My mother is in an adult day care program 5 days a week. By 6:30 she wants to go to sleep for the night. Is this normal?

Thanks Sunnygirl1

It sounds like the day care program is allowing her to stay busy and exert her energies. That sounds positive to me. 

I would keep in mind that people who have dementia, usually will progress to the point that they do like to sleep a lot. They may eventually appear to be asleep all the time.  I've noticed that some of the residents in Memory Care appear to be asleep.  Eventually, they may stay in bed all the time, as they are not able to hold themselves up.  I'm not sure of anyway to avoid this.  It's part of the progression of the condition.  You might ask your mom's doctor, but, if she's faring well, I'd think that was a good thing.

thanks .. she has no bedtime meds. I have say when she is in her day time program she does participate, she loves to dance.. well so far she does still sleep through the night. I do have an alarm on the door.. she gets anxious if she is waiting for me while I'm getting ready. she tried leaving a few time but alarm pushes her back in..

My mother also wants to sleep a lot. I think much of it is due to boredom. She has lost interest in many of the things that used to keep her occupied so she either just sits and watches TV. I know that if I'm not occupied I get sleepy too. My only concern about the early bed times is her medication. I have bedtime meds she HAS to take so I really try to keep her up until at least 7pm. Preferably 8pm. But I'm happy if she stay up till 8pm. Now my mom does get up in the night, but she has her computer in her room and I have the hallway that leads to the stairs blocked off at night so she can move around all she wants at night without me worrying that she will fall down the stairs. So my sister has convinced me that if she wants to be up all night and sleep all day to let her.

Some family members get involved with her care and have so much to say about her sleeping habits, thanks so much!! that's what I thought.

Doreen, I believe once people reach into much older ages they will nap more. They are tired, they have lived a very long life. I remember my folks napping all the time, but they never admitted it :)

If your Mom goes to bed by 6:30p and sleeps through the night, be thankful. So many grown children who are caregivers for their parents have parents who are up all night.

As we all age, we will be finding ourselves tired. That happens to me. After work and after eating dinner, I can barely keep my eyes opened watching the news at 6:00 pm :P

When she is not in the adult day care program she sleeps on and off all day.
She will still go to be by 6:30.

While some people who have dementia suffer with sleep disorders, I suppose that others don't. I might discuss it with her doctor to make sure she's okay, but, unless it seems to bother her, I'm not sure that I would have an issue with it. Does she seem tired at the Day Care program? My LO, who has severe dementia, is placed in bed for a nap in the afternoon, but, may or may not actually sleep.

Does your mom retire to bed as early on days that she isn't in the day care program?