dreads and hair length

I have heard dreads take away from the length of your hair, I have beenn considering dreads for years, and my hair takes forever to grow, to get it from shoulder length to almost the middle of my back as taken almost 5 yrs. I really to want to have dreads but unsure of having my length taken away.
updated by @nikki3: 02/14/15 11:25:20AM

u will lose length for the 1st 8 months about but then it just grows and growsthre reason it takes u so long to grow is...combing..combing causes split ends so u get trims every couple months losing 1/4 to 1/2 inch every 2 months cuts your growth rate in 1/2when u dread u never trim..so it grows faster after the initial shrinkage periodand shoulder to mid back in 5 years isnt slow its average


--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

The reason I think its slow because, I have only had 3 trims in all this time, have been on prenatals because of two pregnancys and it still took this long, now the prenatals did help a little to help add a little length, but its good to know that it wouldn't take that long to get my length back after dreading.

if u keep em healthy dont do alotta damage theres no reason u wont be able to keep em a lifetime and have em grow well beyond tour toes nikki said:

The reason I think its slow because, I have only had 3 trims in all this time, have been on prenatals because of two pregnancys and it still took this long, now the prenatals did help a little to help add a little length, but its good to know that it wouldn't take that long to get my length back after dreading.

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Ok so how do I start them, but still keep a cleaner look? Ii work at a daycare and don't want to scare the children. I prefer to do it as naturally as possible. soaringeagle said:

if u keep em healthy dont do alotta damage theres no reason u wont be able to keep em a lifetime and have em grow well beyond tour toes

nikki said:

The reason I think its slow because, I have only had 3 trims in all this time, have been on prenatals because of two pregnancys and it still took this long, now the prenatals did help a little to help add a little length, but its good to know that it wouldn't take that long to get my length back after dreading.

The easiest way to keep them as neat as they can be and still natural is twist 'n' rip ^-^and SE... seeing as this post is about length.. how much length is lost over the shrinking period?roughly in inches? I wanna know what im in for XD hahahaoh and how many inches will it grow a year arfter shrinking?

hard to say for shrinkage it can vary alot but u do loose a good mit 50% or soand then about 6-8 inches a year growthgoinfg natural the shrinkage and growrth kinda cacle eachother somewhat so its not so dreasdtic..backcomb and other starter methods u can lose like 1/2 the length 1st day then another 1/3 off that over several monthsbut natural cause its more gradual u probly wont notice so much drastic shrinkage (some tho) onstead it just wont grow alot till theyre pretty locked uplong hair tends to dread faster naturalyof and shrinkage can be unpredictable some hair may shrink alot more then others but thats usualy the case with pretty thick dreadsno matter the shrinkage if u like long hair dreads are the way to go so u arent having to spend tins of time untangling and caring for longer hairi


--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

thaaaaannkkksss SE you're awesome!I have a feeling my hair wont shrink TOO much. if it does then who cares!! =Doh and sorry for ambushing your thread nikki XD hehe...

So is the twist and rip an OK alternative to natural? soaringeagle said:

hard to say for shrinkage it can vary alot but u do loose a good mit 50% or so
and then about 6-8 inches a year growth

goinfg natural the shrinkage and growrth kinda cacle eachother somewhat so its not so dreasdtic..backcomb and other starter methods u can lose like 1/2 the length 1st day then another 1/3 off that over several months
but natural cause its more gradual u probly wont notice so much drastic shrinkage (some tho) onstead it just wont grow alot till theyre pretty locked up
long hair tends to dread faster naturaly

of and shrinkage can be unpredictable some hair may shrink alot more then others but thats usualy the case with pretty thick dreads



no matter the shrinkage if u like long hair dreads are the way to go so u arent having to spend tins of time untangling and caring for longer hair

i

its the next best thing to natural =] its how mine are and im loving it. Take a look at my timeline thread... nikki said:

So is the twist and rip an OK alternative to natural?
soaringeagle said:

hard to say for shrinkage it can vary alot but u do loose a good mit 50% or so
and then about 6-8 inches a year growth

goinfg natural the shrinkage and growrth kinda cacle eachother somewhat so its not so dreasdtic..backcomb and other starter methods u can lose like 1/2 the length 1st day then another 1/3 off that over several months
but natural cause its more gradual u probly wont notice so much drastic shrinkage (some tho) onstead it just wont grow alot till theyre pretty locked up
long hair tends to dread faster naturaly

of and shrinkage can be unpredictable some hair may shrink alot more then others but thats usualy the case with pretty thick dreads



no matter the shrinkage if u like long hair dreads are the way to go so u arent having to spend tins of time untangling and caring for longer hair

i