretty much stays out of my way.
I also used to braid my hair, but I didn’t mind the wavy look.
A former girl friend used to put those elastic band ‘thingies’ about every 8 inches , holding her >1.5 yard-long hair in a long queue. Worked pretty well, and didn’t require braiding.
Mine, well, it was (is) too damn curly to do anything with, so I just suffered.
Try a ponytail at the nape of the neck and then braid loosely. Also works well for thwaping unsuspecting bedmates in the middle of the night.
I also sweep my hair up over the pillow, and that works well; as cher mentioned, keeping it swept up becomes a habit after a while. I rarely have problems with it–this technique probably works better for fine, straight hair than thick/curly.
Long hair? You just have to keep it for a few years and your reflexes will develop: you’ll be able to flip it out of the way as you move in your sleep without waking up at all.
Your long-haired brain-in-a-jar,
Myron
What I usually do, with my waist length hair, is put it up into a ponytail or bun on the top of my head… I know it isn’t the most attractive thing, but I don’t care. No one sees it but my roommate; I’m pretty sure she couldn’t care less. It seems to work well enough.
BTW: Ponytail when I get my shower in the morning, Bun when I get my shower before bed (It stays nice and damp and enhances my naturally curly hair with no effort at all. I just put mousse in it in the morning and go.)
I had waist-length hair for several years. I kept it in a braid when I slept or went swimming. Since I am in the habit of showering in the morning, the kinky hair thing didn’t bother me. If I was, for some reason, unable to shower, I would just brush my hair out and rebraid it, and that would be my style for the day.
I looove having shorter hair! I look at old pictures of myself and can’t believe I went to all that trouble! (And it looked hideous. Long hair can look great, but mine was like a rat’s nest.)
What do I do? Flip it over the pillow, then when it comes loose, thwap my husband in the face with it repeatedly. Sometimes the cat sits on it, and I wake up with a crick in my neck…
I am a night braider at times…usually a tight braid, for the waves. If you don’t want waves, you can do a twist–that’s a 2 part braid, sort of. Ponytail holder top & bottom. See? No kink, except where the pt holder was. Ta-dah!!!
I don’t know what’s wrong with you people. Just unscrew your head and put it on the nightstand, jeez.
My hair is just to the middle of my back now but when it was longer(to my butt) I would sort of pull it up like I was going to make a ponytail at the top of my head, toss that over the top of the pillow and tuck in under the backside of the pillow. It’s really comfortable and will actually stay tucked when I turn from side to side.
Either that or braids–1 very loose if I didn’t want it wavey or 3-5 tight braids when I wanted it to look like a spiral perm. If you really want it to look like a perm, you can try rag rolling it.
Ok. So I tried the “flip over the pillow” thing last night. It seemed a bit too much work, but perhaps my reflexes will develop. I opted not to braid it cause it was wet and prolly wouldn’t dry by mornin.
My hair length is usually half way down my back. I don’t have a problem with it tangling at night. I keep it in a ponytail at home, and I often forget to take it out before bed, but that gives me a slight neck ache when I wake up.
Last year I had braids with extensions to my waist, and I had to sleep with my hair swept over the pillow, to keep the braids from getting too messy.
Mine is just shy of waist-length. I leave it free, and deal with the tangles gently in the morning. To minimize them, I brush it out just before bed and then again upon rising. I have a handy bottle of leave-in conditioner or detangler handy to help out, if needed.
FWIW, it will help night tangling if you sleep on a satin pillowcase.