Misjudge your hair type
Type 4 and type 3 hair textures have some similar characteristics and they often appear simultaneously at one head. If you are indeed 4C hair but follow the hair routine as type 3, you may find that your hair is prevented from growing. Identify your curly type and curl pattern, take advice from people in the same hair texture, then experiment with a different hair routine, you might get another result.
Expose your hair to cotton pillowcase styled night
Wrap your hair with silk everyday is a protective method to protect type 4 hair from getting frizzy. However, exposing your hair to cotton pillowcase everyday seem to be one reason that why your natural hair break off quickly.
Using too much/ too often hair products
Most of popular hairstyles in natural hair community need apply kinds of hair products every time. Putting these chemicals to every strand of your natural hair everyday will lead to the pause of hair growth as well, especially hair products with harmful chemicals. Check the ingredients carefully when you decide to use them. Hair gel and glue should be used as less as possible.
Manipulate your hair too often
Regular detangle and trim are necessary but over-manipulate would bring much pressure to your natural hair. Leave your hair alone and let it grow naturally would be best for your hair. Deal with your hair when in need. For example, detangle your hair when they get matted and frizzy to prevent further breakage and shedding, trim your hair when the growth rate is slow down in result of stagnant metabolism and allow your hair develop naturally.
Lack of moisturization
Knowing how much moisture your type 4 hair need matters as well. 4C hair usually need more moisture than any other type of hair. Moisturize your hair with leave in conditioner or regular condition depend on your hair type. You can find out what is your hair porosity and take corresponding hair products which contains the ingredients your hair need. Oils work as sealant which can seal the moisture into your hair. Things like olive oil coconut oil, cohoba oil, tea tree oil and shea butter all work well in keeping moisture in.
Deep condition or protein treatment
Deep condition is a way of adding extra moisture and protein treatment is a method of enhancing your hair strength. Different hair porosity react differently and the reason your hair stop growing would be misoperation. Low porosity hair is also known as protein sensitive hair while high porosity hair actually likes the protein very much.
Use protein treatments every once in a while to keep protein moisture balance. Protein is what your hair is made up of and if you're always putting moisturizers in your hair and you're always using deep conditioners that are moisturizing then never using protein treatments. If you're using a protein treatment twice a month or once a month, that's a good way to start off. But if you are low porosity hair, then it doesn’t work. Low porosity hair is sensitive to protein and will be stiff and fragile with extra protein.