Minimal progress after 2 1/2 months natural

Hello fellow dreadies. I know that i am most likely over thinking it, but im wondering if im doing something wrong which slows down the dreading process. I stopped combing 2 1/2 months ago and started washing with baking soda 2 weeks thereafter. So far I am loving the process but feel like im doing something wrong. I have thick, loose, curly hair that ranges in length anywhere from about 8" to about 1'. I wash very inconsistently. Pretty much anytime i feel dirty or start to see a lot of flakes ill wash it. I hope to stick to baking soda but picked up a bottle of bronners to try out.

Being that i have such thick hair, i was assuming i would have a great deal of progress after just a few months, but sadly that is not the case. I TnR'd one dread which is now super tight, but the rest of my head is still just normal hair. I have 2 other knots, both of which are in the longest part of my hair (along my hairline in the middle of forehead, about 1 foot in length). I follow the instructions from this site on washing and try to keep my hands out of my hair as much as possible. I feel like i must be messing up somewhere because of such little progress. I just wanted to know from you guys how long it took you to REALLY start to knot up? I feel like my hair just isnt doing it for some reason. Any suggestions on what i might be messing up with would be appreciated.

This is my hair now

Here is me on week 1

updated by @jah-lu: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

actualy thats alkot of progress

but

how often are u washing at a guess

have u tried adding sea salt to the mix?

washing lil more often might help

and salt

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

that is looking good for where you are at! agree with SE washing & sea salt will help, & do you have any beads you could throw in there? i love your big curls, they will make for some great dreads <3

I'm in my 3rd month. I agree with SE, its a lot of progress. I did TnR and natural mathod, and after the majority of my TnR untangled they are at the same stage as my natural hair.They're doing basically the same thing as yours, twisting around and tightening into bunchy curls.I don't expect them to look like dreads until 2 yrs at least, it seems to be the exception having them look mature in a year or under.

Thanks for all the support and quick replies! I do put sea salt in my bs wash, but just recently started actually measuring the amount of bs. Before i just dumped "enough" in then poured it over my hair. Thanks for the tip on sleeping with damp hair. I thought that was a no no because they might not dry all the way so i was actually doing my best to avoid sleeping with any moisture in my hair. I definitely want to stick with the natural method, just needed some encouragement that something IS actually happening. Thanks guys!

I have tryed putting some beads in but they wont seem to stay in. Since there is no knot for them to grip, they fall out very easily.

Ixchel said:

that is looking good for where you are at! agree with SE washing & sea salt will help, & do you have any beads you could throw in there? i love your big curls, they will make for some great dreads <3

ah yeah it took me a while to get beads to stay in too, i used wraps (open wraps or short sections of them & move them around often) until beads would stay put

just careful sleeping on damp hair to make sure it dries out all the way, plus sleeping on wet hair can make one big matted mess of a knot that could become a separating nightmare.

Jah-Lu said:

I have tryed putting some beads in but they wont seem to stay in. Since there is no knot for them to grip, they fall out very easily.

Ixchel said:

that is looking good for where you are at! agree with SE washing & sea salt will help, & do you have any beads you could throw in there? i love your big curls, they will make for some great dreads <3