Quick Answer: Dementia and sleep problems often go together, because dementia changes the body clock that signals night. Long afternoon naps and long waking hours can follow. Small bedroom changes and a calm plan for 2 a.m. can make those nights easier for you both. When nights become too much for one person, licensed nurses at The Kensington Redondo Beach can share them.
Key Takeaways
- Dementia can blur the signals that tell your loved one’s body it’s time to sleep.
- Day-night reversal can mean long afternoon naps and long waking hours after midnight.
- A lit path to the bathroom, the same bedtime routine, and a calm voice can all help with sleep problems caused by dementia.
- At The Kensington Redondo Beach, licensed nurses administer medications around the clock, including at night, and maintain a comfortable routine for residents.
If last night was a long one, we’d like to hear about it.
Our team at The Kensington Redondo Beach can talk through what your nights look like and what might help. No pressure, just a conversation.
Contact The Redondo Beach Today.
Why Your Loved One With Dementia Is Awake at Night
Dementia can wear down the part of the brain that keeps time, so night stops feeling like night.
If you’ve been lying awake listening for footsteps in the hall, you know how long a night can be. You may be more tired than you’ve let anyone see.
Sleep changes with age on its own. Deep sleep gets shorter, and small noises wake a person more easily. Dementia adds to that, since the brain gets fewer cues about the hour. A nap at four in the afternoon can feel like a full night.
A few things may wake them that have nothing to do with the clock:
- Pain that’s easy to miss by day and louder at night
- Needing the bathroom, and not finding it where they expect
- Hunger, if dinner was small or early
- A room that’s too warm, too cold, or too dark to make sense of
- A dream that felt real and didn’t end when they sat up
Acting out dreams, with shouting or kicking during sleep, can be part of Lewy body dementia. It’s worth telling the doctor if you see it in your loved one.
When Day and Night Trade Places
Day-night reversal means your loved one sleeps through much of the afternoon and is up through the small hours.
You may know a night like this. The kitchen light is on at one in the morning, and breakfast is already underway. Your name is called from the next room at two, and you’re asked about lunch. By seven, when you need to be up, they’re finally asleep.
Over a few weeks, the pattern can set until the house runs on two different clocks.
Not every waking is a reversal. Restlessness that builds in the late afternoon may be sundowning. A night waking that becomes a walk toward the door is wandering, with its own plan.
When your parent lives alone, those nights go unseen. That’s one reason an older loved one living alone may need more support after dark.
Setting Up a Better Night at Home
A better night often starts with what the bedroom tells them when they open their eyes. An active morning can help, too.
A few changes to the room can answer the questions a dark bedroom asks:
- A clock they can read: one that says “night” or “morning” in words, not only numbers
- A lit path: low lights from the bed to the bathroom, so there’s no guessing
- The same order every night: teeth, pajamas, a song, then the lamp off
- A bathroom stop last thing: so a need for the bathroom is less likely to wake them
- Screens off and curtains closed: a television left on can look like daytime
The National Institute on Aging suggests nightlights in the bedroom, hall, and bathroom. It also recommends keeping the same sleep and wake times every day.
If broken nights have become most nights, you may start weighing whether to move your loved one’s care or keep it at home.
Want to know what happens at 2 a.m. in memory care?
Ask us. Our team can walk you through a night here, from the evening dose to first light.
Schedule a Tour of The Kensington Redondo Beach.
When You’re Both Awake at 2 a.m.
When they’re up in the middle of the night, calm does more than correction.
Your loved one may believe it’s morning, and arguing with the clock rarely gets anyone back to bed. Agreeing that it’s early and then offering a warm drink and a seat together often does.
A few small moves can make a waking shorter:
- Keep the lights low while you find out what they need
- Offer the bathroom, a sip of water, or a small snack
- Start the bedtime order again from the top, toothbrush included
- Stay close until the room feels like night again
If Mom asks to go home at 2 a.m., she may be asking for comfort. A blanket and your hand may say more than an explanation. If you share a bedroom, caring for a spouse with memory loss often means waking when they wake.
New sleep changes are worth mentioning to the doctor: nights that shifted suddenly, or a new kind of waking. Pain, an infection, or the timing of a medication can play a part. Any questions about a sleep aid belong with the doctor, too.
This article is for general information and isn’t medical advice. Please talk with your loved one’s doctor before making any changes to their sleep, health, or medications.
How Nights Go at The Kensington Redondo Beach
At The Kensington Redondo Beach, licensed nurses are on-site through the night and provide medications around the clock.
Full-time registered nurses coordinate care, and each resident has a primary care manager who knows their routine. If the nights change, the care plan changes with them.
Our memory care neighborhoods follow Positive Approach to Care. Created by dementia educator Teepa Snow, it focuses on what someone can still do and meets them where they are. That holds at 2 a.m. as much as at noon.
Connections serves the early-to-middle stages, and Haven serves the middle-to-later stages of dementia and memory loss. Our memory care community is built so residents can walk around safely with supervision. Items from home can be used to furnish their private suite, so the environment still feels familiar if they wake in the night.
Our memory care neighborhoods allow you to know your loved one is safe and secure, and your nights can be your own again.
Talk With Us About Your Nights at The Kensington Redondo Beach
A visit lets you see Haven and Connections, meet the nurses, and ask how a night is handled here.
Nights are where a promise gets tested, so here is ours. Our Promise is to love and care for your family as we do our own.
Schedule a tour of our memory care community. We’re at 801 S. Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach, CA 90277, in the heart of South Redondo, near Riviera Village.
Dementia and sleep problems are familiar ground for our team, and we’re glad to talk them through with you.
FAQ: Dementia and Sleep Problems
Dementia can blur the brain’s sense of time, so 2 a.m. may feel like morning to them. Pain, hunger, needing the bathroom, or a long nap can add to it.
It’s when someone sleeps through much of the day and stays awake through much of the night. The switch often happens slowly, over a few weeks.
Keep the lights low, find out what they need, and offer the bathroom or a small snack. Agreeing that it’s early often works better than arguing about the time.
New or sudden sleep changes are worth mentioning. The doctor can look at pain, infection, or medication timing, and any question about a sleep aid belongs with them.
Licensed nurses are on duty through the night and administer medications around the clock. Each resident has a primary care manager who knows their routine, and care changes as needs change.