Multi layers of clothing?

One thought on this, I had a similar problem with my Husband.
Is she cold? My Husband in the sweltering summer would wear a leather coat on top of a flannel shirt, on top of a t-shirt. And leather gloves.
When I would try to get him to remove a layer he said he was cold. The reason he was cold was he was sweating and the normal air felt cool on him. I just put away all the "extra clothes" so he had limited clothing to select from. And the coat and gloves got put away as well.
Remove all but 1 or 2 days of clothing from the closet..."they are in the wash".. so she can not layer.
As far as the HHA ..ease into it. Have her come in for you not mom...as mom gets used to her she may accept help a little easier. A GOOD HHA can work magic getting someone to comply.

Have you seen any of Teepa Snow's dementia advice? This sounds like what she calls 'Amber stage'.

I don't work for her or anything! I just found her info helped me to understand & the YouTube's gave me ideas to try.

The bits that jumped out were *repetitive behaviours* & *care is refused*. Does this sound like your Mom?

From Teepa's website:
Amber ~ Caught in a Moment of Time ~ Caution Required.
Focused on sensation: seeks to satisfy desires and tries to avoid what is disliked
Environment can drive actions and reactions without awareness of safety
Visual abilities are limited: focus is on pieces or parts, not the whole picture
What happens to or around an Amber, may cause strong and surprising reactions
Enters others’ space and crosses boundaries attempting to meet own needs.
Has periods of intense activity: may be very curious or repetitive with objects or actions.
Care is refused or seen as threatening, due to differences in perspective and ability.

Mom can no longer access the logic needed for the getting dressed sequence.

She will either need supervision for dressing, or as others have said, have only one set of clothes out ready (the rest all hidden). That way she can still dress independantly.

My MIL's problem was wearing dirty clothes several days in a row, and putting them back on after a bi-weekly bath (by a technician). Limiting availability was the answer, as others have suggested. We supplied only one complete set of clothing at a time. Perhaps you can lock up or hide the extras. If she is cold she would probably welcome a tee or thermal underwear.

I guess the only way is as stated above - only leave her what is appropriate for her to wear at a time.

Does she think that putting on new clean clothes means that she is now clean? Can you think about why she might not like to take off the dirty things?

I like the idea of limiting the options. Is she capable of taking things OFF? If so, could you let her do it in private, and say that you will put the clean ones in through the door after she pushes the dirty ones out? Or perhaps puts them in a basket (you could even pull it out the door with a string, then push it back in)?

A friend of mine had a grandmother who had to have her body shaved AFTER she was anesthetised for an operation 'down there', because she was so stressed about anyone seeing her naked. It might explain things a bit.

I went through this with my Mom. I found limiting the amount of clothes in her drawers and closet was a big help. Prior to that when it was hot out she put on more layers. The bra on the outside of her clothes was the real warning I had to do something. Bras were no longer needed.

With my husband refusing to take a shower, thinking he had just had one, I tell him this is the day I put clean sheets on the bed and no one gets in bed without a shower on clean sheets. Another thing I have done is, I don't say anything in advance, just start the shower water and tell him "The Doctor Said" this is the day for shower. As I have big band music from the 40s playing on our Alexa. To promise a reward for after the shower might work, like ice cream is worth a try.

I agree with limiting your Mom's clothes in her room. You mean, nothing can be removed, even though her underwear(??) and inner layers will get soiled with her waste?? Did you ask her doctor for advice?

First of all, do all you can to push getting her into a facility. This behavior cannot be tolerated and I am not sure if you are the only caretaker that you can handle this. First of all, where is she getting all this clothes from? Put everything out of sight where she can't find it. Leave out ONE outfit that she can wear. Second of all, forcefully if need be, and your father must be made to help or you need to get someone with you to help, strip her of her clothes and wash her no matter how loud she screams and fights. Get medical intervention to calm her down and make her more passive. To smell and not get washed is not only sickening, it will lead to many more problems down the road. And get very tough with her and tell her in no uncertain terms if she does not cooperate, etc. this will happen. I am no expert but if kindness and reason do not work, and most likely won't, as long as you do not do physical harm, you must clean her and ignore her rantings. Also contact Adult Protective Services in the office on Aging and ask them for advice and help. You cannot allow this to continue.

You are explaining repetitive behaviors in your mom. It is like a stuck record or a "do-loop" in a computer program where the same action is repeated over and over and over again. She can not control this repetition. So the best solution may be limiting the amount of clothes she has access to. As to hygiene, you may need to use the authority of "the doctor says..." to get her to take a bath or shower. I find that saying "time for your bath" as I draw the bath is better than asking "would you like a bath?". If she continues to be resistant to care from your or a HHC aide, she may need placement into long term care or receive medication to reduce anxiety.