Dementia Sundowning Tip

It’s our mission to make dementia caregiving easier for families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, or any other type of dementia. We do so by making free educational training videos like this so that anyone with an internet connection can access this information.

In this video, I share a tip on how to prevent or reduce dementia sundowning.

#dementia #careblazer #alzheimer

[keishamcpherson]

I noticed that my husband's sundowning would start around the time I was cooking dinner. When it was time to eat, he would be upset about anything. Now, I cook, and then tell him right away it is time for a shower. This has helped him relax and then he gets excited because he knows dinner is next. It distracts him for a while. After dinner, he is ready to wind down for bed. We started this routine about three weeks ago, and it has been very helpful for us. My prayers go out to all caregivers 🙏🏾💖 Thank you Dr. Natalie for your videos 🙌🏾

[deborahdean]

Hats off to all kids who take care of their parents! Gives me hope in mankind.

[debracarltock]

Your clips are awesome and helpful mother 👩 only wants to sleep, eat, play on phone, watch TV, and complaints about from the time she gets up around 4or5 until 1, 2 at her bed time...she also is paranoid, negative all the time she is awake ⏰️...I'm trying to keep 😀 positive about everything, and I have found how 🤔 difficult it can be!!!

[juliamessina]

Your advice guided my caregiving of my beloved mom throughout her dementia. Thank you.

[elainemedley]

This works for sure👍🏼
We try several different ways to avoid the issue. Piano time, music, visit to my sister right down the hall or. FaceTime with my other sister out of state. He loves any and all of these ways. And goes off to bed w/o any worries ❤❤
As always, thank you 🙏

[chriskampf]

My mom had some short term memory loss. She wasn’t eating right now and taking her medicines and got dehydrated and ended up in the hospital. They put her on a bunch of meds. When I went to pick her up a week or so later, as I’m in another state, and I was going to bring her back to my state to care for her. In my home, she was a totally different woman. She was weeping, and she was saying how she was having bad dreams, and she kept seeing bugs crawl all over the floor and she told me my nose was running, and etc. etc.. I drove her home and she kept seeing people jump in front of the cars and it was so horrific. I did all I could do to keep from bawling while I was driving because this was not the mom that I knew even just a few weeks ago. Yes she was struggling with a little bit of short term memory loss but nothing to this extent. When I picked her up from the hospital, they told me that this would happen every day, and it was called sundowning, and it was part of her dementia diagnosis which I had not even been told that she had been diagnosed with that. When I got home, I ended up making a decision to take her off of the medicines that they had put her on when she was in the hospital, and Wala! No more sundowning! I’m sure that this can occur on a regular basis with true diagnosis but please be aware that the meds that these people had put my mama and was actually creating these symptoms for her.

[lindaanderson]

It took several of us to get my mom out shopping, short walks, to restaurants, hair appointments every day, so she could sleep almost through the night, every was worth it.

[thomasmcgahey]

Thank goodness for your videos this helps me so much to better understand my mom’s dementia as a caregiver

[Seamonkey]

1) Close blinds before sundowning occurs.
2)Offer a small snack.

[tamikoschrum]

She doesn’t have sundowning she wakes up about 5am and changes her clothes about 8 times then empties all her drawers and packs them in her pillowcase because she thinks she’s just visiting. 😢 everyday!

[isabellelaval]

It would've been helpful to provide even the simplest explaination of sundowning.

[rondaleistiko]

Missed mom's night time med's last night 😢 long day adding a little Trip to the farmers market she just wanted to go to bed. She was up at 3 am dressed her self up for the day.

[joannpajunas]

Thank you Dr Natalie. Our mom does not engage in anything. She wont look at photos, newspaper, TV, music. Talking about birds, the weather, her house etc helps a little. Arm "dancing" helps sometimes.

[sue-brownhenry]

My mind sundown starts around 8-9pm, when it starts getting dark. She starts wanting to go home, she worries about not having a coat, (it's summer), who's going to take her home, do I know where she lives, who's art her house? She starts Cookeville my stuff thinking it's hers and gets made when I dint let her take it home with her. Right now she didn't live with me, I bring her home around bedtime. My daughter is buying her house. So she will be moving in on a month or two. I think it may be easier. When I take her home, she's been saying that's not her house. She wants to go to her other house. My daughter tells her, she'll take her to her home in the morning. The only actively that she likes is eating ice cream.

[harleenkirkland]

Thank you, This is a very smart option,

[Iinfiniteknowing]

When all else fails i think it could be helpful and healthy to give them something to sleep(natural(preferably).i think everyone would get a good nights sleep and this would help them to be less prone to mobility accidents, better congnitive function, happier

[lianadiaz]

Very helpful information! Thank you!!🙏🏽

[janetstarnes]

GOD BLESS YOU 🙏 You Sure KNOW ALOT ABOUT Dementia. 💕♥️💕♥️💕♥️💕♥️💕♥️💕♥️💕♥️💕♥️💕

[a.lauber-]

Not always true. I took Car😅e of my Mom fir 13 years and I Am an elder care therapist. This sounds good but doesn't always work.

[subversivevegan]

Great advice (as always). My LO is mostly bedridden, so it's hard. I like to bring up photo albums of trips we took and people we love...ice cream also is soothing.