What would be a good color of bed sheets for my Mom (90) who has dementia?

I put bright colored sheets (pink and lime green, flowers ) on my moms bed with flowered pillow cases. I just did it to look pretty for her because she liked fowers. If the sheets got wet 2 nights in a row and I had to put a white set on, I swear she never slept as well on the white as she did on the colored ones. I have no reason or research for this, just my opinion. I would always make a fuss when putting her in bed about how pretty her bed looked. Same thing I did when getting her dressed each morning

I try to put purple ones on mums bed. (91 with dementia) That's her favourite colour. But she also has other colours. We go through a set a day at least. She often comments how nice her bed looks and the great care I take. When I ran out of dry ones the other day I found some floral ones at the back of the cupboard. She loved them. She's a flower girl. So I suppose my suggestion is her favourite colour but the interesting ones are good too rather than plain all the time. But I also think it's just about talking about everyday things and being with her in the moment. Hate this disease but grateful that I've slowed down and just hang out with her as much as I can. Precious times.

I would say whatever your mother likes, but at some point it won't much matter

A color that she likes, but it needs to be anintense color that contrast sharply with the floor and walls in her room. The contrast will make her bed stand out visually to her. You can use this principle in any room.
For one of my clients who still lives alone, we painted the closets a bright coral, a color she loves. Now it is easier for her to find toilet paper, bath towels on her own. You could use this in a bathroom, paint the wall next to the toilet a bright intense color and the toilet will be easier for her to see. This may result in fewer misses and messes.
You can buy inexpensive bright sheets at Wal-Mart. They don't need to last forever, but do wash them in cold water and separately from lights.
One last word, people with dementia may pick colors that they never wore as adults or were allowed to wear as children. You may be surprized if you give a choice.
Picking out sheets for her bed on her own will allow her to feel useful and some degree of control over her environment.

only input I would have, in my own experience, is no tiny things like tiny flowers that can look like bugs.

Mica, good point. My late father-in-law had Lewy Body dementia, and accompanying Parkinsonian tics. He picked at everything that was flowered, trying to get "something" off of it.

Any plain color will do. The less dye you have on sheets the better. White sheets are best.

wolflover, I am offended by your comment. It adds NO value as far as answering the original question, and is unnecessarily unkind. You have no IDEA what will or will not matter to this person you will never meet.

Interesting question. My mother has stopped sleeping in her bed completely and is now sleeping on the couch. Now her bed is a big cat bed. As long as she's happy...

I bought a pair of black sheets for Mum's bed and had the bed dressed and room tidy, since I thought black more practical, A VERY BIG MISTAKE, when Mum saw the black sheets, I got TAKE THEM OFF...AND PUT THOSE SHEETS ON YOUR OWN BED, IM NOT READY TO BE LAID OUT YET, that told Me. I never thought of white sheets with flowers...that's next on My to get List. Thank You ALL.

My mother loved her white sheets with colorful polka dots. Imagine white frosting with lots of sprinkles. When I'd take her to bed and pull back her covers she would always smile in delight and say, awh this is my bed...

Just make it something she likes and a happy experience.

Christine73: This remark was not meant to offend anyone, I was merely stating that pick whatever color she enjoys/likes now because later when she will no longer notice the color of the sheets nor recognize any prints, etc. it won't matter what color you put on. I am sorry if I offended you. But I can tell you that my father, in a NH, at this point wouldn't know if he had black sheets on the bed or green ones with pink polka dots. That's why I said "whatever your mother likes now".......do it now while she knows.

I would say plain sheets, not with much pattern in it. I only speak for myself. It makes me anxious with too much pattern. On my own bed, I like a patternless beige color.

Familiarity is generally the key thing, so I'd say whatever style she's stuck to over the years. I also wonder why you're needing to get new ones - is it because she's moving to your house and you want to provide nice bed linen for her, or because hers are all worn out, or because the ones she's got aren't suitable now for some reason? What's the problem, exactly?

I would say something bright and colorful.

It's so funny one of you mentioned that people with dementia or Alzheimer's will often choose colors they would have never used as a normal adult... Which probably explains why my family still owns a sky blue Lexus. Beautiful, expensive car... My dad let my Alzheimer's addled mother pick the color and we call it the blue turtle. Daddy's 87 and keeps crashing into things... So the blue turtle will probably with us for a while longer as beat up as it is... My husband and I always laughed so hard about the day the Lexus dealership sold that ugly blue car. I'm sure somebody got a ham or something out of that sale. Anyway if mom loved it I have to love it on some level as well.

When my grandmother was in a NH with dementia and other medical issues, mom bought flowered pillow cases for her. She was delighted and I can still picture her surrounded by colorful flowers.

My mom, now 91, still at home currently, has bright colored sheets - even some animal prints (like zebra). I need to be careful with the animal ones because she has times of dizziness when she can't stand the stripes.

I have several complete sets (including extra pillow cases) That way the aides can change them anytime she wants. She has a hospital bed now - requires Twin XL so I usually buy extra sets when the kids go back to college. Do not buy microfiber as they pill and that drives mom crazy.

