How to prevent mother from sliding out of bed on her own at the risk of falling? She has the bed guards but not towards the end of the bed. Are there any alarms that can alert us when she moves beyond a certain point? Thank you
I slept on the floor next to my mother’s bed for several months after she came to my house from rehabbing from a totally pulverized hip, shattered in the course of a devastating fall.
I developed a horrific sleep disorder and also gained 60 pounds of pure stress weight in the same period, while caring for her the best I could.
Heartbroken at the prospect, I finally drove her, with tears streaming down my cheeks, to a beautiful local residential nursing center, assuming she’d be dead in 6 weeks.
Instead, she lived for 5 1/2 joy filled years, enjoying amazing care and comfort.
MY advice? KNOW what’s available whether you’ve “…promised I’d never her ‘put her away’ “, or you’ve been smart enough, and FAIR ENOUGH to have made yourself open to care options that would be fair to you BOTH.
My mom has bolsters all around the edges that I purchased online and they’ve worked perfectly for her. They have a flat side so they don’t roll, very firm padding so don’t squash down under weight, and stay put under the sheet.
What's the fall history? Eg sliding off from sitting on edge? Rolling out? Wiggling down low in the bed past the rails & sliding out?
Are these accidental slides? Or activly getting out of bed? (Without insight)
Some suggestions inc; - bed alarms - bed placed in corner - one side & foot end blocked by walls - pillows under the bottom fitted sheet as a bolster in the danger spots - hospital beds with longer/full rails - electric beds that lower to the floor, with a 'crash pad' mattress along side.
We purchased hand rails that are put under the mattress and put them on the end of the bed. Mom likes them because she can grip them when she sits up on the side of the bed or when she is walking by the foot of her bed. She has a twin bed. We got 2 of them and they span the foot of her bed. She cannot sit at the foot of the bed anymore and fall.
My mom had rails on her bed too. My issue was that my mom would sit at the foot of the bed to do something, like getting dressed, putting on her shoes or digging in her purse for something and boom down she would land on the floor. She slid off the edge of the bed.
I had to ask mom not to sit on the edge of the bed and to sit in a chair to do things.
My mom had Parkinson’s disease and she had serious challenges with movements. She explained that her mind would send a signal but that her body couldn’t respond.
What exactly is your mother’s situation? How is she falling off? Is she sitting up in the bed like my mom was doing and then slipping off?
I slept in an upstairs bedroom, so I used a baby monitor that I kept right on my bed. I could hear my Mom breathing at night, which was comfort to me. Any movement would wake me up. Luckily, she was a deep sleeper most of the time, so I very rarely had to worry.
Go to Amazon.com and punch in "medical supply to prevent falls out of bed" and a TON of items will come up. If you live with mom at home, you can purchase a restraint type item (link below) to keep her secured around her middle in the bed; these types of things are not permitted in managed care homes but you can use them at home IF you feel they are safe. I am not recommending them or not recommending them personally; just saying they are AVAILABLE for use IF you want to try them:
This next link shows padded bed rails on the sides of the bed which you can install to keep mom from falling out of bed. If she's falling out of bed on the very end.......that's odd. Is she scooching herself down the bed and falling off the end? If so, put another rail there to prevent that from happening, or, search the site for something appropriate to prevent it entirely.
In my experience with alarms, by the time they go off, mom is on the floor already as the fall has happened.
There are pressure sensitive pads you can buy to place on her bed. The pads will trigger an audible alarm if she moves off of them. They will not prevent falls, but will alert you when she moves. You might want to consider getting a bed that is very close to the ground with a thick pad on the "open sides" of the bed to "catch her" if she moves out of bed.
I developed a horrific sleep disorder and also gained 60 pounds of pure stress weight in the same period, while caring for her the best I could.
Heartbroken at the prospect, I finally drove her, with tears streaming down my cheeks, to a beautiful local residential nursing center, assuming she’d be dead in 6 weeks.
Instead, she lived for 5 1/2 joy filled years, enjoying amazing care and comfort.
MY advice? KNOW what’s available whether you’ve “…promised I’d never her ‘put her away’ “, or you’ve been smart enough, and FAIR ENOUGH to have made yourself open to care options that would be fair to you BOTH.
Are these accidental slides?
Or activly getting out of bed? (Without insight)
Some suggestions inc;
- bed alarms
- bed placed in corner - one side & foot end blocked by walls
- pillows under the bottom fitted sheet as a bolster in the danger spots
- hospital beds with longer/full rails
- electric beds that lower to the floor, with a 'crash pad' mattress along side.
My mom had rails on her bed too. My issue was that my mom would sit at the foot of the bed to do something, like getting dressed, putting on her shoes or digging in her purse for something and boom down she would land on the floor. She slid off the edge of the bed.
I had to ask mom not to sit on the edge of the bed and to sit in a chair to do things.
My mom had Parkinson’s disease and she had serious challenges with movements. She explained that her mind would send a signal but that her body couldn’t respond.
What exactly is your mother’s situation? How is she falling off? Is she sitting up in the bed like my mom was doing and then slipping off?
https://www.amazon.com/Restraint-Medical-Restraints-Elderly-Personal/dp/B07KWYJVX4/ref=sr_1_94?crid=3OSJ6DVM97VEH&keywords=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed&qid=1672339927&sprefix=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-94
This next link shows padded bed rails on the sides of the bed which you can install to keep mom from falling out of bed. If she's falling out of bed on the very end.......that's odd. Is she scooching herself down the bed and falling off the end? If so, put another rail there to prevent that from happening, or, search the site for something appropriate to prevent it entirely.
In my experience with alarms, by the time they go off, mom is on the floor already as the fall has happened.
Good luck.
https://www.amazon.com/DMI-Toddlers-Disabled-Handicapped-included/dp/B0009STN9M/ref=sr_1_101?crid=3OSJ6DVM97VEH&keywords=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed&qid=1672339983&sprefix=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-101
I am all for anything that can help. Just not familiar with this product. I had bed rails on my mom’s bed but no alarm.
I am curious. Has anyone installed an alarm and heard it and were able to prevent the person from being hurt?
https://safeplacebedding.com/
There are probably more sites, but I don't have a lot of time to research bedding safety.
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