Mom wakes during the night, sits on edge of bed, urinates then crawls back to bed. She can not walk unassisted to the bathroom. Suggestions?

I use a waterproof mattress pad from Walmart (mainstays, cotton with some kind of coating that makes it waterproof, not a vinyl backing) so the mattress itself never gets wet and two 36"x72" underpads - one down the length of the bed and one across the bed tucked under the mattress. This setup catches everything that leaks from an overnight panty, usually in the underpad across the mattress but occasionally both are needed.

Thank you: Countrymouse , JoAnn29 and MBradley & JuliaRose. (She does have a commode by the bed; facility does not allow anything on the floor). Problem is that she recently broke her foot (thankfully not dislocated) which required a small boot to stabilize her foot. First option was a mid calf boot (yikes, if you can imagine that on her tiny leg). I opted for the smaller shoe size one but even that limits her foot motion. Her old fashion "ten ton" knee replacement is on the same leg. So she kind of drags it instead of placing it down. I do believe that during the night shift that they try and get her to the commode that is by her bed. I figure during the night she repeatedly refuses and says she does not have to pee. After they leave the room, suddenly she realizes that in fact she does have to pee, struggles to get up, sits on the edge of the bed (shoeless) and pees. Rolls back, forgets about it and sleeps. The staff at some point gets her into a fresh Depends, clean nightdress, gets her up and wheels her to breakfast. So when I come in around 8, she is at breakfast and the bed is in the process of being stripped.

My patch up of sanitary pads and disposable pad seem to prevent the pool of urine on the carpet. I needed some brainstorming to see if there was anything that might work as well or better.

This is almost a hydraulics/logistics question.

The most absorbent types of continence care pad hold up to a litre of liquid. The normal range of urine output is 800 to 2,000 milliliters per day (i.e. over a 24 hour period), but your mother is a small human.

So, what is going on that your little mother is producing so much urine overnight that she regularly overflows her night-time Depend, the extra pad inside it, and the mattress pad in her bedding?

1. She is outputting a remarkable quantity of urine.
2. She is in bed for an extended period of time.
3. She isn't yet using the best product(s) for her needs.

I don't know if this idea might sound like a last straw, but have you considered scheduling extra toilet transfers during the night? If you have a commode in her room and get to her at (just for example) 11:30 pm and (if you can bear it) 5:00 a.m. it might save a lot of laundry and disposable products.

One last thought - is her Depend actually soaked through, or could she be taking it off to wee and not replacing it correctly?

Hi GAinPA. With my mom, I had the same problem with her. Went and got a potty chair from the medical equipment store. Bought some huge size pads with the plastic on one side and absorbent padding on the other. I put a pad down on her short pile carpet, then the potty chair. Placed it directly across from her bedside. I used those pads under her sheets and one on top underneath her. She got to wanting to sleep naked on the bottom half under her gown, so she could pivot, sit down and pee, then turn and back to bed. This worked pretty good. I would go in there every morning and empty the pot in her bathroom toilet and flush. Then I rinsed it out in the tub. I did get a surprise a few times when she pooped in the pot. That was bad. As in, I just had a hard time cleaning it out in the real toilet. I took it outside and hosed it out in the back yard, furtherest from anything. Oh boy, the joys of caregiving. Mom also would keep some overnight Depends pads next to her in bed and she was using those before I got the potty chair. Good luck! With your Mom.

The bathroom part is really the hardest, then next is the bathing.

That must be extremely frustrating. Could your mom transfer to a bedside commode if it was placed next to the bed? That would sure save you a lot of trouble. Put a plastic tarp securely down on the floor just in case she doesn’t make it to catch the flow?

If she can’t transfer, could you buy something that would alert you or an aide that she was moving (and needed to use the commode) so you could assist her? I’m hoping, of course, that she doesn’t do this 10 times a night.

I hope you get some useful advice.

Time for a commode by her bed.