Why Isn’t Your Senior Sleeping Well?

When your elderly family member isn’t sleeping well, her mood suffers and her overall health can suffer, too. Most importantly, you may find it difficult for her to continue to engage in the activities that she enjoys because she’s not well-rested.

Caregiver in Herndon VA: Senior Sleeping Tips

She’s Experiencing Anxiety or Stress

Your elderly family member might be anxious and stressed for perfectly valid reasons, such as worry over her health. But she can also experience those same feelings for other reasons, such as situations that aren’t likely to happen or worry about other people. Try to determine why your elderly family member might be feeling stressed or anxious and see if you can solve that problem. Often removing the trigger can help to relieve those feelings right away.

She’s Got Iffy Sleep Habits

The brain and the body rely on signals to let them know when it’s time to do certain things like shut down for the night and sleep. If your aging family member doesn’t have solid sleep routines, then her body and her brain might feel as if they’re getting conflicting signals from her. Help her to figure out what helps her to calm down before bed and then work to put a good sleep routine into place.

She’s Been Keeping an Odd Schedule

If your elderly family member has been staying up all night and then sleeping all day for a while, her circadian rhythm could be off. It can take a while for those rhythms to correct themselves and for a while, she might experience a feeling that is remarkably similar to jet lag, even if she hasn’t gone anywhere. Look into what sort of schedule would work well for your elderly family member’s regular daily activities and help her to implement it.

She’s Ingesting Stimulants at the Wrong Times

Stimulants, particularly caffeine, taken at the wrong time of day can be keeping your senior up when she really wants to be asleep. If you’re not sure whether this could be a contributing factor, try keeping a food and beverage log. Make sure you note the time and the amount. You can start setting “deadlines” for caffeine and other stimulants and then pay attention to whether that helps correct the problem.

If you’ve got help from home care providers or other family members, enlist their help in determining what’s going on with your senior’s sleep. They may be able to spot problems that didn’t occur to you at the time.

Are you or a loved-one considering hiring a caregiver in Herndon, VA?  Please call the caring staff at Medical Professionals On Call today.
Contact: 703-273-8818

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Michelle DeFilippis

I graduated with a BS degree and had been selling medical equipment to hospitals, clinics and technicians. More recently, a family member was diagnosed with dementia and we, as a family, realized we were not prepared t care for her. We were thrown into that whirlpool of hospital stays, 24/7 live-in care, skilled care, caring for mom ourselves and finally, now daily home care. This was such a stressful time that I started thinking there had to be other people, other families as overwhelmed and unprepared as we were.

Medical Professionals On Call has such a caring, professional staff who are available to step in with whatever level of care necessary for loved ones and to relieve you of that stress.

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