I'm so tired that I get upset with her. We've ruled out anything medical and tried so many things......from white noise, not drinking anything starting in the early afternoon, staying up later, going to bed earlier, eating less, eating more, melatonin/natural sleep aid, different types of bedding (everything cotton), excerising each time we get up, not talking at all, just going to the bathroom and getting back in bed, I'm out of ideas and I'm exhausted all of the time. She broke her hip about 3 months ago and has recovered so well, but this night time thing is awful for her, and for me. I hate to admit it but the lack of sleep is making me impatient with my Mom, whom I love so very much. She lives with me and is a wonderful lady...such a great attitude and so postiive 99 percent of the time. I feel like such a rotten daughter for not just dealing with this 'one' thing, when everything else is so good. I want to stop being impatient at night when we have to get up, so I go into another room and cry and then come back and lay down to try to get some sleep. Tonight I'm writing this note to see if anyone has any other ideas or things that you've tried that may work for us. Oh, and Mom is 94 and has short term memory dementia. Prior to her fall and broken hip, she stayed in her own room so I have no idea if she was getting up so many times during the night before. I guess I feel even worse because there are so many other people out there with such worse situations than me, that I should be happy that we have it so good.
Her bathroom visits were always worse at night
Addition to my above earlier post- we work with many people with bed mobility problems and often it is the caregiver that is ready to fall apart. When your sleep is broken up you never get into quality REM sleep which your body requires for proper rest. Lots of good advise being offered but if a person can safely use a bedside commode then why torture a caregiver with sleep deprivation? Proper assistive products based on the person's abilities/disabilities can often be a great solution.
Home medical equipment rentals exist on line or at medical equipment stores. Medicare will pay for a basic bedside commode per a previous post. Info about rentals can come from google or any local agency on aging or geriatrician specialist.
There is a great commode that looks like a board room leather look winged back chair with a removable seat covering the bucket and a blue pad. The 'sick room' decor is so important because it is the LO's home. Many old oldsters are very modest. Keeping down the odors is crucial for a comfortable environment for patient and visitors.