How Seniors Can Get Better Sleep During Holiday Travel

All the excitement during the holidays can make it difficult for seniors to stick to their usual sleep schedule, especially if they are prone to insomnia. Traveling during the holidays is enough to make it difficult for anyone to sleep. But seniors who are staying in unfamiliar hotels or houses that they’re not used to can find it very difficult to get any rest. Consult with their home care assistance providers about their sleep patterns. When seniors don’t get the sleep that they need their physical and mental health can suffer.

There are some things that seniors, their family members, and their home care assistance aides can do to help seniors sleep better while traveling though like:

Keep Things In Familiar Places

If your senior loved one is staying with you for the holidays try to arrange the guest room so that the bed and other furniture are in the same places or facing the same directions as your senior parent’s bed and furniture in their bedroom. Check in with their home care assistance provider to make sure that the floorplan you’re creating is correct and they should be able to help you make the room feel more familiar to your senior parent.

Use White Noise

White noise often helps seniors sleep, and it can be especially soothing when seniors are in an unfamiliar place where they may not be totally comfortable. Put a white noise machine in the guest room or a small fan that will provide some constant soothing noise. Seniors that are staying in a hotel can use a white noise app on their phones to help them sleep and disguise any of the noises from the hotel like people moving around and talking.

Keep Up With Medications

Sleeping medications can really help seniors sleep when they are traveling. A home care assistance provider should pack medications for seniors and include any sleeping medications that they take. If your senior loved one loses their medications or forgets them make sure that the home care assistance provider has an accurate list of medications and has sent enough pills for the days that the senior will be traveling. If your senior runs out of meds or loses them they may need to call their doctor for another prescription that can be filled wherever they are.

Bring A Night Light

Home Care Assistance Murfreesboro TN – How Seniors Can Get Better Sleep During Holiday Travel

Your senior loved one may be too worried to fall asleep. If the room is unfamiliar to them they may be worried that if they get up to use the bathroom they won’t be able to find it or they might trip or slip and fall because the space is unfamiliar to them. You can leave a night light in the guest room if your senior parent is staying with you that will give them the light they need to see where they are going and find the bathroom. A night light is also a good idea when seniors are staying in a hotel so that if your senior loved one wakes up and is confused they won’t have to fumble with the lights to find the bathroom.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Care Assistance Services in Murfreesboro TN, please contact the caring staff at Touching Hearts at Home. Serving Middle Tennessee (Nashville, Brentwood, Belle Meade, Franklin, Spring Hill, Columbia, Pulaski, and more!) Call today: 629-203-7925.