Is it common for people with dementia/Alzheimer's to see kids?

I did an free online course called Understanding Dementia (University of Tasmania) which goes quite in-depth into types, symptoms, lived experience & care of people with dementia. Depending on your interest level it may be of interest to you.

Hallucinations of seeing children is very common, especially with LBD, due to abnormal deposits of a protein in the brain. Alz disrupts this communication among neurons. I can't remember all the science now but basically the hallucinations are caused by problems & damage in the brain.

My grandmother used to talk about her children or other children and when I asked her some questions once, I figured out that she thought her middle aged female caregiver was her young child at the time. It doesn’t make any logical sense but if the person isn’t upset, I wouldn’t worry about it. If they are upset, I’d seek to get them help, maybe medication, that soothes agitation. People with dementias are in another world inside their own minds; it’s not based on anything that’s really happening, ghosts or otherwise.

My Mom was not on any meds for Dementia and she continually saw a little girl. I could hear her talking to her over the monitor and she must have been ornery. Mom would tell her to stop or she would have to tell on her. When I showed up the girl "must have left". Her neurologist said if seeing the girl didn't upset her, then not to worry about it.

But I would have worried if she saw bloody children. This I feel should be reported to your DON because it upsets the person. There is medication for this. I wonder if the same person suffers from night terrors. Meds for that too.

yes! Mom saw a little girl and would say shhhhhh As IF GIRL WAS SLEEPING, i think it was the meds causing hallucinations, once meds were discontinued visions stopped. My cuz says it was an Angel. Also saw a man which frightened her a bit, I had dreams in hospital of twin toddlers, they call them Morphine dreams. Mom spoke of baby too,. When you think of child rearing for decades every day it becomes commonplace encrusted in the brains memory banks imo, tcxoxo

I find it disturbing that the caretakers don't understand hallucinations and are care providers. To come up with a theory about the place being haunted just sounds ignorant and would certainly make me question the quality of care being provided there.

For dementia residents to “see” kids and animals, or hear voices, or chat with dead relatives is very common with people with AD and even moreso with LBD, and sundowning can aggravate these perceptions. I don't know the scientific answer to why this occurs other than to say the disease has affected that part of the brain that causes these hallucinations. Why one person sees puppies and another sees something gory, I don't know, unless it reflects something in their past. It's great that your redirecting them seems to address the problem. Most hallucinations are harmless but can be of major concern especially if they cause the person to behave dangerously or cause terror. Some clinical intervention may be needed if that occurs. Typically, the caregiver's response should be one of validation (oh, those kids are visiting for the day) rather than trying to correct the person's perception ( there are no kids here, that's just your imagination). If it's something upsetting to the individual, say that you'll take care of it (the exterminator is coming to take care of it). I find it interesting that the staff seems to think the place is haunted.

My mom often was worried about her children. Where are they, have they been kidnapped or run away, been in an accident. any number of things. It was part of her sundowning.