Is it okay to set a limit on my parent's phone?

Talk with them first and agree on the number together where possible. A limit is lighter than taking the phone away: they keep the phone, every other number works, and the phone tells them when they can call again.

What does my parent see when a call is over the limit?

The call ends before it connects, and a screen and a notification say that this number can be called again from a specific time. The number's card in the app shows the same time.

Can I set different limits for different family members?

Yes. Each registered number has its own count and period, so your number can be 2 per hour and a sibling's number 3 per day.

What if my parent turns the limit off?

Turning a block off takes effect one hour later and shows a notice during that hour. There is no PIN and no remote management yet, so this is not a lock, only a pause.

Does this work on an iPhone?

No. NoDial is an Android app. On an iPhone, look at carrier call restrictions or a simplified phone designed for people with memory loss.

Parent With Dementia Keeps Calling? What Helps (2026)

NoDial Editorial ／ 2026-10-13

Your mother calls ten times before lunch. Your father calls again two minutes after you hung up, to ask the same thing. If you are caring for a parent with dementia or memory loss, repeated phone calls are one of the most common and most draining parts of the day. This guide covers what is behind the calls, what you can change on your own phone so they are easier to live with, and what you can set up on your parent's Android phone so the extra calls simply do not connect while family and emergency numbers stay open.

NoDial: Block Outgoing CallsBlocks calls to numbers you choose

NoCall: Blacklist Call BlockerBlock unwanted calls before they ring.

This article is written for family caregivers and describes settings on phones. It is not medical advice. If the calls come with new confusion, distress or a sudden change in behavior, contact your parent's doctor or care team.

1. The short answer

Repeated calls from a parent with dementia are usually not a decision they are making. Dementia organizations describe repetition as a result of memory loss (the person does not remember having called) and of a need for reassurance. Two things help, and they work best together: on your phone, make the calls easier to absorb (a set time to talk, a voicemail that reassures, quiet hours that still let them through in an emergency); on their phone, set a per-number call limit, for example two calls to your number per hour, so the third attempt does not connect and the phone itself tells them when they can call again. Every other number on their phone keeps working as usual.

KEY POINT

Do not aim to stop the calls. Aim for a number of calls per hour or per day that you can live with, and let the phone hold that line gently, so that you do not have to.

2. Why a parent with dementia keeps calling

The Alzheimer's Association explains that repetition in dementia is caused by "the deterioration of brain cells": the person may not recall asking a question or completing a task, and may repeat actions while trying to express a concern, ask for help, or cope with "frustration, anxiety or insecurity." The Alzheimer's Society (UK) makes the same two points about repetitive behaviour: memory loss, and an emotional need for comfort and reassurance rather than for the factual answer.

Applied to the phone, that means two things at once. Your parent often does not remember the call they made twenty minutes ago. And the call is frequently about hearing a familiar voice, not about the question they ask. Both organizations recommend looking for a pattern (a time of day, a particular person), responding to the feeling rather than the behavior, and staying calm. Neither page says anything specific about telephones; the steps below are our application of that general advice to phone calls.

3. On your phone: make the calls easier to live with

Call them first, at a set time. A predictable call at the same time each day often reduces the searching calls in between. Say when the next one will be, and write it on a note by their phone.
Record a reassuring voicemail greeting. If you cannot pick up, a greeting in your own voice that says you are fine and will call back at the usual time answers the feeling behind the call.
Use quiet hours that still let them through. Android's Do Not Disturb can be set to let calls from chosen people ring, and its "Allow repeat callers" option lets a call through if the same person calls twice in 15 minutes, while everything else stays silent. That way you are not ignoring an emergency, only choosing when ordinary calls reach you.
Share the calls. If several family members can be called, agree who is "on" for which hours, and make sure that person's number is the easiest one to reach on your parent's phone.

These steps change nothing on your parent's phone. If the calls are still more than you can carry, the next section is about their phone.

