My 86 year-old mother has Alzheimer's. I live with her, upstairs with my husband. Do to Sundowner's she will continuously come up to ask "Who is coming for Christmas?"- but at all times of the year and during the middle of the night.
Also asking me to leave my room because guests need to sleep in there.
I am afraid she will slip in the middle of the night while I am asleep. She's constantly going up and down and is very active.
We secured a wood, 6 ft room divider at the foot of stairs, but I saw that she climbed the side railing while standing on a chair.
Can anyone suggest anything please?
I would have someone place a solid panel along the open area that she might climb. If this is a stairway that is “central” where one side of the stairs does not have a wall next to it you would have to do both sides.
You could get clear so that it is not noticeable but that might be more dangerous as your mom might not see that it is there and still try to climb. I would look at the plastic grid type and they come in white.
Another possibly less expensive option to try would be get a bunch of “pool noodles” the kind with a hole down the center. Cut them down the center and slip a noodle around each of the rungs going up the stairs. The noodles would take up the space that her foot would go so there is less of a chance she could climb.
If this is the only safety issue you can keep trying to figure it out BUT this might be a case where she would be safer in a place with no stairs and have someone available 24/7 to watch her.
My Husband tried all different ways to get out of the house. At one point I had keys to my car in a safe. Switched to wearing them on my belt loop attached to a carabiner, I wore the keys to the house around my neck for 5 years so he could not escape I changed all the locks on the doors to double sided locks and I cable tied my dining room furniture together so he could not take chairs and climb over the porch railing, and I had a lock on the gate I put on the porch. All to keep him from wandering off.
It does not end until they lose the ability to walk. And that brings another set of challenges. It is always something!
Alarming her door is a good idea. But how did you ever get any sleep??
So glad that the med helps your mo sleep 90% of the time. Yippee!
You might want to put alarms on your exit doors, so that she can't decide to walk to the market or church or whatever......even if it hasn't happened yet.....
Some type of motion activated alarm that could be placed at the foot of the stairs or on a door frame that is on her pathway to the stairs would let you know she was on the move. It might startle her and get her to turn around and go back to her room...or not.
Getting outside and going for a walk at the park or even a long scenic ride can help improve sleep. Sunshine is good for the brain.
Trazodone at bedtime helps a lot. Well tolerated by elders. Also, a couple of acetaminophen tablets in the evening or at bedtime help relieve the discomfort of aches and pains that are not bothersome or even noticed in the daytime, but can be more bothersome in the dark. Elders do not have as much deep sleep as they did, and so stiffness and soreness can interrupt the light sleep easily. And of course, toileting needs and fear of accidents are a factor.
Good luck. You and your spouse have a hard job...
She climbed the side railing from a chair? Wow! She's like my 2 yo grandson. Inventive and no fear!
The odd questions are pretty run of the mill with dementia, as I'm sure you know. My friend's mom got stuck on Thanksgiving. She was always worried about the turkey.
Does she need to come out of her room at night to use the bathroom or does she have one in her room? If she doesn't need to come out, I'd put a baby gate across her doorway to keep her in there. I like the ones that are metal and you install them into the wall. Or I've seen in the nursing home where my MIL, a cloth gate that keeps the patient in AND keeps other wandering patients out.
If the environment is "baby proofed" and you've done your best at making it safe and escape proof as can be expected, then please stop worrying about her falling. The fact is, at some point, she WILL fall. Just about guaranteed. They fall in nursing homes, at the hospital, and at home. Not unusual at all. But you can't be all stressed out about it. Not healthy for you.
Sorry you're going through this.
I had to have a door to a basement bathroom replaced with a lockable one with a pet door. This prevented my husband from sifting the kitty litter with his hands.