My son's been having trouble sleeping. I've moved in with my mother who has dementia, and he's sleeping on the couch here while he goes through this episode he's in. He's gone whole nights with none or little sleep. The last few nights I've sat on the couch with him until he's fallen asleep. It's never taken long. Probably the longest I've sat there is half an hour. And I only sat there that long because I wasn't absolutely sure he was asleep.

Tonight he said he wanted to stretch out his legs, so he asked me to leave before he fell asleep. So I went to my bed and zonked out. That was about 10.

At 2:45 I woke up and closed my bedroom door. Immediately he was outside my door calling 'mom.' He'd been awake that whole time. He'd lay there for hours, then started to drive back to his house, turned around and came back to my mom's house, then lay there for a few more hours.

I told him to go back to the couch, grabbed my pillow, and wedged myself onto the couch with him. I was determined to sleep there too, just to keep him from driving around.

I lay there half on, half off the couch for five minutes then went to the kitchen for water, then back to the couch. Five minutes later I asked a question and got no answer. Pretty soon I heard snoring. He'd fallen asleep!

I went back to my room then checked on him 15 minutes later. He's out like a light.

How could he not sleep for 5 hours then zonk out in about 10 minutes with me there? Is it possible he needs me there in order to fall asleep?