Help with going to the bathroom

briang

I am new to this discussion board and I'm hoping to get some help and ideas.

I am living with my 89 year mom who has moderate Alzheimer's/dementia. She is not very stable when she walks and uses a walker all the time. She has a bathroom in her room but I put in a commode a few feet from her bed for use during the night and morning. She sleeps between 12 and 14 hours a day so she uses the commode at least twice during the night/morning.

Unfortunately, she has fallen 3 times in the past month when trying to get to the commode. Fortunately, she did not sustain any major injuries but we can no longer take any chances. Someone must help her use the commode every time. I purchased a baby monitor which she keeps on her night stand, so I can hear and see her during the night if she needs to use the bathroom. However, she does not always remember to let me know that she needs to get out of bed. I have also purchased a bed alarm system which I haven't yet received.

Right now, I wake her up around 2:00 a.m. to use the bathroom. In addition to her regular caregiver who works from noon till 5:00, I have brought in another caregiver from 7:00 a.m. -noon. She wakes my mother up at 7:00 and then again at 10:00 to use the bathroom. While this approach seems to be working, my mom is even more exhausted when she finally gets up around noon or 1:00. I hate disrupting her sleep but I cannot think of any other options.

I would grealy appreciate any suggestions or ideas that might be helpful for my situation. Thank you

SDianeL

Welcome. Glad you’re here but sorry for the reason. The only other option I can think of other than waking her to use the toilet is to use depends or diapers and bed pads and let her sleep. If you keep getting her up the bed alarm will help. What stage is your Mom?

DebbiCzernik

For Mom I use the pull up type with 3 extra pads. I also use bed pads incase there are leaks. This has been very good for her. I get them here https://www.northshorecare.com/

H1235

Welcome. I think I remember someone saying they used a pad on the floor by the bed that would create an alarm maybe to your phone when she steps on it. You might be able to find the thread or similar threads by using the search. I hope you can find a solution.