The boyfriend, who has small-of-the-back length hair, flips it over the back of the pillow. Sometimes he puts it up in a high ponytail, but I prefer the pillow method, as it is the only method that stops his hair from invading my personal space.
Hm. I haven’t thought about this for a long time. Usually I just wear it loose, but pushed back behind my shoulders when I’m sleeping. Haven’t had a problem with it in several years, probably either due to the fact my ninja hair-pushing reflexes are incredibly well-honed–like Myron suggested–or I tend to sleep like a log. I fall asleep fast and generally wake up in the position I lost consciousness in–no movement apparently.
I date guys with long hair. It’s just a thing about me.
My husband sleeps all over it. It never seems to bother him, and gosh, he just looks so cute with it all tangled about him on the pillow there… (sigh). But that doesn’t help you much.
A former boyfriend took black pantyhose (because he had black hair) and cut them up into ‘calamari’ and used them as scrunchies, but without the nasty metal bit that can yank your hair out, or the thin band of elastic which can pull uncomfortably. I’d guess you could cut them fairly long and it would still be comfortable to sleep on, and you wouldn’t have the curling effect braiding gives it.