I am new here. My mom moved in a few months ago. She is 88 and has dementia. She sleeps well at night for which I am grateful. She goes to bed around 8-8:30 and sometimes sleeps until almost noon. A few times this week, I peeked in around 10 - 11. She was in the bathroom so I figured I would start making her breakfast, but when I checked again, she had gone back to bed. Is this normal?
-it allows for toileting or incontinence changes
-it is better for skin integrity to get out of bed and move,
-it allows them to eat and drink something which can help stave off dehydration, digestive issues and the frailty that can be the result of too few calories
-it keeps medication schedules consistent
-it may help with bedtime and overnight sleeplessness
:0)
Why do people feel the need to impose their schedules on us oldies?
Late morning sleeping for her means "brain rest" for me!
People with dementia do sleep alot and when you're older you sleep more anyway.
I would let her sleep in as long as it doesn't effect her sleeping at night.
You might ask her if she would like you to wake her up in the mornings or let her wake up when she wants.
Do you have something for her to do or is she waking up sooner to have more time during the day to stare at the walls?
My wife is 14 years into Alzheimers and sleeps well from 8pm to 9:15 in the morning. She is confined to bed, but still able to relate and smile, although she is often hard to understand. Then after breakfast and watching tv she naps for a while, wakes up, has lunch and then naps again. She is sleeping some 17 to 19 hours of 24, which is a lot.
However, there are research studies that suggest sleep helps people with dementia to live better with the amyloid plaques and Tau tangles in the brain. It does not remove either the plaques or the tangles, but it seems in some way that is not understood to enable the person with dementia to live a better quality of life.
This has been true for me and my wife of 58 years for several years now. As other respondents have said, many family caregivers become exhausted because the person they are caring for is NOT sleeping and demanding that others stay up with them.
Be encouraged. You can manage this.
Take care (of yourself). Give care (to others).
Prayers in facing the daily challenges of life.
Not all places have a regimented schedule. At the facility my mother was in, they could get up when they wanted and eat when they wanted. Certainly there were regular meal times, with food delivered at those times, but the majority were ready, willing and able to partake in those meal times, many getting settled at the tables up to 30 minutes before the food was even brought to the unit! For those who didn't want to eat at those times or slept in or napped, there was always some food that could be provided when they wanted to eat.
They would also have activities scheduled at various times of the day, and would encourage as many as possible to participate. No one was ever forced to join in or adjust their own personal "schedule" to the "norm."
I can certainly understand places that do try to keep on some kind of schedule. They have to tend to many for meals, bathing, toileting, changing, medications, etc. as well as planned activities. Without some kind of schedule, it would be total chaos.