What do you do when your LO with AD uses an easy chair as the toilet? She is also squatting beside the toilet when she makes it into the bathroom. Still remembers to remove the clothes, just gets to the wrong place. Most of the time I catch her, but, during the night I don't always hear her walking around. Help!!!

The only thing that comes to mind right off is first to get a water proof pad for the easy chair and secondly to get an alarm to tell you when she gets out of bed. I know that Jackie got an alarm where if her mom crosses a certain point, the alarm goes off in Jackie's room only. Hopefully she will come along and tell you more about it.

I never had the chair problem but sure had the missing the toilet trouble. It seemed as soon as the pants went down, she started peeing anywhere in the bathroom. I learned to keep rags and a clorox ready mop next to the toilet.

Linda,
Like Lori said, make sure you keep a water proof pad on the chair. I used a full size water proof mattress pad because it covered the entire chair, arms and back.

With the toilet Bill could not sit down on the toilet the right way. He would try but he would always end up sitting to one side and end up getting the bm on the seat. I think I used so many clorox wipes during that time that I bleached the color on the floor. I would keep a wet spray swiffer in the bathroom and mop the floor every time he went in there.

When he was standing to go, he would be so far away that there was no way he could every reach where he thought he was aiming.

I don't think there is any way to stop this from happening, just be prepared when it does.
I don't think there is any way to stop anything that happens with this disease. That's why coming here helps. It does help us prepare a little.

There are places online that sell washable water proof pads in various sizes and colors. They were a sanity saver for me. Much cheaper to wash than to have to scrub down the furniture and try to keep Old Navy (my FIL) from sitting back in the chair or couch before they were dry!

I bought enough pads so that I could change out if he did soil the current ones... both for his bed, the easy chairs, and couches.

As for the bathroom, like Joyce, and Lori said, keep your cleaning supplies nearby so you can clean up ASAP. It's not pleasant, but if you can accept it as part of the disease instead of being upset, it makes the day and the cleaning go easier.

This is a great idea!

Linda,

I got a waterproof pad for Moms chair awhile ago. Sometimes she just didn't know that she had to go to the bathroom, and would start peeing before getting off the chair. She does have depends on now, which I have her convinced that they are underwear that come with pads already in them. I used to just put in a large serenity pad, but sometimes it just wouldn't be enough to catch all the pee if she didnt' make it in time. It took me a few times of some fast talking to get her to wear them, but now she really does think there her new underwear.

I have this alarm that my brother picked up for me at radio shack. It's by a company called Reporter, and its called a wireless alert and security system. Since she can't walk real well, I was afraid of her getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom without me knowing. I didn't want to put an alarm on her door, which they do have, as I thought it might scare her.

A small unit goes on the wall in her room. I guess it must have a beam sort of thing on it, cause as soon as she passes it, the other unit that sits on the floor in my bedroom, sets off a beep. It's a buzzer type sound. I didnt' think I would hear it, but I do. It actually ends up buzzing twice. It has really made a difference in the way I sleep at night as I was always worried that I wouldn't hear her getting up, and many times I know I didn't as there was evidence of that in the bathroom.
It's been a godsend. It was around $80 from what I remember. There may be other things available, especially in the babys department, but this is the one my brother brought over, so I just went with it.

Had to laugh when I read your mom makes it to the bathroom, but just gets to the wrong place. From what your discribing, my mom does the same thing. I have one of those toilet risers on the toilet. Its portable, so at night I put it in the up bath, and during the day in the down bath. But I have forgotten to at times, and I follow mom in the bathroom and sure enough she pulls her pants down, starts to squat, and doesn't go over far enough and bingo, all over the floor.

I found that with the riser, since it has arm handles on it, that she grabs on to the one handle, then will squat creating less accidents. That also has been a godsend. Sometimes I forget to transfer it in time to the other bathroom, but in time, you learn your lesson. It is also much easier for her to get down on, or get up from. You can make it just about any height you want. Mom has arthritis in both of her knees, so any help I can get with things like that really helps.

Hope this helps.

Jackie

Check your bathroom...what color is everything? If it is mostly white or light colored, ALZ LO cannot 'see' the distinction between floor, walls & facilities. One facility where I worked put black toilet seats on all the toilets, it helped that there was definition as to where the toilet WAS!

Also, Depends do help...but old habits die hard, my dad just whipped his out of everything at church and 'sprayed' the bathroom...I think he was aiming for the sink...I cleaned as well as I could.

Good luck!

Take go*d care, Shaye

Thank you so much for all of the ideas. I had looked at waterproof pads the last time I was at the store, don't know why I didn't think of that myself. Will also start looking for a monitor. I live in a very small town so no Radio Shack, or much of anything else, here. Have to drive three hours to get to a brand name store. I am so glad for all of you, but not for why we are all here, and the support that is given. The bathroom is a light blue and the fixtures are white. Will have to think about your suggestion of the darker toilet seat. We also got the safety rails for the toilet but haven't used it yet because of making the change too quickly. It has been sitting where she can see it so we put it on it won't be too much all at once. Maybe it is just time.

Again thank you all for the ideas. Have a great day.