How can I maintain a schedule for my father with dementia?

hapra , that is excatly what im going thru right now .
its gettin to the point where all food builds up in his dentures . get choked on it .
its sad , i fed him all day today maybe tmr he;ll try to feed himself .
i even put his pills in apple sauce or in with yoghurt . seems to help him swallow it better .
pureed food now on .

Hi Chillshoe!

To me, as a former caregiver of a parent with a dementia, what you are experiencing seems to come with the territory, unfortunately. I would discuss the eating situation with a physician as there are things you can have your dad take to incease his appetite-if he is not eating. Are you sure that he is not having a problem with his digestion-or something, he may not able to communicate? This situation can be checked as well. Something like ensure is a good suppliment in the meantime. Staying dehydrated is also very important.

If you can arrange for your dad to have meals at certain times-he perhaps will get into the habit/ routine of doing this.

Remember, the tables have turned, and you are like the parent, and your dad has somewhat regressed-sad, but it happens.

My Mom went from having whole foods to pureed foods, as she lost her ability to eat-or even know how to eat, and eventually she had to be fed.

Good luck!

Hap

When a person has dementia, they are confused. There are times that as caregivers we just want to throw our hands up in the air and let them do whatever they want or whats easier for us. The reality is that almost everyone will benefit from a schedule. Being outdoors- especially in the morning for at least 20 minutes is really important to reset their internal clock and help them sleep better at night. Try to have at least 4 structured activities that they will enjoy during the day, that you do for 15 minutes each. Physical excercise is important to burn off excess energy- especially if the person is wandering at night.

Would she be able to hire someone to stay with her at night if not it may be time to consider another place for her to live.

My Mom, who has Alzheimer's, has sleep issues that seem to be worsening. She is so disoriented with time that she often thinks it's time for breakfast in the middle of the night and will walk to the dining room for it. She is in Assisted Living and the thing that concerns me the most is that she wakes up her boyfriend (who lives in the same facility but on the other side of the bldg) by knocking on his door. I'm worried that she is going to wake other people and get kicked out of where she's at. Luckily, she hasn't wandered outside or anything and obviously knows where she's going. We have tried Advil PM and similiar products, which do help her to sleep all night, but they make her extremely lethargic and tired the next day as well. I was hoping that we could cut them in half, but the Dr says because they're slow release, you can't do it. Her boyfriend (who is 89) has some health issues and needs his sleep. He's getting grumpy and annoyed that she is doing this and since he has dementia too, he's not understanding that she can't help it. She used to call me in the middle of the night when she got up and I would talk to her and gently remind her that she should go back to sleep - which she usually would, but she can't seem to grasp the concept of dialing numbers anymore and doesn't call.Any suggestions?

Carolyn,
Caregivers who are dealing with Alzheimer's or Dementia disease need some extra training and support that is not required when dealing with physical disabilities. I urge you to get in touch with the Alzheimer's Association and check if there is a Caregivers Support group in your area. You'd be surprised at solutions they have found to make your caregiving manageable--if not easier.
www.alz.org

As long as he is not keeping others up at night it may be just let him be if he is keeping others up at night you might want to try some kind of a plan to keep things in order.

I went thru what seemed like a long period of time where I was stressed about this issue and about the amount of sleeping my Mom's getting - she's doing that the majority of the day now (she's almost 90 w/dementia). I've since pretty much given up on trying to establish one. When I do try to keep her awake, she too gets grumpy and almost incoherent. She is not on any medicine that should be causing this, so I'm just thinking that it is age and dementia-related. Her appetitie was waning too, so I did have the Dr put her on some medicine to help her gain weight. There are a couple of different ones, so you might want to ask your Dad's Dr about these. It doesn't help in gaining weight, but it does help her appetite and she has been able to hold the weight she's got.

my dad does the same thing . the older you get the less you eat , just make sure he drinks alot of fluid , when he wakes up have him eat and of course he;ll fall back to sleep with full belly .
my dad will go to bed about 9 pm sometimes 11 pm and sleeps till noon ! i have woke him up early am saying its bfasttime , he whines i wanna sleep more . so i let him sleep . cuz if i dont im gonnahear him whine and mumble jumble and it ruins his day and mine .
just as long as he eats whenever and drinks plenty of fluid while he s awake he should be ok . few times he would wak eup at 2 am im hungry waaaaa , i d fix him his bfast then .
eat at any times ofthe hours should be ok .