Nighttime bedwetting

yvette44

Hi. I am new to this site. My.mom has moderate alzheimers at this point. She has always been very Independent and was always her wish to be as Independent as possible. We have help during thr day but she is alone at night, which was fine til now as she follows her regular routines and we have a camera in her room to monitor nighttime movement. In the last week she has started wetting thr bed during the night. She wears disposable underwear by day, but her habit has always been to not wear underwear at night. We can't teach her at this stage to keep them on at night as her routine has her taking them off. We have plastic mattress cover and a pad. She first pees early in the night, gets up and removes the pad and her nightgown. Later in the night she pees again and then wanders trying to figure it out. She is also suffering from a cold and am
hoping when her coughing subsides things may go back to normal? For now, am wrecked when I see this going on at 2am and yesterday my sister went over thee at 5am. Any Interim advice? Trying to avoid someone sitting over her for 12 hours a night as that also throws her off as she knows her routine of living alone. Any I put would be appreciated. Thanks

DCCEPEK

As I've been up cleaning from an overnight accident my self I'm here to tell you it only gets worse. Prepare now while she can still communicate. She's needs 24/7 care. Time to take care of her as she declines. My MIL is late stage 6 maybe 7 somewhere. Like caring for a toddler. Cut down on liquid prior to bed. We stay on a rigorous two hr. restroom schedule to avoid poo messes. Works good much work but not cleanings all time. Hang out here you'll learn so much as other chime in. Hugs and smiles

harshedbuzz

Hi and welcome.

I am sorry for your need to be here but pleased you found this place.

Unfortunately, the dementia train only goes in one direction. Occasional accidents are a harbinger of complete bladder and bowel incontinence to come. This also likely indicates her transition from the moderate stages (Tam Cumming Stage 4) of dementia to early late (Stage 5) stage.

Tam-Cummings-LLC-Handouts.pdf (tala.org)

While there are one piece pajama garments that can prevent a PWD from removing their clothing or accessing the contents of them, it sounds like the bigger picture is that this is an indication mom needs overnight care. I know this is not what she would want, but her safety here is paramount.

Early stage 5 has a developmental equivalent of 8-12 years. Leaving a person that age unsupervised at night would not be prudent and might not be legal. Unlike your mom, one would presume a child to be maturing and becoming more competent rather than less so. The problem is that this is one of those situations where a situation is OK until it isn't. You might not get a warning across the bow before she wanders or burns the house down.

Years ago, when I first joined my local support group, the moderator shared a local story of a pair of daughters who prioritized mom remaining in her home as long as possible. One daughter was an 11am-7pm shift nurse who went to mom's each morning to get mom ready for the day-- meds, breakfast, make sure she was dressed for the weather and left a plated lunch for her. The other taught high school and collected mom a little after 3pm and brought her home for dinner and a little TV before she brought mom back to mom's house to get ready for bed and tuck her in. One night, mom decided to take a shower and took her clothes off. For some reason she went outside with only a towel in the middle of winter. Her body was found by a dog walker the next morning.

HB

M1

Welcome, but agree with the above. She shouldn't be alone any longer. Buck and buck is a company that makes clothing that fastens in the back so that she can't take a Depends off, but as already stated, that's not the larger problem.

psg712

Also agree that she needs overnight supervision. If she can't figure out how to change and clean up after an incontinent episode, would she know what to do if she smelled smoke in the house?

I know it's so hard to see our LOs struggle like this. Hoping for you that you find the best care solution for her. Safety has to take priority over her preferences or old routines.