4. On their phone: fewer repeated calls, family still reachable

The goal on your parent's phone is not to take the phone away. It is to make accidental and repeated calls less likely while every number they need stays reachable. In order from lightest to strongest:

Simplify the screen. Keep only the people they actually call as favorites, and remove old contacts and duplicate entries. Fewer taps in the wrong place means fewer accidental redials.
Restrict which numbers the phone can call. Android's Fixed Dialing Numbers (FDN) and some carrier services limit outgoing calls to a short list. This stops calls to everyone else, but it does not reduce how often they can call the people on the list. Details: Fixed Dialing Numbers on Android.
Set a call limit per number. An outgoing call limit app such as NoDial lets you choose, for each number, how many calls are allowed per hour, day, week or month. For example: your number, up to 2 calls per hour. The first two calls connect as usual. The third attempt within the last 60 minutes does not connect, and the phone shows when the next call is allowed ("You can call this number again from 3:30 PM"). Numbers you do not register, including every other family member and emergency numbers, are not affected.

Limit per number ✓
Per hour, day, week or month ✓
Other numbers unaffected ✓
Works offline ✓

A limit per number fits this situation better than a block, because the calls themselves are welcome; it is the fifth call in an hour that is not. It also fits better than restricting the phone to a short list, because your parent keeps the freedom to call anyone, and only the repeated calls to the same number are paced.

5. Setting up a call limit on their phone

Do this on your parent's Android phone, ideally together with them. A limit they agreed to ("two calls an hour, and I will call you at six") is easier to accept when the phone shows the next time.

Install NoDial from Google Play on their phone and open it.
Let it handle outgoing calls. Android asks which app may handle outgoing calls; choose NoDial. This is the permission it needs to stop a call before it connects.
Add the number they call most (yours, for example), and choose Limit calls.
Set the count and the period: for example "2 calls" per "Hour". Per hour counts calls in the last 60 minutes; per day, week and month reset at midnight, on Monday, and on the first of the month.
Save. From now on, calls within the limit go through. When the limit is used up, the number's card on the home screen, the notification and the blocked-call screen all show when the next call is allowed.

Repeat for any other number that gets repeated calls, each with its own limit. The decisions are made on the phone itself, so the limit keeps working without an internet connection and after a restart.

6. What a call limit cannot do

It cannot be managed from your phone. Settings live on your parent's phone. If they turn a block off, it takes effect an hour later and the phone shows a notice, but there is no PIN and no remote control yet.
It does not block emergency numbers. Emergency numbers cannot be registered at all; those calls always go through.
It works on Android only. On an iPhone, the closest options are carrier call restrictions and simplified phones.
It is one phone. Calls from a landline or another device are not affected.

7. If they keep calling 911 or the police

Repeated calls to emergency numbers are a different problem, and a call limit is not the tool for it: emergency numbers are never blocked, on purpose. Talk to your parent's doctor or care team about what is driving the calls, and ask your local police non-emergency line how they handle repeated calls from a person with dementia; many have a way to note the situation. Keeping a familiar voice reachable (sections 3 and 4) often reduces emergency calls as well.

8. FAQ

Is it okay to set a limit on my parent's phone?: Talk with them first and agree on the number together where possible. A limit is lighter than taking the phone away: they keep the phone, every other number works, and the phone tells them when they can call again.
What does my parent see when a call is over the limit?: The call ends before it connects, and a screen and a notification say that this number can be called again from a specific time. The number's card in the app shows the same time.
Can I set different limits for different family members?: Yes. Each registered number has its own count and period, so your number can be 2 per hour and a sibling's number 3 per day.
What if my parent turns the limit off?: Turning a block off takes effect one hour later and shows a notice during that hour. There is no PIN and no remote management yet, so this is not a lock, only a pause.
Does this work on an iPhone?: No. NoDial is an Android app. On an iPhone, look at carrier call restrictions or a simplified phone designed for people with memory loss.

9. Summary

SUMMARY

The calls are usually about reassurance, not information. Make them easier to absorb on your phone, and pace them on your parent's phone with a per-number limit, so the phone, not you, says "not right now, but at 3:30."

Repetition in dementia comes from memory loss and a need for reassurance; look for the pattern, respond to the feeling.
On your phone: a set call time, a reassuring greeting, quiet hours that still let them through.
On their phone: fewer shortcuts, and a call limit per number (per hour, day, week or month).
Emergency numbers are never blocked. Remote management and a PIN are not available yet.

NoDial: limit calls to the numbers you choseA call limit per hour, day, week or month.