My wife wanders at night. What do I do before 2 a.m.?

In your wordswife wanders at night what do I do

Lights. Coats and keys out of sight. The 15-minute rule. Overnight sitting if you cannot stay awake. Do not lock her in.

Caring for My Wife desk. September 2026. Sources checked 10 September 2026.

Wife wanders at night, what do I do, is a 2 a.m. question. She is up. She has her coat, or she is looking for it. She thinks it is morning, or she thinks she has to go to work, or she thinks this is not her house. This page is the night jobs, in order. It is not a diagnosis. If the doctor has already named dementia or Alzheimer's, that name was made in a clinic. This sheet does not add another.

What the public pages already named

The National Institute on Aging says many people with Alzheimer's disease wander away from their home or caregiver, and that caregivers need to know how to limit wandering and prevent the person from becoming lost. The Alzheimer's Association reports that six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once, and that many do so repeatedly, a risk the Association says can be dangerous and even life-threatening. That is their number. This desk does not invent a second one.

The Association also says many people who wander are found within 1.5 miles of where they disappeared, and that if the person is not found within 15 minutes, families should call 911 and file a missing person's report stating the person has dementia. Start looking immediately. Keep a recent photo by the phone. Tell neighbors now, not after the first night she is gone.

Night wandering can sit on top of the evening window. The National Institute on Aging says that when restlessness, agitation, irritability, and confusion happen as daylight begins to fade, it is known as sundowning, and that being overly tired can increase late-afternoon and early-evening restlessness. The Alzheimer's Association describes increased confusion from dusk through night, including difficulty sleeping, anxiety, agitation, hallucinations, pacing, and disorientation. The evening sheet is 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. This page is after that.

The house jobs, tonight

Do these before you go to bed. They are dull on purpose.

The NIA says to keep doors locked, consider a lock placed high or low, and keep shoes, keys, suitcases, coats, hats, and other signs of departure out of sight. Do not leave a person with a history of wandering unattended. The Association says to use night lights throughout the home, and never lock a person in at home. Read that last line again. A locked-in house is not a plan this desk will write.

NIA's falls page says many falls happen at home and recommends leaving a light on in the bathroom at night or using a night light that turns on automatically in the dark, plus putting night lights and light switches close to the bed. The hallway she walks at 2 a.m. is a fall path if it is dark. Lamps. Night lights. The bathroom light on. Clutter off the floor. That is not a wandering cure. It is the five minutes that keep a night walk from becoming a fall.

The NIA adds: ID or a medical bracelet with her name, address, and your number. If she might take a bracelet off, label her clothes. A recent photo by the phone. Neighbors told now. Those are daytime jobs that pay at 2 a.m.

The night sheet. 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. 9:00

Bed, hallway light, coats and keys and shoes out of sight. Doors locked. She is not locked in.

10:00

You in the chair, or a sitter in the chair. If the box is blank, you are still on duty.

2:00

If she is up: do not argue the hour. Bathroom. Water. Back to bed if she will go. Walk with her in the house if she is pacing. Do not let her walk out the door alone.

2:15

If she is missing: start looking. Photo in your hand. If she is not found in 15 minutes, 911. Tell them she has dementia.

6:00

Daylight. Hard jobs later this morning, not now.

Left column is the clock. Right column is the task. Write a name in the overnight box.

If she is missing

Run their list, not a search you invent in the driveway. Start looking immediately. Many individuals who wander are found within 1.5 miles of where they disappeared. If she is not found within 15 minutes, call 911 and file a missing person's report, and tell them she has dementia. Say dementia. Say what she is wearing. Have the photo. Do not wait until sunrise because you do not want to bother anyone.

If you need a live person after midnight and she is still in the house, the Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline is 800.272.3900, a free service for caregivers and families, around the clock, 365 days a year. That is not 911. 911 is for a missing person. The helpline is for the night you are still in.

Overnight sitting is a box, not a character test

If you cannot stay awake, the night needs a second person. Overnight sitting is presence: the hallway, the bathroom trip, the door, the chair. It is not a nurse. It is not a promise the pacing will stop. Missouri DHSS lists private duty companion care with no physician order. Write the shift. Start. End. Lights. Coats out of sight. Call 911 if she is missing past 15 minutes. Stay for a short overlap at the start of the first night so she sees two people, then you sleep in the other room, or you sleep.

Medicare will not buy this shift as sitting. Medicare does not pay for 24-hour-a-day care at your home, or for custodial or personal care when that is the only care she needs. The aging office may have respite hours. Respite may last a few hours to several weeks, at home, in a facility, or at adult day. Overnight presence is the at-home shape. Ask Aging Ahead if her house is in the county, or SLAAA at (314) 612-5918 if she lives in the city.

Paid placement, disclosed

New Plan Care is an independently owned non-medical in-home care company based in Chesterfield, Missouri. Overnight presence, the hallway, the door, someone awake so you can sleep, in Ballwin, Chesterfield, Eureka, Glencoe, Grover, Pacific, Valley Park and St. Louis. It does no nursing tasks. Call (314) 405-0887.

New Plan Care pays for this spot. It is a client of OwnersFirm, which publishes this site, so read it as an advertisement with a phone number rather than as a result, a rank or a recommendation drawn from any of the articles on this page.

Pocket card

1. Night lights. Bathroom light on. Coats, keys, shoes, hats out of sight.
2. Doors locked. She is not locked in.
3. Photo by the phone. Bracelet or labeled clothes. Neighbors told.
4. If missing: look now. 15 minutes, then 911. Tell them dementia.
5. Helpline if she is still in the house and you need a live person: 800.272.3900.
6. Overnight box: a name, or you. A blank is still you.

What to do tonight

1. Turn on every lamp in the rooms she uses, and the bathroom, before the next dim stretch.
2. Move coats, keys, shoes, suitcases, and hats out of sight. Do it now, not after she is up.
3. Put a recent photo by the phone. Write 911 and 800.272.3900 on the same card.
4. Write the overnight box. Name or blank. If it has been blank for weeks, that is tomorrow morning's call.

When to ask the care team or the doctor

• A sudden new night pattern, or nights that arrived with fever, pain, constipation, a fall, or a new tablet. Ask the physician who treats her what the change means. The Alzheimer's Association says behavioral symptoms that appear suddenly warrant a medical checkup.
• Sleep that does not come back after a week of lights and routine. Ask the doctor. This site does not name drugs.
• Falls, or near-falls, on the night walk. Tell the doctor even if she does not want you to. NIA says more than one in four people age 65 or older fall each year.
• Pills stay in the labeled box. A reminder is prompting. Changing a dose is medicine. Do not add a night tablet from a website.