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I have a 24 hour caregiver but dad doesn't call him at night. We tried attaching a bell but the tricky guy moves so slowly that the bell doesn't ring. Any suggestions?

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When it got too hard for my mom to get to the bathroom without assistance, and she sure didn't want to wear diapers (yet) we had a toilet chair on wheels brought in. It sat next to her side of the bed so she literally took one step once she stood up, pivoted and sat down on it. And dad didn't have to hang onto her nightie all night long to make sure she wouldn't walk to the bathroom by herself.
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My mother fell getting up to go to the bathroom and broke her pelvis last spring. I am her least favorite and live the farthest away, so I am by the Laws of Caregiving, the one who is now staying with her in her home. Maybe these are obvious adaptations, but:
1) I got a large clock with digital readout to have beside her bed so she wouldn't be confused about the time. She takes a sleeping pill (do all doctors give people over 90 any drug they want?), and that makes her more muddled. One reason she fell is that she thought it was 7:30 when it was actually 3:30.
2) I got a nightlight for the bathroom so the hallway and bath are somewhat illuminated. She had been walking to the bathroom in the dark (!) under some theory that the bright light would make it harder to go back to sleep.
3) I put a separate walker by her bed upstairs, which she is supposed to use to walk to the bathroom. (Me, every day: "Why is the walker over here and you're over there?") And I removed all bedroom and bathroom rugs.
4) I bought extra grip bars that you normally put on the wall of the shower and put them horizontally on the surface of the sink surround so that if she starts to fall, she has a lot of things to grab on to. These have stopped a couple of falls.
5) I remind her that she is one fall away from assisted living. This is what makes her agree to all of the above.
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You handled that just right

They now have leakproof urinals. !

Check forever active or Amazon
Anywhere 30 to 50 dollars each

You might order it and give it to him
In a couple weeks, so he doesn't feel
You are making it a big deal.
You know him best.
While shopping might look at a medical
Alert.

Good luck
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I have a baby monitor with a camera on my mom. I hear her and see her move because it has night vision. She cannot sneak away from me. However, she hasn't tried for awhile. She is sleeping more and getting up less and less. Good luck. I hope he didn't injure himself when he fell.
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I would use the video monitor suggestion & bring this to the caregiver's attention. If he/she is being paid to prevent this exact issue, they should be more aware of what's going on. A bedside commode is another great suggestion.
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you need a fall detection system. The units I am thinking of have a sensor that goes in the bed, and when he gets up it goes off, the other option is a sensor that goes
Under a rug...if pressure put on it, the alarm goes off.....as a bonus they have units that set off a pager the helper wears...that way no loud noise at night.
Look at elder depot or another place I will send a message about later. The commode and walker are a good idea...
Does he just need a urinal ?
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Also google kerrmedical to get ideas
On a wireless bed alarm with a pager. After
You see what available, you can shop around.
Good luck!
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my father is 89 and lives with me. He has a urinal that is placed next to his bed at night. A small night light is left on so he can see just enough to not make a mess. He also has a bedside commode should the calling be of a bigger nature. (is the caregiver dozing off??)
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Where do you find these Senors that goes off? However, under the rug deal may not work for my mil? I have had a soft rug placed by her bed just for foot comfort. However, she has picked it up more than once n moves it around to different areas of her room for some reason.
The baby monitor sounds pretty good too. I guess Baby-r-us is where u go for that monitor.
Busy, thanks for the Kerrmedical, going to check it out too.

My most biggest concern for safety for my mil is the bathroom deal.She is able to get up n go to the bathroom on her own without falling n such. However, I have caught her more than once with her feet on toilet seat sqatting on the toliet trying to do #2. I am afraid she is going to fall n crack her skull wide open!

I have tried talking to her about it n she don't or denies even doing it. I even caught her in a public bathroom doing it once. Only happens when I think she starts to get constipated n it seems she forcing herself to go or she will dig back their too sometimes. Caught that in action too. I could go to the bathroom every time she goes but that is going to wear me out for she will go in their to play with her hair, or to do #1 more than 20 times a day for some reason n she don't have UTI. Or just to run warm water to warm her hands up sometimes or plunder n the bathroom which is another whole issue I need to do deal with the cabinets n bathroom.
Anyway,
She is already on a prescription Miralax twice a day so it's not all the time she gets this way. Plus, I have change her diet from white bread to whole grain bread n added rasins to her diet n juices. I think the suppositors she is having to use for her lower abdomen issues can cause constipation. Yet, this suppositors is the only kind that seems to be working for her lower abdomen. Hopefully, she will not be on this suppositor for too much long longer.
However, I would like to know if their is something to keep her from using her feet on toilet or something should I do to r bathroom floor or the sliding glass shower door which is directly in front of the toliet bowl n case she slips one day from her putting her feet up on toliet seat? Any suggestion please.....
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I must share....I posted a few days ago about the urinal next to my dad's bed. Wed. morning I did my usual running the kids to school, (dad usually still sleeping or in his room) was doing pretty good on time so did one of my usual quick trips to the grocery. When I got home my dad was sitting in his chair in the living room looking pretty sad. He used his urinal and went to put the cap back on and dumped the whole thing down his legs, on the bed and the floor. But...... he didn't fall:) he felt horrible because he knows it just added yet another unexpected job for me. My father was 22 years in the Air Force, he is a very clean and tidy man so I knew this was hard on him. Today though I just had to reassure him it was no big deal and cleaned the mess for once with a grin instead of tears. Happy to still have him in my life!!!!!
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