Bed falls. Any advice?

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Bed falls. Any advice?

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How to prevent mother from sliding out of bed on her own at the risk of falling? She has the bed guards but not towards the end of the bed. Are there any alarms that can alert us when she moves beyond a certain point? Thank you

Fall Prevention Home Safety Personal Alert Devices Product

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There are some others who have posted on here about this. Search the site and read the advice.

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This happened to me too.

My mom had rails on her bed too. My issue was that my mom would sit at the foot of the bed to do something, like getting dressed, putting on her shoes or digging in her purse for something and boom down she would land on the floor. She slid off the edge of the bed.

I had to ask mom not to sit on the edge of the bed and to sit in a chair to do things.

My mom had Parkinson’s disease and she had serious challenges with movements. She explained that her mind would send a signal but that her body couldn’t respond.

What exactly is your mother’s situation? How is she falling off? Is she sitting up in the bed like my mom was doing and then slipping off?

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There are bed alarms that will alert when she's trying to get out. You can order them on Amazon.

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What's the fall history? Eg sliding off from sitting on edge? Rolling out? Wiggling down low in the bed past the rails & sliding out?

Are these accidental slides?
Or activly getting out of bed? (Without insight)

Some suggestions inc;
- bed alarms
- bed placed in corner - one side & foot end blocked by walls
- pillows under the bottom fitted sheet as a bolster in the danger spots
- hospital beds with longer/full rails
- electric beds that lower to the floor, with a 'crash pad' mattress along side.

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Yes, you can Google bed alarms and find all kinds of things.

From clipped on ones to floor alarms.

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We purchased hand rails that are put under the mattress and put them on the end of the bed. Mom likes them because she can grip them when she sits up on the side of the bed or when she is walking by the foot of her bed. She has a twin bed. We got 2 of them and they span the foot of her bed. She cannot sit at the foot of the bed anymore and fall.

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Could you provide a link to where these can be purchased? Would help many here reading this thread.

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put the mattress on the floor and then a pad like a thick memory form pad on the floor

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Low is good when preparing for not falling out but can be difficult for elders to stand up from being too low of a bed.

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Did a social worker or her doctor advise for safety supplies??

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Unfortunately, MDs don't know ... often don't know... as much as people here writing / sharing their personal experience.

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Go Japanese style and just put the mattress on the floor.

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This is not good for the person(s) / caregivers caring for her (bending over / straining one's back.... I know. I used to do shiatsu, using a shiatsu mat, although crawling around the person and very aware of my own body mechanics. Perhaps a bed (mechanical) which will go very low down - and then up as needed would work out well.
Gena / Touch Matters

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Like the other person said, there are clip-on alarms but also for some patients we have actually gotten lower beds as well as cushioned the floor.

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I slept on the floor next to my mother’s bed for several months after she came to my house from rehabbing from a totally pulverized hip, shattered in the course of a devastating fall.

I developed a horrific sleep disorder and also gained 60 pounds of pure stress weight in the same period, while caring for her the best I could.

Heartbroken at the prospect, I finally drove her, with tears streaming down my cheeks, to a beautiful local residential nursing center, assuming she’d be dead in 6 weeks.

Instead, she lived for 5 1/2 joy filled years, enjoying amazing care and comfort.

MY advice? KNOW what’s available whether you’ve “…promised I’d never her ‘put her away’ “, or you’ve been smart enough, and FAIR ENOUGH to have made yourself open to care options that would be fair to you BOTH.

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What a nice description of your mother's final "joy filled" years at a caring facility. Thank you for your positive and hopeful story.

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I slept in an upstairs bedroom, so I used a baby monitor that I kept right on my bed. I could hear my Mom breathing at night, which was comfort to me. Any movement would wake me up. Luckily, she was a deep sleeper most of the time, so I very rarely had to worry.

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Yes there are alarms with sensors you can slide under a piece of furniture that senses her feet and you can keep the receiver with you wherever you are. It kind of rings like the alarm that sounds when you walk into a motion alarmed store. It’s inexpensive and very effective.

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Yes, there are bed alarms. Ask PCP for referral to one. Or you may be able to access on line or on site at a medical supply store.

