Any suggestions on getting loved one with dementia to sleep through the night?

I do wine and sleeping pill, may not work as wll as vodka, but it knocks me out. cCaptain, I will try the mix nest time..

Night

Ambien works for me. I don't hear anyone getting up, but that's not right either. Mom is in a home 6 pack. And she like to walk. wjem Im there I just walk her 45 minutes to and hour until she finds her way to her chair to sit down. Im getting double escerise

Razzle berry i admire you! I lay my head next to my moms and pretend I'm sleeping and rub Her head and tell her what a great mother she is but then when she falls asleep I go to my bed I think what you're doing is great just great love to read it!

Try doing some leg and arm exercises with her. My grandma does 10 marches while sitting in her chair, 10 leg lifts taking turns with her legs, heal lifts, and anything else you can think of. In our situation is was all about schedules. We notice if she has music on or background noise, it helps her sleep better where she doesn't snore herself awake every few minutes. We have a set schedule at night where she wakes up for the night at 4 pm. At 5 she has dinner with us. Then she watches TV, or does her book, or whatever activity she does until 7:30. Then she has a snack. Then at 8 she gets ready for bed, then she has her tens unit on and then she sits in the living room with us relaxing while we watch movies for a while. Then at 11 we take her to the bathroom, get her settled in her recliner chair for the night covered in warm blankets (we turn the heat down because we noticed that if it was too hot she'd have her blankets off and be uncomfortable and not wanting to snuggle for the night) and is out within an hour. She stays to sleep now for 3 to 4 hours at a night then gets up to go to the bathroom and amazingly enough she's used to going right back to sleep. It's been a real blessing but the point is she has a schedule. Perhaps try music, or a humifier, or a noise machine to make peaceful noise at night. Try turning down the heat so she wants to stay snuggled in her bed a bit longer. Try some easy exercises with her just to keep her moving and make it fun.

We also use the bed alarm too to help us hear her but mom has been able to sleep in the hospital bed with her behind her (since grandma insists on sleeping in her recliner that freed up the hospital bed for my mom) so she's in the room with her anyway.

I sleep with my mom. It is working well. Each night I take her to the bathroom before bed, put on a fresh pair of undies, brush teeth, climb in next to her to snuggle and then say prayers. Since I have been doing this she sleeps through the night and stays in bed. I think the concern before is she would wake up and find herself alone and then go to find people (i.e. us). Now she sees me there and goes back to sleep. Good luck.

My wife, who has severe dementia, takes trazodone 100mgs. Not habit forming and works. Sleeps through the night. Sleeping pills, I was told, will make a person bleary in the morning. Good luck.

Is she sleeping now? This melatonin 3mg slow melt works great for me now! My Mom sleeps so well on it! I give half some nights and give a break once a week without one as someone else's doctor suggested.

Mirtazapine, helps with sleep and appetite-
another helper for your sleep and sanity and you will feel better

yes, see the vodka and sleeping pill thread ,..

my wife (89) takes 1/2 Sorequel tablet plus one Mirzapatine tablet before bed and, so far, sleeps well. Joe

Dad's doctor suggested light therapy in the evening. We turn on every light in the room he's in to keep him from nodding off and then not sleeping well later on. We don't allow naps during the day and keep him as active as possible with at least one walk outside each day. He gets a good filling meal around 6 pm, then lights on and mental stimulation (TV, conversation, music, etc.) until around 9:30 pm. His last meds are at 10:00 pm including 5 mg melatonin pill and 3 mg liquid melatonin with a shot glass full of water or ginger ale. He'll sleep until 3 am but then the bathroom visits begin, usually at least one an hour. PD just won't let him make it all night and he won't wear the padded undergarments. This allows 5-6 hours of rest for the caregivers which is better than it was. Good luck to you...this is a tough one to overcome.

Yes, went through this with my Mom before she died.- quite stressful too!
I too, have difficulty sleeping. I abhor sleeping pills .
My solution was a "sleep watch" made by Philip Stein. It is not a watch per se but rather looks like a watch. It has technology that encourages deep, refreshing sleep. The company's web site has a far better explanation.. than I can possibly try to give. Yes,it I pricey - around $450 but has a 60 day money back guarantee. With this, I am assured of a good night's sleep without the side effects of medicine 0r some herbal remedies.
Best of luck and enjoy your sleep!

