When your elderly family member isn’t sleeping well, so much else in her life can be a struggle. Lack of proper sleep can also cause her to have more difficulty with health issues, which is definitely something that you want to avoid for her.
Keep a Sleep Schedule
Having a sleep schedule might seem like something that your elderly family member is beyond, but it really can help. Setting a solid time for going to bed and for waking up helps her body to get back into a rhythm of sleeping and waking. Lots of aging adults find that they accidentally flip their sleep schedule simply by being haphazard with their waking times, which then throws off their sleep time.
Look at Increasing Activity Levels During the Day
When your senior’s days are more active in general, that helps her to sleep better at night. If her days now are rather sedentary or there isn’t much that she feels she has to look forward to, that can be draining. Then, when she’s trying to sleep, she may find that it’s much more difficult. Talk to your senior’s doctor about options for exercise and what else you can try.
Double Check Your Senior’s Sleep Space
Your senior’s sleeping environment matters, too. If her room isn’t set up properly for sleep, that can keep her from getting the rest that she needs. There are levels to this, too. There’s her bed and the immediate surroundings, as well as the temperature in the room at night and other distractions, such as noise or light. Finding ways to make sure that she’s able to be comfortable when she’s ready to sleep is important.
Try to Identify What Causes Sleep Issues for Your Senior
When you understand what causes sleep trouble for your elderly family member you can better help her to avoid those issues. Lots of people are more sensitive to caffeine than they realize, for instance, so learning that can help your senior to adjust her caffeine intake so that it’s less likely to keep her from sleeping well. Other triggers might include eating too late or watching television too late.
During the day you might not be there to help your elderly family member to stick to a new routine or to figure out what might be causing issues for her with sleep. Home care providers can do a lot to ensure that your elderly family member is able to get a handle on sleep issues, which can make her days so much better.