Bed rails(1)

Gig Harbor

Tell me what you think of this idea. A friend was talking about her husband rolling out of bed more frequently during the night when he is dreaming. The bed rail that slips under the mattress did not always keep him in and he could not grab onto it to pull himself up as it simply pulled out. At some point she is going to replace the flooring due to excess urine so she does not need to protect it. We came up with this idea: make a railing out of 4x4 uprights and bars that are close enough together that he can’t get stuck between them. The edges could be sanded and rounded. It would go from the head of the bed down half way. The uprights would be securely mounted to the floor so that he could pull on it to help get up and it would never pull loose. I had a fence built using brackets that bolted to cement and we thought the same idea would work well in the bedroom.

toolbeltexpert

Gig that's sounds like a plan I have used the 4x4 bracket to attach to concrete they worked well on our deck posts. I am assuming the bed can be made immovable. But I also  wonder if access is gonna be needed in the future, for say a Hoyer lift? I guess if everything is screwed together it can be deconstructed easily.

I put in a temporary door to block access to our 2 floor. I never needed it, so I uninstalled it. 6 screws total and it was solid. I bagged at the parts and taped it to the lumber and put it under the house just in case. The 6 holes are in places hard to see and I didn't bother to fill them back in.

The things we will do.

Stewart

Ed1937

If done properly, that absolutely would work. I had a hip replacement several years ago, and needed to keep the dog from jumping on me. We have a small room leading to the back yard, and I did something like that to act as a fence, stopping her from having access into the other room. It worked perfectly. A toddler gate wouldn't have done the job.

What kind of bars did you have in mind? Many things could work. You might even consider using 2 X 2s screwed to the uprights. Just use long screws so they can't pull loose.

jfkoc

Beware the climb over and resulting broken  hip...

John_inFlorida

My DW rolled out of bed and hit her head on the night stand. Needed an Xray, but luckily nothing was broken. I purchased this bedrail from Amazon for $70. Don't know why it didn't paste as a link, but I think you can find it, if your interested. I think this is a pretty good one, part of it goes under the mattress. It sticks under pretty far, plus has a strap that goes all the way under to the other side and attaches to the bed frame, so the rail cant slide out. It has feet that go all the way to the floor, so she can use it to help get out of bed. And it only covers the shoulder area, that seems enough to prevent her from failing out, and allows her to get in and out safely as well.  Seems to work for us anyway. Hope this is useful

Vaunn Medical Adjustable Bed Assist Rail Handle and Hand Guard Grab Bar, Bedside Safety and Stability (Tool-Free Assembly), White/Black

Ed1937

John, I don't need one, but that looks pretty good. Thanks for passing the info on. That's what makes this forum so great.

jfkoc

That is what worked here.