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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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