My aged mother of 89 is sleeping 20 hours a day and has been for the past year or so, is this normal?

Maricascas, at 77 and still active, exercising, I'd say that's pretty great! My one suggestion would be to keep it up! Staying active in our 70's and beyond is what will keep you healthy and out of trouble later on! I am 56, and trying to stay active with crummy knees, but I'm not going to give in! Keep pushing forward girl!

Maricacas, only I5 minutes to convince yourself to get out of your warm, comfy nest and start the day? Lots of people have trouble getting up in the a.m., that's why they invented the snooze button on alarms!

I sleep daily at around 10:00pm and I wake up two times during the night to go to the bathroom. I regain my sleep after some time but in the morning at about 7:00am I have difficulty to wake up. It takes about 15 minutes for me to face the day. I am 77 years old and still active. I walk 3 times a week for an hour. Do you think this is a normal procedure? Thanks

She does get up fairly easily during the week to go to the Adult Day Center which is a good thing so I don't mind that she sleeps late on the weekends.

I agree with all that you said She is on Lexapro 5mg started about November - possible depression - and seems to be doing much better with this. On the weekends I let her sleep until noon or 1p when I try to get her up for lunch - which she does. I really don't mind her sleeping on the weekends. I figure she is "catching up" on her sleep from the week when she gets up earlier. Yesterday she slept until about 3p - she seemed extremely tired so I let her sleep. I thought she should probably get up to eat so I finally got her up about 3p. Thankfully she doesn't get up in the middle of the night and is not a wanderer.

Kathy, I think that someone who sleeps, and I mean really sleeps, as much as your mom does probably has more going on than simple boredom.
It could be depression, which is treatable
It could be physical decline, which may or may not be treatable.
As long as she isn't up roaming in the middle of the night what is the harm in letting her rest on the weekends? Your willpower alone is not going to make her life longer, and forcing her to take part in activities and stay awake seems cruel. But that's just my opinion.

My Mom (85 years old with dementia) sleeps a lot because she is bored. If she doesn't go to the Adult Day Center Mon-Fri she would sleep 24/7 except for bathroom and eating. Although we try to do activities on the weekend, after we eat lunch she will "take a nap" and sleep for several hours. Our goal is to keep her active during the day so she will stay up. VERY Difficult on the week ends.

SM3008, is her doctor aware of this? What are her infirmities?

My 89 year old Mum has suddenly started sleeping all the time, she struggles to hold a conversation and is not eating.

Let her sleep. Be happy.

Sometimes people sleep because they feel less pain then. Could that be the case for her? Also, med interactions and timing of dosage might also help. See if you can talk to her doc about this.

Is her doctor aware of how much she sleeps? How long has this been going on?