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I got a camera for my mothers room. It senses motion and beeps when she moves or gets up. You can set it to motion sensitivity level you prefer. Would recommend this. Eufy indoor camera. I paid 50euro. It’s an app that you install on your iPhone so you can always see what’s happening before it happens.

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My mom has bolsters all around the edges that I purchased online and they’ve worked perfectly for her. They have a flat side so they don’t roll, very firm padding so don’t squash down under weight, and stay put under the sheet.

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Great idea!

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Hi, I got a pad type similar to “Angel wings” that woke me up at night.

https://libertyhealthsupply.com/

caregiver bed alarm pad - it has an alarm that wakes you up when they move. It saved me, rather my dad, multiple times !

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Yes. You can get alarms. There are many to research. Here's one:
https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Caregiver-Bed-Alarm-Sensor/dp/B00489SJ4S

I purchased a body pillow. Helped a lot.
Perhaps get another bed or bed guards that will be more secure where they are needed. Nursing Homes are restricted to use 1/4 rails as more than 1/4 rails are considered RESTRAINTS and not legal. However, you have alternatives. I presume your mom is at home and/or in a facility where you can do what you feel is necessary for her safety.

Gena / Touch Matters

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People fall so quickly. It seems like even if someone is in the very next room that a bed alarm wouldn’t prevent an injury from occurring.

I am all for anything that can help. Just not familiar with this product. I had bed rails on my mom’s bed but no alarm.

I am curious. Has anyone installed an alarm and heard it and were able to prevent the person from being hurt?

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I found this site and thought it might give you some ideas. We tried the guards but they did not work.

https://safeplacebedding.com/

There are probably more sites, but I don't have a lot of time to research bedding safety.

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Go to Amazon.com and punch in "medical supply to prevent falls out of bed" and a TON of items will come up. If you live with mom at home, you can purchase a restraint type item (link below) to keep her secured around her middle in the bed; these types of things are not permitted in managed care homes but you can use them at home IF you feel they are safe. I am not recommending them or not recommending them personally; just saying they are AVAILABLE for use IF you want to try them:

https://www.amazon.com/Restraint-Medical-Restraints-Elderly-Personal/dp/B07KWYJVX4/ref=sr_1_94?crid=3OSJ6DVM97VEH&keywords=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed&qid=1672339927&sprefix=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-94

This next link shows padded bed rails on the sides of the bed which you can install to keep mom from falling out of bed. If she's falling out of bed on the very end.......that's odd. Is she scooching herself down the bed and falling off the end? If so, put another rail there to prevent that from happening, or, search the site for something appropriate to prevent it entirely.

In my experience with alarms, by the time they go off, mom is on the floor already as the fall has happened.

Good luck.

https://www.amazon.com/DMI-Toddlers-Disabled-Handicapped-included/dp/B0009STN9M/ref=sr_1_101?crid=3OSJ6DVM97VEH&keywords=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed&qid=1672339983&sprefix=medical+supply+to+prevent+falls+out+of+bed%2Caps%2C132&sr=8-101

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There are pressure sensitive pads you can buy to place on her bed. The pads will trigger an audible alarm if she moves off of them. They will not prevent falls, but will alert you when she moves. You might want to consider getting a bed that is very close to the ground with a thick pad on the "open sides" of the bed to "catch her" if she moves out of bed.

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In addition to bed alarms as others have mentioned, what about placing a bedside commode next to her bed at night? If the urge to get out of bed is based on the urge to use the toilet, this should help.
Good luck!

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Xilia1355: Any kind of item to prevent bed falls can be found in online stores. Such items ARE permitted in the home setting.

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At the end of my mom’s life, I started sleeping in her bed. Can you push one or two sides against a wall?

A hospital bed may help.

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My dad has mentioned that he falls out of bed several times. We are not sure how and he isn't quite clear on when/how he falls. He doesn't really know how to answer it, I guess. We just purchased him a new bed. He hasn't gotten it yet so I cannot tell you the results but the salesman felt that my dad needed a bed that had extra firmness around the edges. This way, when he puts any weight on the edge, it doesn't sink down.

Just a thought!

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We used to bed rail and placed it between I would say the shoulder to knee area. The strap wasn’t long enough to go around the whole mattress so we used bungee cords to help. Another way is to buy two. Look for extra long ones.

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Bed falls. Any advice?

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