ARRRGGGHHHH! Good morning all! It has been an interesting few days for us as we have struggled with my Mom with many different issues. The main one being, SLEEP!!!! We have been struggling with this for around 4 months and it has had a toll on everyone!! Mom seems to think that since she is the oldest one in the house that she can go to sleep and wake up anytime she chooses! The doctors had us try Tylenol PM for a couple of months, although that didn't seem to work. After going to the Neurologist, my DH suggested we talk to them about a stronger sleeping medicine. They have put her on Ambien, and it works fast! The only problem is, if I don't give her the medicine at 7 pm, and have her asleep by 7:30, then when I am gettig the children (did I mention I have 5 from the ages 16 all the way down to 7?) ready for school, then she is going to bed at 8:30-9:00, and waking up at 6:30-7:00 and going potty and staying up! If she doesnt' get her 12 hours of sleep, then she is cranky, tired and out of sorts. Take for example last night (which is a whole other story in itself! I'll have to save that for another post!) when she fought with me for over an hour (granted the medicine starts to kick in within 7-10 minutes!) on going to sleep simply due to the fact that she knows everything! Then she didn't actually lay down in her bed until 9 pm, and was up at 6:45. She is exhausted, however when I attempted to suggest she lay back down, she gave me the Evil Eye (EE for me!) I just left the room and decided to ask for advice. I don't know what else to do! She is already on so many different medicines (Asthma, Osteoperosis, HBP, AD meds, cardiology meds, etc.).

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pollie777

Isaiah 40:31~ "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength..."

Now is the time to start delegating responsibilities. First, set a timer and give your mother the meds when the timer goes off.
Next, I would start having the older kids get the younger kids off to bed. You have enough on your plate than to try to put down 5 kids and then to get them back up on the morning. Now is the perfect time for them to learn responsibilty for themselves and each other.

I had both sets of grandparents living with us when I was younger. Lived with us for about 22 years. I learned to grow up quickly and fend for myself.

I don't know how far along your mom is but would it be possible to change the clock in the room where she spends most of her time, ahead 2 hours? Just a thought.

Pollie,
Wow, between Snickers' wisdom & Lori's tricky-dom
it looks like you have a start...
Good Luck!

Thank you all for your words of encouragement! I will definitely try some of those ideas, especially the clock one! That just may do the trick. As for my children, they already help each other get off to bed, so I don't have to worry about that. I just need to be able to go in and kiss them good-night.

My mom is already up this morning, and I think I am going to have to give her meds earlier to her. She is a pure-bred German, and so she fights us on most things, including sleep! Her eyes can be almost shut, and her speech mumbled and she will still say that she isn't tired!

Pollie777

Isaiah 40:31~ But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength...

Hi Pollie and welcome. I had the same problem with my mother. Only she would wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. and stay up all day. Then the doc put her on Ambien CR and Trazadone at night. I also give her a couple of melatonin. I try to put her down between 7 and 8 p.m. and now she sleeps through the night. We had gotten a "break-away" alarm and clipped it to her blanket then when she got out of bed the alarm sounded and my son or I would get up and check on her. I now feel confident enough to not use it. The blaring alarm scared the heebee geebees out of her. Another thing is maybe take the clock out of Mom's room all together.

Good luck. Let us know.

Sorry you are having troubles, Pollie. When my mom was like this, I moved her clock ahead by an hour. It really did help.