My mother has dementia and she sleeps a lot during the day. Should we let her sleep or try to wake her up during the day?

My 89-year old mother with advanced dementia sleeps on and off all day long. If I wake her she'll be alert as long as I'm talking to her, but soon she'll nod back off. I don't worry about it anymore. I just let her sleep. She stays up until about 11:00 on many nights, and sleeps fairly well after that. She doesn't have much to occupy her mind, so I see no harm in sleeping.

My father also slept a lot in his last year on earth. He was nearly deaf and didn't interact with people. He sat in a chair looking out the window and ordering from catalogs when he was awake. He went to bed at 5:30 and slept well at night.

I have a feeling that nodding off during the day is very common for people late in their life. Getting up and about is too hard and there's nothing that many really want to do. It may seem wasteful to people who are younger, since they are sleeping their lives away. Older sleepy people don't see it that way, so I don't worry about it.

my mom has Alzheimer's disease. she is 83yo and she was diagnosed at age 70yo. She is in the moderate -advanced stage. Before UTI she would watch TV and work on activity pillow my sister made for her. she would take short nap after lunch. UTI was cleared in April but she is still receiving wound care for foot infection. (foot ucler) She enjoys watching old western movies. yes, we have discussed with primary care doctor. she will sleep from 12noon until 6:30 or 7:30pm if we don't wake her. She will sometimes wake up close to time for her to go to bed. when she wakes up she will eat, drink, watch TV. she does fine once she wake up

This is a hard one! We all want our loved ones to live whatever life they have left, at the highest quality level they can achieve, and yet we know there comes a point where they need to be allowed to withdraw from life.

Has anyone suggested what type of dementia your mother has?

How long has she had visible symptoms of dementia? What "phase" would you say she is in -- early, mild, moderate, advanced, severe?

What kind of activities did Mom do during the day before this latest uti? What is her favorite thing to do?

How long ago were the infections declared "cleared"? Have you discussed the excessive daytime sleepiness with her doctor?

How many total hours (out of 24) does your mom spend sleeping or napping?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is a tricky situation, and the more info we have the better answers you will get.