Hi Lo Bed

Dab740

Does anyone have experience with Hi Lo or floor beds? This is a bed that lowers right to the floor- the concept is that the Dementia patient can’t get out of bed at night and wander. We are struggling my Mom wandering at night in the care facility and falling. They have suggested we purchase or rent this bed- want to see if others have experience with it.

No matter how many times we ask her to pull the call button for assistance getting up at night she does not.

Jgirl57

That’s interesting about the bed. I had not heard about those. I do know that no matter 

how many times you tell them to use the call button , they will not. Hopefully someone can give you insight about the bed.

LaurenB

We’ve used beds that go to the ground before with floor mats on each side to lessen the chance if injury when they get out of bed independently.  It’s not going to stop them from getting out, but less chance of a broken bone. It’s also still considered a fall from the medical standpoint.

towhee

Whether this will work depends on the height from which your LO can stand and how badly she wants to get out of bed. If she can easily get up from a low toilet (app. 15 inches in height), this might not work. These beds differ a lot in how low they can get, usually from 7 to 12 inches, but this measurement rarely takes into account the height of the mattress, and sometimes to reach the lowest height you have to take off the wheels. As a general rule, the lower the bed gets the more expensive it is. You can also get mattresses that have an elevated side making it harder to get out. It is usually a good idea to get a P T or O T consult to see if this is a good idea as occasionally it can increase the risk of a fall. We were advised to get a Hi Lo bed at the AL, it did not go as low as we expected, and did us no good at all. The one provided at the NH went lower, and my LOs ability to stand had declined, so it did work to prevent getting up and falling. They also used a special mattress and mats on the floor.