Sleep Improvement Tips for Senior Citizens

Does your elderly loved one take a long time to fall asleep at night? Maybe, they can fall asleep quickly, but wake up soon after and can’t fall back asleep easily. There are many sleep issues that senior citizens often face. The most important thing to know is that if your elderly loved one isn’t getting quality sleep, it could be negatively impacting their health in numerous ways. The good news is that there are ways you and senior home care providers can help your elderly loved one to improve their sleep quality.

Sleep Intentions

Senior Care Woodbridge, VA: Seniors and Sleep Issues

One of the first things that your elderly loved one should do to get better sleep is to focus their sleep intentions. For example, if your elderly loved one just goes to bed whenever they think their body is tired, then one night they may be in bed by 9 p.m. and awake by 6 a.m., while Doing this is not going to help your elderly loved one get better sleep because their sleep patterns are erratic. The nights they are sleeping a lot, it is because their body is exhausted from lack of sleep prior nights. One way that you or a home care provider can help your elderly loved one is to help them focus on their sleep intentions. For example, if your elderly loved one wants to be up by 7 a.m. each morning, they should be in bed with the lights off each night by 10:30 p.m. at the latest. That way, after getting used to this, your elderly loved one’s body can start getting about 8 hours of sleep each night.

Limiting Naps

Is your elderly loved one taking a lot of naps during the week? They may say they are too tired to stay awake when 2 p.m. rolls around. It may be that your elderly loved one is trying to make it until bedtime, but they fall asleep watching television on the couch in the evening. Either way, if your elderly loved one is talking long or random naps, it is likely affecting their ability to fall asleep at night or stay asleep throughout the night. It would be helpful if they did want or need to take naps to make the naps short and earlier in the day. For example, if your elderly loved one wants to be in bed by 10:30 p.m, they should take their nap around 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the latest. The naps should be between 30 minutes to 1 hour. By scheduling naps, they are less likely to disrupt nighttime sleep patterns.

Limiting Caffeine

Is your elderly loved one a coffee or soda drinker? If so, especially if they drink a lot of it, this could be negatively affecting their nighttime sleep patterns. Your elderly loved one doesn’t necessarily have to stop drinking caffeine. However, you and their senior home care providers may want to encourage them to drink the caffeine earlier in the day. There should be a stopping point such as noon or 1 p.m.

Conclusion

Sleep quality is important for everyone. If your elderly loved one is having trouble sleeping well at nighttime, hopefully, the tips here today will help to improve their sleep quality.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Senior Care in Woodbridge, VA please contact the caring staff at Thrive Health Care Services today. (703) 992-0484

Source

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/good-nights-sleep