Hi-I´m not a curly head-in fact very straight ,so I don´t know if this will be of help:If braiding doesn´t work,how about a sleeping cap?Made of silk or satin maybe?That should take care of the tangles!

Or how about rolling your hair around a heavy cotton sock or two?  Although I don't have curly hair, I find this is a good way to "control" my hair at night and it doesn't put tight waves or curls into my hair.

My "sock curls": I find that a heavy cotton sock works best - crew or tube length.  I can roll my waist length hair on a crew sock, but if you have thick hair, a tube sock could be easier.  You roll the ends of your hair around the sock, then rolling under like with a regular roller, roll your hair onto the sock.  When you reach your scalp, take the ends of the sock and gently tie.  This will put you hair in a type of bun with the ends of the sock sticking out of the top.  (Remember to roll the hair under or the bun will get sloppy and fall out).

You can use one sock at the back of the head, or two - one on each side.  If you want to increase the curls, use even more socks. 

Give this a try and see how it works!

Hi -

These are all great suggestions that I'm going to keep in mind for when my hair is long enough to wear up at night *wistful sigh* Do any of you have advice for how to sleep with curly hair which is still quite short? I have to rinse my hair every day because sleeping on it turns it into non-curly, enormous '80s hair. Since I always try to air-dry it, it's a real pain waiting for it to dry so I can go out.

/Kate

The closest experience I have with curly hair goes back to when I had a curly perm about 25 years ago!  I would use a spray bottle to dampen my hair each day which would rejuvenate the curls after sleeping on them.