Elderly mum not sleeping- how normal?

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My mum aged 98 has a terrible time sleeping. It varies a lot but some nights she wakes around 2am and can't sleep again so she is exhausted the next day. And obviously there are longer term effects on her overall health.

She lives independently and is in reasonably good health- fully mobile etc. My sister visits her most days (I'm too far away to do that.)

I have suggested she asks for sleeping tablets if she has little sleep for days on end but she's not keen. I know they can have side effects.

Does anyone else have any experience of this?

I wonder if its low blood with my mum, she has dinner ridiculously early then i don't think she eats after that

Ask for over the counter strong sleeping aid. Sominex is good, and if they don't have that the pharmacist will know the equivalent. Nytol do one, as do Tesco own brand. I only take half a tablet and it resets my sleep for the better. I just don't want to do it too often so it's only every few weeks when I am desperate and can barely put one foot in front the other

I am old. I envy people who can sleep 8 hours so so much, they don't know how lucky they are. 6 hours is good for me, sometimes it's 5
And worse

Has she got a really comfy chair? My parent often wakes up at 3 am thes goes downstairs and falls asleep in a riser recliner until 9. I think it's pretty common to sleep more and with a changed pattern.

Thank you for this, but I think it's something to take medical advice on because my Mum is on some meds for her BP/ blood thinners and some of these antihistamine drugs are not always compatible (even though they seem 'safe' for most people.)

A little bit of supper before bedtime would be an idea. Generally, strong sleep meds can cause drowsiness and can therefore be a fall risk in the elderly.

The drowsy anti histamines are good, no side effects I've noticed.

My approach is to stop worrying about lack of sleep now. Milky drinks a banana, light supper all help with falling asleep. Much more difficult to remain asleep. Was reading only today that in earlier times we had two sleeps.. now I don't worry when I wake up after 3 hours. I read, watch TV, have a milky drink, fall back asleep. I was given sleeping tablets and then Melatonin. Tablets made me dizzy and off balance, Melatonin wears of after a few weeks.

Imo.sleeping aids are the cause of many falls among older people.

Very common, my gran came to live with my parents last year and for the first few months we realised she turned night into day...so now she has a set routine woken at 8:30am gets sent to bed at 8pm no TV etc all meals getting ready done at the same time every day and now she sleeps fine again. It's almost like having an adult child and aslong as the routine is stuck to it's fine...Recently gran came and stayed with me for 2 weeks to give my mum a break and accidentally I forgot the routine and the first 2 nights she was up like a baby would be all night..I figured it and it was fine after the bad 2 nights lol

They do come with a warning that they can affect kidneys because they are dehydrating and for someone who is very old- not far off 100- it's not something to use without asking a dr.