My mother seems to get more parnoid at night she goes to bed and must
 get up at least 2 or 3 times to see if the doors are locked.
 I think she has what they call sundowners but by giving her that mild
 sleeping pill she seems to stay in bed the whole night.
 JJ

 JJ that is a common thing.... the restlessness in the evening.   My mother in law did that too.   We found that sometimes giving her a Tylenol PM would help her to sleep better, also we would give her her Aricept and Zoloft after dinner as well.

 --
 Best Regards,

 Evelyn

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Part of the evening problem is that they are not at their best. Its
getting dark so they can't see as well (and they have all kinds of
perception problems caused by the dementia on top of aging eyes, such
as depth perception issues). They may be tired. There is the swirl of
after dinner and prebed activity which can be too much for them. The
whole thing is too much to deal with when their ability to cope is at
an ebb.

They also get their internal rhythms messed up, so they can wide awake
in the middle of the night.

With her impaired memory added to all the rest, no wonder your mom is
agitated. Its very, very common. She's hanging on with her fingernails
- no wonder she keeps checking the doors. If I couldn't remember I'd
locked up, I'd be up and down checking as well.

I'd also make sure she doesn't nap during the day, so she's good and
sleepy at bedtime.

M