Mom simply will not keep her depends on and takes them off in the middle of the night. What do I do?

Every so often, mom shreds her Depends into a billion-million pieces. She sleeps in a hospital bed with an absorbent made-for-that barrier pad. I don't put sheets on it because they would always be wet. It's a vinyl gel pad that I disinfect with Clorox sheets every morning just in case.

I don't know WHY she does that . . . and neither does she. Doesn't even remember it. Sometimes, she just takes them off -- THIS the lady who can't take off her own shoes!

She wears a small/medium. I'm tempted to try a bigger size thinking that, at night sometimes, the briefs may get a little snug. ??

In brief (hahahaha!), nothing surprises me anymore. Sometimes, I go in to get her out of bed in the morning, and she's laying there completely naked. Lordy! A person could go blind! ;)

Now on to a possible solution: how about PJ's with feet? Where there's a will? There's a way. ;)

Good luck!

Look up "adaptive clothing" and you will find a jump-suit type garment that opens in the back, for exactly this purpose (well, that, and preventing running around naked). I think that this is similar to lsmiami's idea with the suspenders.

My Mom won't use them either...and sometimes she does pee in the bed. Sometimes she doesn't. I prefer not to upset her and I like to keep her dignity in tact. I don't use them at all at night. I already know she is either going to pee in the bed or not.
So...I stay prepared. I have 3 different waterproof mattress pads...that I change out. If she has wet the bed...then off with the soiled pad and on with the clean pad and new sheets.
I let them air dry in the spare room to save the pad and the water and electric bill. I don't mention the wet bed...I don't want to embarrass her. So I just say..."it's laundry day!" While being pleasant. And my Mom loves to help me make the bed...so it's a win-win for us.

Does mom wear slacks? If so, can you (or a handy friend) create suspenders?
If you sew suspenders on and have them meet up in the mid back, she will not be able to get to them and therefore will not be able to remove the depends.

Maggie, I was thinking the same thing, wondering if a different size might help. Or trying different brands. I noticed since the baby boomers are getting older, and there are so many of us, more products are coming out for situations like this.

LOL... good play on words *in brief*.

I hate comparing a toddler to an adult....however....when my daughter went through the phase of taking off her diaper in the middle of the night and smearing poop everywhere I duct taped it before she went to bed. It worked.

However, my daughter was ready to grow OUT of diapers, not stay IN them.

The "adaptive clothing" works wonders. My SIL was having the same problem with my mother and she ordered her one that looks like the swimsuits from the olden days and it works perfectly. We even use it during the day to keep her from sticking her hand down her pants.

I have to say, I've thought of the duct tape, and now I'm ready to do it. I walked in on her last night while she slept (1:30am) and she was scratching herself in her sleep. Scratch, scratch, scratch, here there and everywhere. Then I saw her literally pulling them off during her sleep... or 1/2 sleep, whatever. So..... it's a question of sensitive skin, and I don't think anything will work outside of duct taping. She does take Loratadine for allergies to lessen the itchiness, which has helped. I know she never wore undies to bed most of her life, so this is just something she can't get used to. So, duct tape it is, and thank you so very much. Somehow, it helps to know I'm not alone in all this!

Jocelyne, if she is itching maybe her liver levels are a bit out of whack, the itching can be pretty bad. Benedryl won't help, but if it is a problem, a medicine called cholestramine resin can help. It is prescription, a powder and it is used to stop diarrhea and to stop itching from elevated bilirubin. It can be mixed with food or drink. She could also be having a mild reaction to a medication. Benedryl would work in that case. If she doesn't itch, maybe she won't shred the depends.

I second the duct tape suggestion. No harm done, and whatever works, works. Good luck.