Due to lack of moderation concerning eating of excessive snack foods brought by family and friends the nursing home had requested that we curtail excessive snacks brought in. Siblings were made aware of this but one sibling continues to bring excessive snack items to mom meaning she won't eat regular meals due to no hunger from snacks. Also, snacks cause stomach upsets and issues with digestion, this was reason nursing home requested stopping excessive snacks. How do I handle this sibling as I am the primary care person for our mom. Mom has been unable to understand why we don't all bring snacks even after reminding her of health issues that develop with them. This is causing a dilemma
When I was visiting I immediately saw those fruit flies and the staff had told me about having to clean up her “snacks” often.
So....I would secretly clean the drawer out and leave something like one cookie (for example) in there - no fruit but a snack in a zip lock bag and go through her drawer often. My mother loved her sweets and at 88 I wasn’t going to be the food police (she wasn’t diabetic and she was underweight those last few years) but wanted to cooperate with the staff taking care of her. 99% of the time she couldn’t remember this and never made a fuss about it. I would just bring her favorites and sit there while she ate what she could and if there was any left I used to throw it away quickly and say I ate the rest, and while it was a lie, it was ok because she thought I ate it this no waste.
To many people, food is love. For that family member who persists in bringing in more snacks try to explain that for many seniors who aren’t physically active those snacks are actually bad for her as they prevent your family member from having any appetite to eat nutritious meals.
Good luck to you!
Bringing the occasional non-edible "treat" made more sense. A small plant for her windowsill was popular. A change of seasonable decorations for her room. A magazine or a new crossword puzzle book. Pictures to color. I understand the urge to give things to a parent in a nursing home -- it just as to be things that make the parent happy in a safe way.
I like JoAnn's idea for the sibling to talk to the head nurse. Could you arrange that?