I’m a caregiver to my mom who has mid-stage dementia. My mom’s dementia is rough and it makes her shout uncontrollably at night, especially when I need to clean her when she wets herself. She would shout for few minutes while I put her back to bed around 12:30 am. Then, she will stop and fall asleep. I’ve tried every trick in the book and nothing calms her. My issue is our new next door neighbor would knock on the wall at night in order for my mom to shut up and that knocking sound further scares her and makes it even worse. What can I do? I don’t want to go talk to them, they don’t look friendly. Can they call the police on us? My mom is not screaming all night just shouts when I’m changing her between 12:15 to 12:40ish am. What would the police do in this instance?
No need to wake anyone up during the night.
I am sure you'd be very upset if the neighbor made a racket every night and woke you and your mom from a deep sleep..
Suggestions to keep your mother quiet:
Give her something to chew or suck on, a sugar free piece of chewing gum or candy, a frozen flavored ice cube.
Let her watch something interesting while being changed.
Give her a fidgety toy to manipulate so she is distracted and doesn't notice that you're changing her.
Good luck.
I think that it’s not so good to ignore the neighbors because you don’t like the look of them. They deserve an explanation, and it’s only polite to give one and explain. Perhaps you could include a couple of earplugs with the note, and the details of the midnight session timing when they would help.
This can’t be fun for your mother either. She needs a med to sleep through the night. Or an anti-anxiety med. I doubt she’d need a large dose.
I wonder if giving mother something to suck might help. Something that tastes nice might do it. Worth a try?