Trouble getting LO to bed at night

Dancing Daughter

Hello,

My mother lives in MC and I'm under the suspicion that she is staying up late into the night and not waking until 11am or later. I tested this last night; I had her over for dinner and when I dropped her off I went in to help her get her pajamas on and teeth brushed (she rarely, if ever, does these things on her own). I knew she was tired and tried to put her to bed; repeatedly directing her to her bed, covering her up, turning off the light. When I left her room she was in bed with lights off. By the time I got to the parking lot I could see the light on in her room. I went to visit her this morning and she was still sleeping at 10am. I couldn't get her to wake until 11am and that was after a lot of rousing. I could tell she had stayed up for awhile because things were in all different places, even different blankets on the bed and she changed into jeans out of her pajama pants. 

So, my question is, has anyone discovered successful strategies for helping a LO wind down at night and go to sleep at an appropriate time? I know there is medication that will help but she is also resistant to taking meds so I don't want to rely on that as the only solution. Sidenote: she is offered melatonin at night although she doesn't always take it.

Thank you!

Ed1937

Welcome to the forum. Sorry you have reason to be here.

This is only my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. As long as it doesn't hurt anything when she stays awake at night, then sleeps late in the morning, I don't think it's worth worrying about. She needs sleep, but it sounds like she is getting it. We have to pick our battles, and there might not be one here that is worth pursuing.

Rescue mom

I’d echo basically what Ed said. My mother was in MC for several years. She also went through months where she did not sleep much at night, or only a few hours, was up and down. She also napped throughout the day. 

But night or day, the staff  was aware, and watched out for her. Their attitude was, she was safe, causing no problems, so…ok. She could sleep (or not) as she wanted, more or less. Of course she was up for meals and some activities she enjoyed, but basically her sleep schedule was not something else I needed to worry about, as long as she got enough and otherwise healthy (for dementia, you know)