Refusing to sleep in bed

LJS45

We recently moved my 86 year old mother from a MCF to a residential care facility and the caretaker said she is refusing to sleep in her bed. She was also not sleeping at night and would just cat nap so her dr. recently prescribed trazadone, which has helped her sleep some. When she was at the MCF and I would visit her, more times than not, she was very sleepy. I honestly thought it was a side effect of the seroquel. Now I suspect she was sleeping on the floor in MC and wandering at night as well. She has fallen out of bed multiple times so part of me thinks she is afraid to sleep in the bed, but just not sure. I have purchased a fall mat for her, but I just don't know how we can convince her to sleep in her bed. It breaks my heart to know she is sleeping on the hard ground in her room. Do we just let her sleep on the mat if that's what she wants? Thanks for any input!

Stuck in the middle

It isn't like she has to sleep on the floor because she doesn't have a bed.  If she chooses to sleep on the mat, I'd let her do it.  What does it hurt?

I understand your feelings, but I think it is better to let her do what she likes rather than what you would do.  I would rather my wife ate more veggies and less ice cream, but I'm not going to quit buying the ice cream.  If your mother wanted to sleep outdoors or do something else that was dangerous, you would have to stop her, but sleeping on a mat won't kill her.  Half the world sleeps on mats.

ladyzetta

If the mat is soft and she is warm there is no harm in letting her sleep there. When my DH was in MC he did not want to sleep in the bed so they covered him up and let him recline in his recliner. Sleeping is important so let her sleep where she wants to. If she sleeps there she must be comfortable. Maybe put a nice big soft comforter on her mat. She may not care but it might make you feel better.

sandwichone123

Is the caregiver someone who would be open to learning why she doesn't sleep on the bed? I know when my grandmother was in assisted living she couldn't sleep on the bed because she thought her mom and "the kids" were in the bed. We never figured out who the kids were, but of course her mom had been long gone.

grammyteacher

Could you get her a nice recliner? My mom slept a lot in her comfy recliner. We even added an alternating pressure  mattress later on so no pressure ulsers.

LJS45

Thank you very much for your reply.  There's so much to this disease that we don't understand and I guess if she chooses to sleep on the floor, then the floor is where she will sleep.

LJS45

grammyteacher wrote:

Could you get her a nice recliner? My mom slept a lot in her comfy recliner. We even added an alternating pressure  mattress later on so no pressure ulsers.

Thank you for your reply. She does have a recliner in her room and sometimes takes a nap in it. Just wish I could understand why she chooses the floor, but if that's where she chooses to sleep then the floor it shall be.

LJS45

Thanks for all your replies. I appreciate it.

I guess if she chooses to sleep on the floor, then the floor it shall be.

Sadly, I don't think the caregiver is interested in trying to determine why she is refusing to sleep in her bed. He merely likes to complain about my mom with all kinds of inappropriate statements. We will be moving her again and are looking into options. 

She does have a recliner in her room that she sometimes naps in. So not sure exactly what the dialogue is when she doesn't want to sleep in the bed, but I do know that one of the caregivers is not well equipped to deal with behaviors associated with AD.

BassetHoundAnn

For years my mom has preferred to sleep on a couch. I mentioned this to someone I know in healthcare, that my mom wouldn't sleep in her bed any longer, and she said that a lot of elderly people prefer sleeping on a couch because it's cradling. My mom also has problems getting in and out of bed--I think she's having problems moving her body the way she wants to, and on occasion I've found her sleeping on the floor. She tells me she prefers it over the bed, but it doesn't make sense, the floor is hard, and I suspect she's justifying her behavior. Tonight after I got her p.j.'s on I tried to help her into bed and she really had problems getting into bed. She ended up sitting in a chair.

13jane

I just wanted to acknowledge the difficulty of your situation. I truly hope it all gets sorted quickly for everyone's  sake. Jane

Arrowhead

Perhaps she is afraid of falling out of bed again. She may be open to the idea of having raised sides that would prevent her from doing so.

LJS45

Thank you for your kind words Jane. I really appreciate it.

Her bed is next to a wall on one side and does have a rail on the other side. It's a hospital bed.