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Petrasmall12 Asked October 2020

What can I do when my grandmother doesn’t want to go to bed?

My grandmother watches tv all night long and only gets a couple of hours of sleep during the day. She is bedridden and really doesn’t move much. There are times when she gets very confused because of lack of sleep. I want to turn the tv off for her at a certain time but sometimes she thinks we treat her like a child or she doesn’t want it off. I don’t want to disrespect her I just want her to feel better. When she’s confused she argues with me about seeing bugs and other things and it’s very exhausting! Is there any advice that can help me? I’m sorry for my grammar and punctuation mistakes.

MAYDAY Oct 2020
does the tv have a night time dimmer on it? lower the sound after 9 pm. does she have roommmtes?
If no roommates, and bed ridden, she doesn't go anywhere... let her be....

how about books on tape? so she can just listen a bit...

dim the the tv lights, and lower volume after 9 pm... get that put into place. maybe that will help.

honestly my mom was placed with a person who had to have tv on 24/7. I didn't realize, it WAS 24/7 TV ON AND FULL VOLUME 24/7... that was because mom could not talk. she could not complain. HOW AWEFUL I WAS FOR NOT DEFENDING HER.
your mom is by herself...correct? then what is the deal? dim the the tv light and volume at a given time.... They have this technology on cell phones, they should have it for tv's

elaine1962 Oct 2020
My 96 year old mother is competent and lives alone in her house. She sleeps all day and is literally up all night. It’s her schedule.

I would leave grandma alone. Let her be up all night and let her sleep during the day. It’s not causing any harm. Some people are just wired that way. They are just night owls.

I work the overnight shift and so I am up all night and sleep all day. It is what it is. Leave her be.

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polarbear Oct 2020
Can you put a timer on the TV plug/cord? It will turn off the TV at a set time by itself. You won't have to do anything once you set it up and plug it in. When grandma asks why her TV turns off, you can make up some excuses. Say the fuse was blown, TV got too hot and turned itself off, outlet not working, anything. See if it forces her to go sleep. Hopefully it will. You can find those timers at Walmart, Target, Home Depot, or online. They are inexpensive and not hard to set up. Good luck.

funkygrandma59 Oct 2020
Does her having the TV on all night bother you or keep you awake? If not, I would just let her be. If she's bedridden, there's really not much else she can do is there?
My husband who was bedridden for 22 months before he recently died, would have the TV on in the living room 24/7, as his hospital bed was in that room and he couldn't do much else. He would usually fall asleep at some point in the evening or early morning, and I would go in and turn it down some so I could sleep better in our bedroom, as I like it quiet when I sleep.
Her confusion might be coming from some mental decline as well, and not just lack of sleep(sorry I didn't read your profile to see if that was the case)so I again would just let her be, and in the future if she just gets to be too much for you, you may have to think of placing her in the proper facility. Wishing you the best.
Petrasmall12 Oct 2020
Thank you for your response! No it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m just worried about her lack of sleep. We thought it would be a mental decline also and that is something we will get checked out . Recently we took her in to see what was wrong and they told us it that everything seemed to be okay. She was just very tired. She slept that whole day (we woke her up to eat) and she seemed much better. Thank you very much for your advice !

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