My wife with FTD wakes up every few hours. Trazodone works well and it's not addictive. Or the Walgreen's Z liquid. Just don't get upset about the situation and you yourself with have a better time getting back to sleep.

My wife as LBD dementia and is on prescription for Sorequel and Mirzatapine which she takes before bed. So far, it works great. She sleeps all nitge. Joe

Lots of good ideas here. Our Mom is 91 and sleeps pretty well, but did have a spell of trying to climb out of her [hospital] bed. To slow her down, I fastened the corners of blankets at the top of the bed, loose enough so she could roll over and move comfortably, but enough to make her "give up" after trying to sit up. There were a few times when she was agitated and the hospice nurses had brought us alprazolam (small dose, given with a dropper) and it made her more likely to sleep. She never was a drinker, but I know of someone who gives their mother chamomile tea with a shot of sherry in it at bedtime.

What Booschmoop said: "nothing stays the same"....dementia symptoms increase/ worsen and can ultimately cause the death of the person afflicted. Assisting your loved one to stay asleep is certainly a positive in this process but it's mostly a huge help for the caregiver to get much needed rest.

Samara, thanks for the FWIW, you learn something every day haha. I dont take Melatonin, its for my Mom. I am not sure if I worded that right, I write late at night and sometimes I am half asleep, lol. Thank you. Didnt give mom melatonin tonight and shes in there laughing at nothing but happy as a lark. Thanks again.

Reverseroles, "FWIW" stands for "for what it's worth". Mom's doc mentioned some study that showed melatonin got acclimated by the body or something like that, so take a break from it every 2 wks. I prefer (for myself) valerian-hops-passionflower herbal capsules, and will also take Benadryl 2-25mg tablets and magnesium (all of that on really tense days) BUT I am most definitely NOT a doctor so please don't go taking stuff without doing your own research, especially if you have health issues an/or taking medications.

Samara what is FWIW ? and why give the melatonin a break. I have it all week except one night and she didnt sleep that night. Then it was so late I didnt dare give it as she wouldnt want to get up. I am with you on the lights, I keep her bedroom Bright all day and then during feeding her time, then I lower them, give the melatonin and some prune juice, change her and hoyer her into bed. Its been working great, knock on wood!!

Hi,

I give my Mom an over-the-counter sleep Aid, "MidNite", it is all natural and helps her to sleep. Somewhat like Razelberry, I sleep in the recliner chair next to Mom who is on the couch, she is also comforted if she wakes to know that I am near. I am finding tho, that the stress of being the main caregiver, and also having given up my employment, is causing me the sleepless nights. What a blessing to not have to worry about money.

My mom's doctor said to only take melatonin for 2 weeks then take 2-3 days off, FWIW, so she does that, and also we are going to try pumpkin seed oil capsules which I read are helpful. Another thing is to turn down lights an hour before bed and that includes TV. Myself I also block light during sleep with ine of the masks which covers my eyes and smells like lavender.

Hi again, Trying to cope, I usually don't post in response to other posts but I did feel compelled to remind us all to check with our doctors before adding any hormones, supplements or over the counter meds. to our family members regimine. There have been some real concerns raised with the use of Melatonin for the purpose of sleeping , so I would just check first. Hang in there.

I'm probably jinxing myself writing this but my MIL has been getting to sleep and staying asleep on Trazadone and Melatonin. She gets 9mg Melatonin per her doctor's orders. No side effects. She never talks about dreaming or nightmares. She's so used to taking pain meds and such it would take a lot to cause negative side effects on her. We used to go in and wake her up to sit on the bedside commode if she didn't call us but she will no longer do that so she just uses her briefs. She started doing that in rehab and it carried over to when we got her back home. I think the fact that she doesn't have to get up for that any more is helping her stay asleep or go back to sleep if she wakes up. Hard to tell why anything works but that's my guess.

