i have read a lot about tam hats, pillow covers, etc. and i crocheted a tam hat about a week ago. but i still want to know if its ok for me to sleep in it with dreadlocks that are 15 days old. i mean i've been wearing it at night and i think its helping. but if its actually hindering the process, then i want to know so that i can stop wearing it. i twist & ripped and have since just gradually started to leave them alone.
Hey there. It is not necessary to wear any hat or tam to bed. The sections want to be wild and move around while you sleep. This knots the hair more, the tossing around. I noticed you did T&R but have since just gradually started to leave them alone. What have you been doing since you made the sections?
All you need to do is keep your hair clean and separate any sections trying to join together,that's it, pretty easy. Those sections you made are not dreads but the blueprints to them. They will drastically change over the next year. They will loosen, zig & zag and loop and shrink. They will need to loosen in order to do this, so please do not re-twist any or you will go back to square one each time. You will be excited by the changes. Washing & letting the hair move is the quickest way for it to dread.
It good you can crochet yourself all different color tams, some days you'll want to wear one when you go out, on those very messy days that we all have sometimes.
Peace
Wearing a tam during the day does make the sections at the neck line dread faster, causes them to knot up.
my sections really started locking up and then i found out that your dread will be as big as the section you made, and mine were well on their way to becoming congos. i know mine are only 15 days old, but they were really changing. as much as i want to leave them alone, i have already had to separate a few sections. and then i found out i was twisting and ripping wrong. but when my friend gets back from rome i'm going to have her help meseparatethe dreads i already have. i want thinner dreadlocks and like i said, mine were about to start becoming huge. i was really excited though, they were swallowing a lot of loose hairs and changing fast. but i've just had this gut feeling that i wasn't happy with what they were going to turn into.
and thank you for all of your advice the past few days 
the Barrellady said:
Hey there. It is not necessary to wear any hat or tam to bed. The sections want to be wild and move around while you sleep. This knots the hair more, the tossing around. I noticed you did T&R but have since just gradually started to leave them alone. What have you been doing since you made the sections?
All you need to do is keep your hair clean and separate any sections trying to join together,that's it, pretty easy. Those sections you made are not dreads but the blueprints to them. They will drastically change over the next year. They will loosen, zig & zag and loop and shrink. They will need to loosen in order to do this, so please do not re-twist any or you will go back to square one each time. You will be excited by the changes. Washing & letting the hair move is the quickest way for it to dread.
It good you can crochet yourself all different color tams, some days you'll want to wear one when you go out, on those very messy days that we all have sometimes.
Peace
i love wearing my tam. i really wish i could wear it to work, but they won't let me. i do like sleeping in it, its almost automatic for me.
melanie rose said:
I usually sleep in one (very loose) and the back of my head has shown lots of progress. That could also be because I sleep on my back.. I dunno, personal preference I guess. Don't bother yourself with it, but if it comes natural as it does for me, go for it. Definitely wont hinder anything :]
i think it really did help. because my dreads started swallowing up hairs around them and getting really tight. but then i found out that your dreads will be as big as the section you made and my sections were way to big and i don't want congos or really fat dreadlocks yet. but yeah, i think the tam really helped them so i'm going to continue to wear it at night or whenever. except for at work ; - ;
Robyn said:
I have never tried sleeping with a tam on but some people have experienced progress by wearing a tam at night. It's whatever you want to do.
i slept with a tam for something like a month... it helped my dreads [not so much, but it helped]... but you can have big problems... like having to separate more... i have to separate everyday... when i was sleeping with my tam i had to separate 4x a day... so i wouldn't recommend it for you if you want thinner locks, and if your sections congo too fast
@ diego, i think my tam helped, but i've noticed i've had to separate every day as well, several times a day like you. i could figure out if i was just paranoid or what. but i'm glad to know now that someone else is experiencing the same problem and i don't think we even have the same hair type. yeah i was noticing that mine were on their way to congos once they got through the first couple of months. i didn't like my sectioning. so i took them out and i'm going to redo them because i do want thinner dreads
@ robyn,
have you worn your tam at night since you typed that saturday? have you noticed it helped or not? how are you btw?
