Any advice getting Mom in and out of bed who is having trouble?

The hospital bed has side railings, right? My husband was able to pull himself up into a sitting position using these, swing his legs over the side, and hang on to railing to get up. But by the time he had a hospital bed it wasn't really safe for him to do this alone. I tried to always be in the room when he was getting in or out of bed.

Your profile says MIL lives with you. Does she have a means of summoning you? Can you always help her in and out of bed?

Once up, can she walk with her walker OK? Or does she use a wheelchair?

Ask her doctor to order a visit from an occupational therapist who may see other ways for her to help herself.

It may be that her infirmity has reach a point where she simply needs more assistance than she has in the past. Can you provide that? Or is it time to consider a care center?

When our mom had trouble we purchased something called a bed buddy. It is a board that slides between the mattress and box spring and has a rail attached that helps give assistance in pulling yourself up or holding on to sit down. The nightstand is not a good idea as it can fall over. An occupational therapist should be called in (ins should pay) to show how to get up and down. Basically. While holding on the patient backs into the bed with the butt at a diagonal towards the pillow, this allows them to get high in the bed (bed buddy bar is just below the pillow). They use the bed buddy for support. Getting up the swing legs over closest to buddy, and use the buddy for support. It is very stable as their weight is holding it steady. The nursing homes in our state would nt allow side rails as it is considered restriction, but the bed buddy was allowed. We used it there, and at home

Bed rail that goes under mattress which you can place where convenient. Also took wheels/coasters off bed to make the bed lower to floor and bought a smaller box spring. Both ocvupational and physical therapist were very helpful, they had excellent ideas on just how to find new ways to do ordinary things. Good luck

It's time for a Nursing Home. So sorry to say that.

Most people think a hospital bed is the solution for bed transfer and repositioning issues but seldom is that true (plus most hospital beds are uncomfortable in the first place). There are true solutions that most people know nothing about. I have to open my mouth as I hate to see people endanger themselves or their loved ones- or go to a nursing home needlessly. If I can help please let me know.

Excuse me, I don't understand. "I have to open my mouth...." No offense, but why didn't you?? What are these "true solutions?"

"If I can help, please let me know." Help here! Now!

Sorry for the confusion- as a vendor I can't comment too much without the post being removed. I specialize in mobility problems and see many new items at national tradeshows- some items may be perfect solutions. I would be glad to offer suggestions if people contact me direct (I believe that is allowed).

I may have this wrong but a physical therapist told me to roll mom over on her side, start scooping her legs off side of bed and at the same time put your other hand under shoulder that is touching bed and push up gently and this will bring her up to a sitting position. Would wait a few minutes till she was acclimated to sitting up. Then I would have mom put her hands on walker, I put my foot inside walker so it would not move, held onto walker with one hand and used my other arm under her armpit. My elbow would basically be under her armpit. Never want to pull anyone up. By getting her up this way she rested her weight on me. Did not hurt her or cause any bruising . My mom would stand right up and I would wait for a few moments to make sure her balance was ok. I also wanted to mention that I bought a very good memory foam mattress topper for the hospital bed. Had to trim to fit. Mom slept in hospital bed for 4 years. She was very comfortable on her back. I would put a flat bed pillow under edge of shoulder to edge of buttock. When she woke up to go to bathroom I would switch to other side. Otherwise I never moved her and was extremely fortunate that she never had a bedsore . As I mentioned before call a physical and/or occupational therapist in. I asked that they show me the best ways to get mom up, in and out of shower, from bed to potty, etc. Had about 4 different evaluations as her mobility decreased. You are doing the right thing asking for help, this is not am easy job.

Get a good lift chair! We have a hospital bed too & mom won't sleep in it. We got a super comfortable lift chair, it has a zero gravity position that takes pressure off the spine & can be adjusted in many positions including just about flat. It also has heat & several message settings to help with circulation. It will lift almost to a standing position & can be locked if we don't want her getting up on her own. We have a baby monitor to hear in the other room & she wears a whistle in case we're sleeping or out of range. We got good one, a little pricey but worth every penny. She loves it!

A word of caution on sleeping in liftchairs- good for naps and such but not good for long term sleeping. I get calls from people with bad bedsores because they can't reposition in a liftchair (bedsores are very nasty). Not good for backs long term- had a caller that slept in recliner for years and the therapist tried to convert him back to bed. His back was too screwed up and he was in terrible pain laying flat- had to give up. Also had multiple callers contact me (crying) as they looked for solutions to sleep in bed again. Recliners are good but not as a full replacement to sleeping in bed.