Daily dementia care: evenings, nights, showers and the car
Some days the hardest part of caregiving isn't a big decision. It's 5 p.m., when she gets restless and frightened. It's 2 a.m., when you hear the front door. It's the third day she's refused a shower, and the pill organizer that's still full on Friday.
These guides are about those moments. Each one starts with what to do right now, then what to change tomorrow so the same fight happens less often. Most of the fixes are small: a different time of day, a warmer bathroom, fewer choices, a light left on, a routine that doesn't move.
A few things here are about safety, not comfort. Wandering, driving and medication mistakes can hurt her or someone else, and each guide says plainly when it's time to bring in the doctor, a pharmacist or the police.
- Sundowning: what to do when evenings fall apartSundowning is late-day confusion in dementia. What to do in the moment, words that calm her, a daytime plan for easier evenings, and when to call.
- Dementia wandering at night: how to keep her safeWhy dementia wandering at night happens, how to set up door alarms and ID, what to say at 3 a.m., and what to do in the first 15 minutes if she's missing.
- Dementia refuses to shower: why it happens and what worksWhen a parent with dementia refuses to shower, it's usually fear, cold or embarrassment. What to say, how to set up the bathroom, and what counts as clean.
- Dementia not eating: why it happens and what to try firstWhy a parent with dementia stops eating, what to try at the next meal, which signs need the doctor, and what changes in the late stage. With scripts.
- Dementia incontinence: what to do, what to say, what to buySudden accidents can be a UTI, so call the doctor. Then a bathroom schedule, easy clothes, the right products, and what to say when he refuses Depends.
- Dementia patient refuses to take medication: what to try firstWhen a parent with dementia refuses pills, stop and try again later. What to say, what to ask the pharmacist, and why to ask before crushing or hiding.
- How to stop a parent with dementia from drivingLet his doctor, a driving evaluation or the DMV say no, and line up rides first. The warning signs, scripts, and what to do about the car keys.
