Advice

Sleep tips for people affected by dementia

We all need regular sleep to stay well. But dementia can affect sleep routines for both a person with living with dementia and the people caring for them. 

If a person with dementia doesn’t get enough good quality sleep, it can make their dementia symptoms worse and make them more likely to have a fall or accident. 

Their sleep problems directly affect their carers if they’re waking or getting up in the night. Added to this, the anxiety and stress of caring can also affect carers’ sleep. 

We asked Dementia together magazine readers and members of our Dementia Support Forum for their advice about dealing with sleep difficulties.

Finding sleep aids that suit you

Signora C says, ‘If I am tossing and turning for a long time I get up and go downstairs, usually with the dog following. I make myself a cup of cocoa and cuddle the dog for 10 or 20 minutes and relax and then go back to bed. I usually manage to go to sleep fairly quickly then.’ 

KarenW26 says, ‘Have exactly the same routine each evening. For example: evening meal, one hour TV, bath, chamomile tea or hot milky drink (not caffeine or alcohol), read or listen to music in bed.

Use audio books or an app to support sleep, there are lots to choose. 

‘The body gets used to routine. If you only get 4 hours and want to build up, adjust timings by half hour each fortnight.’ 

Using assistive products

Switchy says, ‘When my father wakes in the night he likes to know what time it is. But he has started to not always be able to make sense of the clock face, or of what the time means even if he can read it correctly.

‘Once he became uncertain of the time he would have a disrupted night, sometimes getting up and dressed because he thought it might be time for breakfast, and sometimes worried he would miss the alarm and put all his morning routine out.

‘He has an iPhone, so I suggested he ask Siri to tell him the time. This helped a bit, but Siri doesn’t say whether it’s am or pm, and as he goes to bed very early, and often nods off in his chair at any time of the day, fathoming whether it’s evening or early morning did seem to be fazing him.

‘I got him a push-button speaking clock which does say “am” or “pm”, and that has helped a lot. But he was still getting in a muddle with the words and making them agree with the visuals on his clock, watch and iPhone.

‘A chance comment and I realised that not all his timepieces were using the same format. So out with the analogue watch, and set all the digital devices to 12-hour clock.

‘After a long chat with the doc, we did also increase his evening melatonin, and between those three things – time formats all the same, push-button speaking clock and a bit more sleep hormone, his sleep has improved considerably.’ 

Simplifying sleep routines

KathyC says, ‘If I can’t sleep I “enjoy” it. Accept it, turn light on – it’s my time. Read, write, watch TV even if it’s 2am.

‘Instead of lying in the dark and worrying, I do something for me. 

‘At least the next day I feel I have had my life back – a tiny bit of freedom. 

‘Routine for sleep and meals has been our saviour. Always letting the daylight in, blinds down once dark. Bed always at 10pm.

‘This disease is so unpredictable, things change and different behaviours occur. One set of problems turn into a different set. There is no answer.

You need patience and realisation that they can’t control any of it. It’s not done to anger me. It’s uncontrollable. 

‘It’s a rollercoaster. Whatever works for you both, do it.’ 

GlennGlenn says, ‘Dad would get up in the night 3 or 4 times, get fully dressed having never looked at his watch or fancy clock.

‘Initially, I just wanted to cut out the getting dressed undressed part.

‘The fix was, I put him to bed at night and told him I would take care of his daytime clothes, “So, if you wake up and your clothes aren’t there, it’s still nighttime and you go back to sleep.”

‘It’s taken his lack of time recognition out of the equation and seems to be taken as a more solid and obvious prompt to go back to bed. Will see how long that works.’