I just want to say that nothing ever stays the same very long. Once you get used to a routine it's time to change it and you have to start all over figuring out a new solution. My MIL has only been here since April and I swear it's like we've had ten different people here. I would just like to hang on to being able to sleep through the night :-)

My mom has been with us almost a year now. She is 91. When she first moved in I don't remember her having to get up through the night as much as she seems to now. She had a fall back in October that a couple weeks later put her in the hospital due to a blood clot. So that's when I decided to put a bell on her Walker so I can hear when she does get up. Plus I cut her coffee intake from a cup to 1/2 a cup after her dinner. Most of the time she takes a few sips and says she is finished. She has to go to bed by 8:00 now. Used to be later. She always sleeps until at least 9:00 sometimes later. Since I have cut back on her coffee she doesn't get up as much which I am thankful. Sad part is she doesn't remember getting up through the night most of the time. So far she hasn't wet the bed.

Yep, been there, done that with the names. Then my mother would say I think (her granddaughter's) birthday is December 5 and I would say "Mom, you've known for 38 years that her birthday is December 4." Then she would say "I think this relative (whose name was Janet) is Janice" and she was sure she was correct/would argue with me about it. Finally at the end I just had to agree with her because it was a no win situation!

So I bet your mom sleeps through the day because 3 hours of sleep is not adequate?

atoenc, thats super sad. I dont know if your mom puts things in her mouth or not, but I used bells on my Moms bed when we went thru that stage. Mom would kick her legs a bit due to being uncomfortable (wet), and I heard the bells. I hung them on her bed rails, had them on her socks, sneakers and hanging from the ceiling as she walked at that time. I buy tranquility booster pads and put in her diaper (amazon) and they are amazing!
ON the melatonin, I do remember moms neuro saying never more than 6mg for the elderly, 3 seems to work fine, knock on wood.

Don't know if anyone already said this but my mom takes a melatonin every night (3mg). Sometimes two if she can't sleep. It is very safe and should not affect any other medication (ask you doctor just to be sure). It really helps her relax to get to sleep and sleep through the night most nights. Also, many of the meds for dementia interfer with sleep and cause bad dreams. You might want to ask your doctor is you can try giving them in the morning instead of at night or a lesser dose twice a day instead of all at once before bedtime.

My 90 year old mother is now calling me by her sisters' names. She can't remember mine. Last night she lay in bed with a wet gown and briefs and she did not call me. I think it's because she couldn't remember my name. What do I need to do next?

I also got Spring Valley fast-dissolve Melatonin 3mg (sleep support it says on front) for my Mom.(walmart) Her Neurologist had her on 3mg years ago and it didnt work but this one is working for some reason. They can cause bad dreams so I wouldnt give more than 3mg . my moms been luckilly doing well on it. Oh I went through a year of Mom wandering years ago. I cut her door in half (horizontally like Mr Ed's door) and locked it on the outside . I could only put a few things in the drawers and closet to play with or she would take everything out all night long. She would rest her arms on the door yelling Hi? Helloooo? and I would just say "mom its the middle of the night, go back to bed ok" and she said "oh really? okay" and went back for 5-10 mins and got up again. I swear I didnt sleep for a year and had to get to work at 7am. I had a morning caregiver in to bring her to daycare at that time. Soon Mom had a stroke (cerebrel) and started to get agressive. The dr then put her on the depakote. It caused her to sleep a lot for about 3-4 weeks, then it worked like a charm! Eventually I weaned her off it and we are about to start year 8 here, holy moly I some days wonder if she will outlive me. lol. God I love her, I also snuggle with her and sing and rub her head at night. I tell her I will be here alllll night long and she always smiles. I remember when she could speak, she told me that made her feel so good. Who doesnt love to be hugged! As soon as she is asleep I sneak out .I've been getting her to sleep now about 6-6:30pm so I can have husband time too, enough already, we need time too.Breakfast is 9 and dinner 3-5pm, then into bed. Man, can you tell I have no one to talk too, I will shut up now. Give the melatonin a shot, hope it helps!