Four Tips Your Senior Can Use to Build a Sleep Schedule

Posted byNita Vijh-FautierPosted inHealthy Habits, Quality SleepTags:, ,
In-Home Care in Encinitas CA

It’s possible your elderly family member never needed a sleep schedule in the past. But as she gets older, getting the sleep that she needs might be a lot more difficult for her.

Put Together Routines for Sleeping and for Waking

Rituals and routines around sleep help your elderly family member’s brain and body to ease into sleep. Every person needs different activities in that routine, and sometimes that routine may even shift. If your elderly family member doesn’t already follow a routine before bed, starting one might help. Things like washing her face, reading a book, or having a cup of herbal tea might all be part of that routine. A wakeup routine can help her to get up around the same time every day, too.

Reconsider Screen Time at Night

In-Home Care in Encinitas CA
In-Home Care in Encinitas CA

Screens are a big part of modern life, but they give off light that can be confusing for your senior’s brain. That’s because the light that televisions, smartphones, and tablets give off is blue light. That’s great at the beginning of the day, but later in the day blue light keeps your senior’s brain from releasing melatonin and other hormones that help her to get the sleep that she needs.

Avoid Stimulants Past a Certain Point

Likewise, stimulants past a particular point in the day might be bad news for your senior’s sleep schedule. Caffeine, sugar, and even sometimes spicy foods can all keep your senior awake. If she’s not sure how her body is affected by these things, she might try keeping a sleep and food log that helps her to see how those choices affect her sleep.

Be as Consistent as Possible

Consistency is a huge part of the success of any schedule. It’s especially helpful when you’re trying to help your elderly family member to get better sleep. Finding ways to support your senior’s quest for better sleep might mean getting creative. In-home care providers can do a lot to help your senior to increase the structure in her day and support the changes that she’s trying to make. Caregivers can offer gentle reminders along the way and take over tasks that have become more challenging for your senior.

Keeping your senior sleeping as well as possible can mean getting creative with her routines to support her needs. Having help from in-home care providers can make all of that so much easier for you and your senior.

If you or an aging loved one is considering in-home care in Encinitas, CA, please contact the caring staff at Innovative Healthcare Consultants today. Call us at (760) 731-1334.​​

Published by Nita Vijh-Fautier

Nita understands and respects the desire of the aging population to live independently in their own home and strives to have her company support them with our core expertise in this very important goal. Nita has spent a decade of her life dedicated to the care of her mother as well as remotely assisting in caring for her in-laws who resided in Paris, France. Nita brings to Innovative empathy, compassion, commitment and dedication to serving the elderly and aging population. She has hands-on experiences dealing with all aspects of providing care to the aging population. She has a keen understanding of myriad issues that come along with caring for our aging adults. She has a keen understanding of myriad issues that come along with caring for our aging adults. She has effectively dealt with and mediated family dynamics, medical providers as well as insurance and other aspects of providing care. She is also committed to creating an enriched work environment where our staff of Caregivers are supported in their effort to provide the most optimal care to our senior population. Nita has a Masters in Communication from the University of Dayton (4.0 GPA) and her paper was published in the Health Communication Journal. She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and a diploma in Advertising and Marketing. She has attended several personal and professional development courses such as Landmark Forum and UPW with Tony Robbins. She has also completed a course in Business Mastery with Tony Robbins. Nita is a nature enthusiast, an avid traveler, enjoys cooking and dabbling in various cuisines, and learning about other cultures. She speaks multiple languages and enjoys movie nights.

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