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Stuff animals with Dementia

Cynthiaa1937
Cynthiaa1937 Member Posts: 8
First Comment
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edited November 9 in Caring for a Parent

I am curious to find if anyone has a parent who plays with dolls or teddy bears. Mom's lives with me and thinks the teddy bear is her baby. She will feed it real food and share her drinks with it. She calls the baby by my siblings names. And it goes everywhere with her in a cart. I was ok with it until she gets angry saying the baby needs certain types of food to eat. I get that she misses being a mom. But I don't like getting blamed when she misplaces it. Btw she talks to this so called baby all day long and it's the only thing that kinda makes her happy.

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  • JulietteBee
    JulietteBee Member Posts: 347
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    I would say there is no harm in her continued need to nurture. Allow her to do it. Maybe you can suggest the doctor changed the baby's diet.❓️❓️❓️

  • psg712
    psg712 Member Posts: 610
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    A friend got my mom a stuffed cat when we had to rehome her real one with her move to MC. To my surprise, she held the cat a few times and then ignored it. Now, almost 2 years later, she has become interested in caring for a baby doll that belongs to the facility. She holds it, talks to it, and shows it off to others. No clue how this got started, but it seems to give her pleasure.

  • sandwichone123
    sandwichone123 Member Posts: 1,115
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    It's pretty common for pwd to bond to a doll or stuffed animal. If you're touring memory care facilities you will almost always see some of the residents with a doll or stuffed animal. That said, I haven't seen any discussions of the residents trying to feed them real food, so I can't offer helpful experiences on that one. Maybe try having "naptime" for the teddy when it's time to eat?

  • ARIL
    ARIL Member Posts: 276
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    Teepa Snow did a short video last January in which she explained the changes to the brain of a PWD that produces this kind of behavior and belief. The URL is below. This doesn’t answer your question directly but may give you some insight into what’s going on with your mom:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DL24UJR_wrU

  • harshedbuzz
    harshedbuzz Member Posts: 6,021
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    There is such a thing as Doll Therapy that is used to keep certain PWD calm and engaged. It's not unlike the use of stuffed animals or robotic pets.

    It's not without some controversy. On the plus side it can be an effective non-pharmaceutical strategy for one's caregiving toolbox. Detractors would counter that it is infantilizing and disrespectful to an adult.

    I'm on the side of anything that brings calm to the PWD especially since your mom landed on this approach herself.

    HB

  • Cynthiaa1937
    Cynthiaa1937 Member Posts: 8
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    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/258116#Comment_258116

    Thank you!

  • Cynthiaa1937
    Cynthiaa1937 Member Posts: 8
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    Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. I truly appreciate it.

Commonly Used Abbreviations


DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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