I like the idea of the contrasting colors mentioned above as visually it does make it easy for low vision folks to find bed in low light.

My husband hallucinated, and I had to cover furniture that was covered in a printed fabric or flowery bedspreads with a white sheet. That seemed to help.

Christine73 - the comment made was actually true, and perhaps you might need a support group to help deal with an eventual reality. This disease takes its toll on every caregiver, and "wolflover" has every right to express her feelings. I wish you well for the future events.

ferris-1 I suggest you learn about the importance of color and contrast in working with those who have Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. White is the least appropriate color to suggest. If you are suggesting that dyes make a difference to the rate of progression of dementia, then you are way off the mark. FYI Alzheimer starts 10-15 years before it manifests in symptoms. By the time you get to the stage she mentions, the amount of chemicals in the environment matter very little in the larger scheme of what is going on with her mother. There were several spot on suggestions in the post about what type of sheets to buy. I am grateful to the commenters who told me about their experience with tiny prints.

Dad loves the soft fleece sheets I got him last winter so much, he wants to sleep on them all year. I had to buy him another set. One set is beige and the other is pastel green because that was all they had left.

It might be helpful to let her help pick them out, but keep in mind that decision might change by the time you get home. I suggest you stay away from plain white because that could seem to much "hospital". Practically speaking, if she is wearing depends... you can put 2 on at night. Make sure there are 2 "chucks" UNDER the sheet & 2 (in the shape of a +) on top and you might not have as many wets sheets, so you will only need 2-3 sets. I like have more fitted sheets in a muted color, that way only the bottom sheet needs to be changed & you can have the " selected" top sheet go with any bottom sheet. Buy separates instead of sets.

The reason I suggested white was really about fading from the dyes used. I am well aware of the disease process of dementia dealing with my own husband's case of 12 yrs., working with hundreds of patients in my nursing profession, and am currently a research subject (one of 2,000) at Mayo who have studied me for 12 years and provide me with the latest research. So ADCaregivers might want to curtail her comments until she knows all the facts. Dogs don't like prints on their beds either. They are always trying to scratch at them.

My senior is more fussy about fabric texture and the location of the tag more so than color. He likes very soft, breatheable cotton, high thread count. Tags must be easy to reach and feel with the hands. Sheet CANNOT be tucked in....I put light color contact paper around the edges of the bed so its easier to see the contast. Seems to work for our situation.

On a different bed subject, I used the washable chucks and were well worth it. Very rarely did I have a wet bed and mom slept a good 12 hrs. I had more accident from sitting her on the side of the bed to transfer to well chair. At this point the depends would squish out. I then made sure I moved mom and the pad when getting out of bed. A lot easier to wash the pads each day then redoing the bed and washing the sheets. From my experience, I think women appreciate pretty sheets, men could sleep on a bare mattress!

Thank you, Rosebush. What are "washable chucks" ?

I am 63. Color is not as important to me as the feel of the sheets. I like a good cotton percale that is 200 thread count or better. Same with my pillows, they have to be soft down filled, and the pillowcase a smooth fine cotton. I like a puffy quilt and a microfleece throw on top of it. Warm and fuzzy.

Dad doesn't have any preference about the color of the bedsheets. I made the mistake of buying lots of plain dark colors. Very hard to see if he made a mess on himself and the bedding - until it's time to change his Depend. I also made the mistake of using the colorful tiny flower bedsheets (leftovers when mom was alive). He kept trying to kill the bugs crawling on his bed. It was the tiny flowers he was picking at. That bedsheet is now at the bottom pile - to be used as emergency if we ran out of clean sheets. So, I guess it really depends on what cognitive stage your mom is and her current likes. It would be fun to shop and guess what you chose hits the mark!

FYI, my younger sister bought dad this crazy 'modern art ' design with white background bedsheet. Oh, my, just the white color and dramatic design will swallow bedridden dad to a pale sickly person. I haven't opened the package yet.

We slept together in our bed and used our same old sheets for most of my husband's journey with Lewy Body Dementia. He suddenly lost his depth perception and spatial orientation and couldn't figure out how to place himself in bed. His feet would stick way past the footer or his head would be on the headboard. I stood next to the bed, put my hand on it, and said "sit on my hand, dear." I swore I going to sew a big x where his butt goes, but that particular problem gradually went away.

When he got a hospital bed, I got a set of cotton knit sheets (t-shirt knit) that was soft and comfortable. But what he liked best was the big bold plaid flannel sheets I got at Target. The size of a home hospital bed is x-long twin, but the mattress is generally so thin compared to modern beds that a regular twin typically works. He was not incontinent and generally did not have accidents so two sets were enough. But he did drool, and we sure went through pillowcases!

I agree with Pam -- texture can be very important. My husband liked soft and cuddly better than smooth.

By the way, my mother needed a hospital bed shortly after my husband died, and I passed the sheets on to her. She, too, loved the bold flannel plaid best.