Does your LO insist on “helping”, but just makes it worse?

[Anonymous]

My mother is at about stage 6 on the Alzheimer scale. She can still walk, talk (sometimes incoherently), and usually can dress herself.

She insists on making her bed in the middle of the night, and then sleeping on top of the comforter. Well, today she had an accident on top of all her bedding. When I tuck her in bed, every night, she rests on an “accident pad” which is placed on top of the flat sheet. I try to remind her every night not to make her bed, but for some reason, some “silent generation” habits never die! She cannot remember what I told her one minute ago, but those “femenine” priorities to keep everything nice, just never go away.

Do your LOs make things worse when they “help”?

[Anonymous]

Yes. See if you can attach a pad to the top of her comforter or the underside so you just have to launder the comforter not everything else.

[Anonymous]

What is an LO?

[Anonymous]

Here you go

https://bedwettingstore.com/collections/bedding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is an LO?

I thought “little one” but that’s clearly not it

[Anonymous]

LO = Loved One, the person you care for.

[Anonymous]

My FIL is trying to get mightily to keep MIL with dementia “active” and “engaged” but left to her own devices or unsupervised, now wrecks anything she can get her hands on like pulling dirty clothes out of the hamper and folding, putting back in drawers or recently, unloading dirty dishes from the dishwasher.

Uphill battle here, but I like PP’s suggestion and I’d add, layer the bed with the pads starting with pads under the fitted sheet. Any way you could tightly secure the fitted sheet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My FIL is trying to get mightily to keep MIL with dementia “active” and “engaged” but left to her own devices or unsupervised, now wrecks anything she can get her hands on like pulling dirty clothes out of the hamper and folding, putting back in drawers or recently, unloading dirty dishes from the dishwasher.

Uphill battle here, but I like PP’s suggestion and I’d add, layer the bed with the pads starting with pads under the fitted sheet. Any way you could tightly secure the fitted sheet?

They make these elastic things that go under the mattress and clip on to the edges of the sheet. Like suspenders.

[Anonymous]

My dad sleeps on top of his comforter too. Sometimes in his day clothes. He has only had a couple accidents, but my mom got a waterproof "quilt" that she puts on the comforter now.

I thought it was just one of his quirks but now I wonder if it is common for dementia patients to stop sleeping under the bedding.

[Anonymous]

My mom keeps washing her dishes in the bathroom she shares with my daughters. The food spoils and the bathroom stinks! She is so happy and proud each time she shows me her clean dishes. She had dementia and stays upstairs. I keep telling her it is my job to wash her dishes, but she cannot remember what I tell her. Fun times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dad sleeps on top of his comforter too. Sometimes in his day clothes. He has only had a couple accidents, but my mom got a waterproof "quilt" that she puts on the comforter now.

I thought it was just one of his quirks but now I wonder if it is common for dementia patients to stop sleeping under the bedding.

I wonder if it's because they often don't know what time it is, so they think they're napping, not in bed for the night

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is an LO?

I thought “little one” but that’s clearly not it

Loved one is my guess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dad sleeps on top of his comforter too. Sometimes in his day clothes. He has only had a couple accidents, but my mom got a waterproof "quilt" that she puts on the comforter now.

I thought it was just one of his quirks but now I wonder if it is common for dementia patients to stop sleeping under the bedding.

My FIL also did this.