Sleeping on recliner not bed?

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Sleeping on recliner not bed?

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When mom was at the apartment, she started to sleep on the recliner but she never told me why. At the MC where she is, I was told that she sat on the bed but doesn't like the pillows. I haven't bought the new ones yet. Not sure if it would really matter. I was told that some older people prefer the recliner over the bed because it's more comfortable? As long as she gets sleep, that is all that I care about. One of the caregivers told me that maybe the reason why she does that if there is an emergency, she can get up faster than in the bed. It was just a guess. Does anyone else have that issue with their parents?

Alzheimer's & Dementia Sleep Issues

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I don't have that issue with my parents, but, my brother prefers a recliner to sleep due to his back. He says it feels better than the bed. Also, I think some people breathe better with an incline, rather than laying flat out. Will the MC allow her to sleep in a recliner?

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Being more upright does make breathing easier, if your mother has any difficulties of that sort.

All the same it's not ideal, not least because if she's in that posture all day and all night she may be at risk of developing pressure sores. Does she get up and move about plenty, during the day? Is her bed at the MC adjustable (I think they're called 'profiling' beds) so that the head could be raised for her?

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I didn't want to spend that much money on the bed,due to her age. 88. She didn't say anything about the recliner being easier to sleep on. I don't think that she has pressure sores. It's not adjustable. I was wondering about getting a wedge under the front of the bed. But wouldn't that make the mattress fall off the box spring?

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Judy, I hope I'm wrong, but in two replies now you have stated that you don't want to spend too much money (on a bed, on a recliner) because your mother is 88.

This is a sensitive point for me because I ran into disagreements with my POA sister over spending on my mother's care; and my sister, during one conversation, did say right out "... and if she dies, the money will be wasted."

But for as long she doesn't die, she'll be comfortable and safer, and then the money won't be such a waste, will it?

First of all, though: whose money are you spending on these items? It should be your mother's money, and then it shouldn't be such a priority. If you're having to spend your own money, then maybe there would be other ways to source the equipment she needs if you can get someone to prescribe it for her.

But anyway, the furniture your mother spends almost all her time on is not the best place for economies.

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Thanks! I agree with what you said. My brother told me to spend what I want for her,out of her money, but I want to be careful since she is in a facility where he is trying to spread out her money. I'll keep your suggestion in mind. Thanks!

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They do. They also know that the bed is there for her when she wants to lay on it.

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My MIL preferred a recliner because of her hips.

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Judy79, sleeping in a recliner would be helpful if one has acid reflux, that way the acid doesn't work its way up into the throat.

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Come to think of it, I think that she does have acid reflux. I'll have to as her doctor about that.

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My Mother wanted to be in her lift chair in the den.She said it was more comfortable and she liked being out where the "action" was,not back in her bedroom at the end of the hall anymore,so the last 3 and a half years while Mother was on Hospice,she was in her lift chair in the den.
Hospice suggested a hospital bed many times,but Mother refused.
As long as she was happy with it,I didn't care.

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My dad sleeps in a very old, torn up, recliner or his couch at his house. If I move him to assisted living, I plan to get him a lift recliner chair. They have some nice ones. He hasn't slept in a bed for years.

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Wish I could buy my mom a lift recliner chair but they aren't cheap and she is 88.

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Have you asked her doctor about writing her a script for an electric recliner?

We bought mom one when she wa 88. She used it until she died at 94.

You have said that mom is healthy other than her mild dementia.

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Thanks! Might just try that. It's hard for her to put the leg part down. But she can get out of it. It's an idea.

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For the last years of my sister's life she slept on recliners and couches because it was more comfortable for her. My mom takes her naps on her recliner but can no longer push hard enough to get the foot rest up, so I find her sideways with her feet over the arm of the recliner. When I ask why she's that way and why she doesn't ask for help with the foot rest, she claims she isn't that way, even though I'm at that very moment looking at her in that position. She so far doesn't hurt her back. Also I find her with her night gown on over her clothes. The staff at the assisted living say she gets confused now about appropriate clothing - night or day, she doesn't know, so wears both. Her outfits these days are quite amusing.

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Thanks for the little bit of humor. One time, I found my mom put her shirt over her pj top. Oops! Of course, it didn't bother me. That's just mom.

Sleeping on recliner not bed?

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