Tips for Catchin' Some ZZZs

As you may already know, Alzheimer's disease can cause severe troubles with going to and staying asleep throughout the night. As the disease progresses, these problems tend to worsen - causing many "night time" awakenings and troublesome behaviors.
The magazine care ADvantage, a publication of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, ran a great article in the Fall of 2007 that gave some wonderful tips on how to improve the sleep patterns of a person with dementia or Alzheimer's .

Here are some of the tips the article listed that could assist caregivers with nighttime "tiffs" and get you back to your pillow:

Consistency is key. Stick to a routine for eating meals, waking and bedtime. The more person is on schedule, the more likely the person will be used to heading to bed at the same time.

Shorten nap times. Even though Alzheimer's patients tend to need some sleep during the day, make sure to limit those "snooze times" to be shorter, infrequent and earlier in the day. This will ensure that the person is tired when bedtime rolls around. Also, make sure that a bed is only used for nighttime sleeping, not napping, so that the patient associates his/her bed with longer sleeping times.

Open the shades. Let the sun come in, in the morning, so that the bright light will normalize a person's sleep rhythms, and ultimately regulate the sleep-wake cycle.

No drinks before bedtime. Make sure to restrict intakes of liquids especially drinks that contain caffeine and sugar) late in the day, so the individual will be rested for nighttime sleep. Also, make sure to limit water and other drinks before bedtime in order to reduce waking for bathroom breaks.

To read all the tips in the article, click here and go to the 9th page (or page 7 inside the publication).