Separating...I'm at my wits end!

Ok, so I'm just going to break down and ask and hopefully someone here can help me. My dreads are about five months now, doing fine for the most part...only one problem...they have matted together horribly and refuse to stay separated. I've already gone through one overhaul on the back of my head and ripped them apart, but it's happened again now and I feel like I just can't keep up with them. They insist on being a beaver tail! haha

So what I'm asking is, should I just keep ripping them apart and eventually they will stop or is there something else I should do? Should I be doing something particular to them to go to sleep at night so they don't rub on the pillow all night? Should I put bands on them? Not? Because it seems like after getting them all separated again there is just a bunch more loose hair to knit together in a halo and make it worse faster. I just feel like I'm missing some magical piece of information that hopefully someone here might have. haha Any assistance appreciated

updated by @maggie-miller: 01/13/15 09:15:28PM

i wouldn't do bands but you might try wrapping some of your worst offenders with either hemp or embroidery floss to keep them in line. i haven't had any separating problems yet so thats all i can think of.

just keep ontop odf it it gets better as they mature but till mature you do j=have to seoerate alot

i probly subconsously s=did it al day long without thinking

the more u keep ontpo-p of it the easier it is

efvebtualy they wikll behave

now i do a minor seperation every 3 months or so and hardkl=ly any needs it but i let most congo already last 4 years

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

This was my reason for combing out my first set of dreads. Mine was all at the roots though. Nothing my hair did wrong, I just wasn't seperating enough and I had two sections on each side of my head that were just matted up hair.... and not in a good way. I started over, the natural way this time(first time was backcombed). I don't have much problem with them growing together, but if I don't seperate every day or two, they get harder to seperate. It's very normal, the more your hair moves, the more you have to seperate. I have a few smaller dreads that I let congo with other small dreads, as I thought they were too small compared to some of my others. Just watch the big ones, they're the worst!

Good luck!!!