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Last night mom asked for another nightlight. I put one in the outlet and this morning it was out. She removed it at some point even though she asked for it. I don't want her messing with the outlets. I'll try again but I'm thinking I need to remove it from her room if she starts up with it. Did your loved one with dementia have any issues with nightlights? I do have one in the hall and one in the bathroom. She leaves those alone.

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I have a small lamp that's on all the time in my Dad's room on a side table. But I have a monitor (like a baby monitor) in his room as well, with the receiver close to his bed so I can hear if he needs help (he has really bad hallucinations). Well, he turns that thing off all the time, and it causes my receiver to beep - that's how I know he's been up to no good. I asked him about it, but at this point he has no idea what he's doing. So grrrrr. I the middle of the night my receiver beeps so I have to get up to go turn his monitor back on! At least he's not messing with outlets. Maybe a small battery operated motion detector light elevated so she can't reach it ? They stick to the walls with wall tape. Not sure if that would work? Good luck to you!
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Reply to Mamacrow
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Ever since my mother lost her baby sister in 2018, she would carry a mini flashlight with her everywhere she went day and night. I finally got it "out of sight; out of mind." She has lived with me these passed 5 years and she has a type of nightlight in her room. It's actually a lamp of two Siamese cats and I put in the lowest wattage bulb I could. She balked at first, but then she realized if she opened her eyes she could see (still alive and not buried). The house we live in now the bathroom is a bit farther away then right outside her door, so I have another small lamp of a reproduction colonial pinhole light. Again, I put the smallest wattage bulb that fit the lamp. Both of them offer enough light to see where you're going but not enough to jam up the electric bill. They both stay on 24/7/365. It's a small price to pay without checking on her every couple of hours to see if she needs to go to the bathroom. So far, so good, but as I have stated before, the clean up the next day of the bathroom and/or her is still a bear to deal with.
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Reply to uarew6
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All lights bothered my mom. Cars passing by the house at night, reflections on the garage windows, highlights, the little LED light on the TV, telephone answering machine, every single one of them. She would unplug anything electrical - she thought people were watching her through them. Nightlights would get unplugged because then all the "bad people" outside would be able to see her and attack her. Now she is in memory care, we had a TV in her room - same issue. Always unplugged because of the light, and she didn't know what a remote control was anyway, so that was removed. It seems to be a common scenario with dementia - paranoia and thinking people are watching through cameras that aren't there.
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Reply to mgal55
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freqflyer Aug 15, 2024
mgal55, sometimes when a person has an urinary tract infection (UTI) they do odd things or see things that are not there.
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For my mom, I bought a couple of those narrow lightweight shelf’s that you can use 3M adhesive tape to affix and placed them atop the doorframes in the hallway and other door pass thru’s and then on top of the shelf put in 3-4 battery operated on a timer non flickering candles. Candles set to go on right about dusk and run on their 10 hr maximum.

fwiw worked really well for my mom when in IL and then when she moved to a NH, did it above the doorway for the in the room bathroom and it was pretty ideal. Now the candles do chew through the batteries pretty hard!!!
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Reply to igloo572
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My father in law had OC D and when they got older my MIL needed night lights because of her mobility.He was obsessed his whole life with turning off lights. One solution that worked was a motion night light that would only come on for a few minutes as needed.
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Reply to Bubba12345
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My mom wants night lights..she has been afraid of the dark her whole life..with dementia she unplugs everything daily!
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Reply to Sadinroanokeva
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Silverspring, try different locations in the room where there is a outlet within easy reach. For myself I use the incandescent night light plug-ins that have the plastic cover (pulls off so one can replace the 4 watt bulb). I don't like the LED ones.


There are also "night light lamps" that one can sit on a dresser, the on/off is on the cord. I can't deal with a totally dark room, my mind gets lost, and if I stand up I feel like I will fall.
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Reply to freqflyer
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The LED nightlights shine in your eyes.
Get one that does not do that, or get a non-flammable shade to block it from
shining in her eyes.
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Reply to Sendhelp
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Prayers sent.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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Yes. My mom fussed with nightlights. Once she had them in just the right place, she left them alone. She would try a new one from time to time. I got her a small flashlight to keep by the bed and she likes that. 🙂
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Reply to PJx621
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What about a safe air filter with a night light option?
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Reply to Patathome01
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When you spoke with your mother about the nightlight being removed what did she tell you? Is this one of the motion sensor nightlights?
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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I went through a similar situation with my dad, who was convinced that the nightlights had cameras and microphones and the AL was spying on him, as a result he kept removing them. To address his concerns, I coordinated with the assisted living facility and replaced the outlets in his apartment with electric outlets that have built-in night lights. problem solved. You can purchase these outlets in any hardware store.

Best wishes
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Reply to SusanHeart
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Childproof the room.
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Reply to Dawn88
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Yes, I have had those problems. The motion-activated lights are good. You may have to resort to something she can’t reach, such as installed high on a wall. I believe it is important to have nightlights in their room so that if they wake up, they can see where they are. When there wasn’t adequate lighting in the bedroom, LO apparently thought it was the bathroom. The wastebasket and the corner were mistaken for the toilet. After enough light was in the room, that mistake didn’t happen again.
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Reply to Fawnby
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You are so right and I am so new to this I keep making the same mistakes and asking her why she did something. I wish I could break myself of the habit of expecting normal when there is no more normal. I could try the motion one and see if she likes it. She won't know it's there until she sets it off. I don't know if she wants more light while in bed or just when moving and she can't tell me.
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Reply to Silverspring
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Geaton777 Jul 27, 2024
I can attest to how hard a habit it is to break, to keep reacting to my Mom as if she is her prior self. She lives next door to me, 95, and every day I forget. Don't be so hard on yourself. Caregiving for a LO with dementia is like nothing anyone can ever imagine or have figured out beforehand.
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Maybe get a motion-detection one? One that shuts itself off when she's in bed? If she has dementia you won't get a logical answer out of her. If she has memory impairment she won't remember she asked for it or why it's there.
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RetiredBrain Aug 2, 2024
Exactly...she does not understand why there is a light or remember when you tell her. We have an alarm set so when our mother moves in bed it goes off in our room but the light blinks on the alarm when it is set off. When she asks about it, I just say it will go off in a minute- it does- and all is well - same with night light that comes on when you walk in the room. She will ask again and again but that answer "it will go out in a minute". Seems to satisfy the moment
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