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My Mom 87 has dementia and recently we have found her sitting on the floor in the morning not sure if she is trying to push herself up on the bed to stand and ends up sliding off the bed onto the floor. This doesn't happen every morning.


We thought about bed rails to keep her in until we get to her (she does have a bed alarm but she's on the floor before we get to her).


I read it's not a good idea because she may get caught up in it or fall out of bed trying to climb over them and hurt herself worse.


Any recommendations?

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Is there something you can put close to her bed for her to pull up on and hold on to get up and catch her balance?
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I agree with cwille. I had to place a bedrail on my mom’s bed because she could no longer get in and out of bed without having something to hold onto due to mobility issues caused by Parkinson’s disease.

My mom could never have gotten up from floor level if I had placed the mattress there. She couldn’t get up from the toilet seat. I had to place a raised seat with handles for her to be able to rise up.

I had to purchase a lift chair as well because she could no longer get up from a chair.

You mention slipping off of the bed. It does happen. My mom slipped off of her bed and chair before. Usually when she was trying to do something instead of calling for assistance.

It’s hard for them to lose their independence and sometimes the elderly will try to do something even though they know they shouldn’t.

I would catch my mom trying to reach for things on a higher shelf in her closet because she didn’t want to bother me.

I ended up moving everything closer so she wouldn’t try to reach and fall.

She fell many times and it’s heartbreaking to see. Falls are common in people who have Parkinson’s disease or other situations that cause mobility issues.

I wish that I could remember the model of bedrail that I bought.

I ran it by her doctor and she approved of it. I ordered from Amazon. Read the reviews.

Wishing you and your mom all the best in finding a viable solution.
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My MIL's facility puts the mattress right on the floor. They can't roll out and hurt themselves and can't get up to wander off. Not a perfect solution but an inexpensive and effective one. I think a hospital-style bed that can be lowered sounds the best. You can find used ones on Facebook Marketplace or craigslist.org or nextdoor.com
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cwillie Nov 2020
I think the problem with a mattress on the floor in a home setting is that there most likely aren't multiple strong young hands or lifts available to get them into and out of bed, I can't imagine doing that multiple times every day. It must make bed making and dealing with incontinence difficult as well.
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There are many styles of shorter "bed assist rails" that will give her something to steady herself when getting into and out of bed. Also check the height of the bed in relation to her size, if the bed is too high she may be more apt to slide off when she sits on the side. If this continues to be a problem then ensuring she can't get up by herself at all may be the solution, placing raised bumpers under the sheet at the edge of the bed makes it difficult to get up, these can be as simple as a pool noodle or a rolled blanket. Many facilities use a bed that lowers to within a few inched of the floor to make it difficult for most elderly people to get up.
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