March 30, 2008 at 11:36 am

hello all i got ? for any one out there who might have answer .okay you all now me a promblem i am having with my mil is the time concept yes i do now they loose time concept but my problem is this how do i keep her in bed when she gets up every morning at four am okay i have tried alot of things tried the black curtains tried diffferent shades tried keeping her up longer tried moving the time of her night pills nothing is working she still geting up and waking the whole house up and saying the sun up time to get up . i tell her to go back to bed not time yet for us to be up any body got solution or something they have tried . i do now i may not ever fix this promblem it may be the way things will be do to her routine in life and she just used to getting up at four am. i am willing to try almost any thing but i will not lock her in her room at night so please dont suggest that i want do it for her wandering so i want do it because she up at crack of light. so any ideas out there please let me now ty for your time

March 30, 2008 at 6:07 pm

Kathy—After ‘chatting’ with you, I though about your situation and attempted to come up with some solutions other than “containment”.

You seem to have tried everything…so…Anything that will work may have be ‘creative’ enough to make the person offering the suggestion risk sounding like a total crazy. Heck…I’ve been called worse…so…I’ll take the risk

Close bedroom doors (the fire department says they should be closed anyway). Make some large signs with messages like….Stop; Do Not Disturb; Quiet Zone…and hang them on the doors. When your MIL shows up to wake you up, point to them and suggest that she find some quiet way to occupy herself or go back to bed. Do it for a few mornings…Cross your fingers and hope it works.

June 3, 2008 at 10:25 pm

I shared this post with my wife who has FTD. (mid to latter stages AD) She thought the “lock-up” was definately out of the question and that the signs would not work. She’s going to “think about it for a while” and get back to me.

For me personally kathy, 4 am wake-up doesn’t sound too bad. I am happy with any extended sleep I can get. I haven’t found any link to the timing of retiring or the taking of night time meds as to the waking time. We often rise early but then after a snack or eating will resume sleep once more.

(Wife’s advice) Talk caringly and gently to your MIL and (if she has any reasoning ability left), explain the problem to her and while being as loving and as nice as you can be, ask her to understand your side of the story.