Is Your Senior Getting Enough Rest at Night? How a Sleep Schedule Can Help

As you age, it's more important than ever to get solid, consistent sleep. However, almost half of senior adults report having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep when they go to bed at night.

It's recommended that seniors get at least seven to nine hours of sleep per night, but as with most things, the quantity is not always as important as the quality of sleep that you get. As a result, it's more important for residents at senior living in Carlsbad to get more deep sleep for a shorter period of time as opposed to a lighter sleep for a longer period of time.

Why is deep sleep so important?

There are five stages of sleep, including stages of both REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep. The first two stages of sleep are considered light sleep, the third stage is when you begin to enter deep sleep, the fourth is deep sleep, and the fifth is REM sleep.

A person needs all five stages of sleep to have what would be considered a restful night of sleep. Particularly, stage four sleep is the most important, as that's the deepest sleep of the night. Stage four sleep is also known as "healing sleep," as that's when tissue growth and repair takes place, hormones are released, and things in your body really start balancing out from the stress of the day.

When seniors do not get enough sleep, their health can suffer. Lack of sleep can lead to some health and mental problems. Too little sleep can result in irritability and mood swings, and on the more severe end of the scale, can even result in cognitive impairment and depression.

A lack of sleep is also harmful physically. Too little sleep can damage a senior's immune system, rendering them less likely to be able to fight off illness which could potentially be catastrophic. Even more alarming is that some studies have even linked a lack of sleep to more serious issues like heart conditions, diabetes, and even cancer.

Why should you set up a sleep schedule?

It may seem like a daunting task to establish something like a sleep schedule, but it's a simple task once you break it down. There are three key points to setting up a solid sleep schedule:

1. Establish consistency. Make sure your senior is going to bed and getting up about the same time every day. This can improve sleeping habits.

2. Create a bedtime routine. Oftentimes, creating a set schedule of things to do right before bed can help get your senior in the headspace for sleep.

3. Examine daily activities. Some seniors find it easier to sleep when they have a full day of activity. If this applies to your senior, signing them up for an easy gym class or some kind of activity may assist with their sleep.

If you're still worried about your senior's sleep schedule, then assisted senior living in Carlsbad at Bayshire may be for you. With a full staff, we are able to more closely monitor your senior's sleeping and waking habits and can help create a more concrete and enforceable sleeping schedule.