What brands of adult diapers do you use?
I went on Amazon.com but the reviews for the women’s depends were less than favorable. Is Depends still good to use? What brands do you suggest? My mom started having accidents, she has moderate dementia with delusions and hallucinations and this is my 5th year going through this journey.
She won't listen to me a lot of the time, and can be difficult with hygiene. When she has accidents she will hardly let me clean her up. I fear she will just take the diaper off. I have asthma, so I need to keep the house very clean and not smelly. If not my upper respiratory system starts hurting, I’m trying to stay well to be her caregiver. Right now she throws her underwear in the toilet at different times etc. Not always, she still can use the toilet, but it varies. How do I keep the diapers on when it comes to that time when she no longer can wear underwear? She is about 130-135 pounds so I’m guessing small-medium would work?
Any help will be much appreciated.
I am caretaker for my wife with advanced Alzheimer’s. We have tried them all; every major and minor brand name.
In my opinion, the best, by far for strength, absorbency and cost are the Members Mark briefs, both pull-up and tabbed style, from Sam’s. For pad inserts during the day, their long length “Total Protection” pads are hard to beat and are very inexpensive. Much thicker and longer than any others I have found.
When totally incontinent, nothing will hold everything at night, but we use “booster” pads, that are unlined, with the briefs at night. I get the boosters on-line from Northshore Medical. Then, of course, never omit the good washable bed pads as used in the hospital’s for both protection and turning.
Her bed and sheets are ALWAYS dry in the mornings.
The only ones that don't leak for my heavy-wetter father.
While Depends do ‘about’ the same thing as a diaper they are pull-ups. I think most outside of facility settings do use pull-ups for their LO who aren’t bed bound.
I don’t know if you have any literal 5 yr olds in your life, but they very much care what their underwear is called. It’s a rite of passage after all whether one is going up the continence ladder or down. Ask any 5 yr old who wets the bed and has to wear pull-ups.
I have no experience with adult diapers but I do understand they are more absorbent than pull-ups and easier to put on a bed bound person than a pull-up and cheaper. They may be harder for the wearer to get off? Might be a plus? I don’t know.
I know when my mom was confronted with them in a hospital setting after fracturing her back, she cared enough to insist on a bedside commode instead.
We all know that dementia manifests differently but being sensitive to anyone’s feelings of self esteem IMHO is always worth the effort.
Having said all that, it very much might not matter to your mom what you call them. Maybe TMI for you but it was helpful info for me the first time I read it.
Again different strokes and different level of dementia.
now I’ll climb down off my soap box.
I will make sure she is comfortable.
https://www.silverts.com/alzheimers-clothing/
Honestly I would just try several brands and see what works best for you. Depends and Always didn't fit her well. The Walmart brand, Assurance is okay. It's comfortable, but it doesn't hold as much so it needs to be changed more often.
Like Countrymouse said, looking online for suppliers is a great idea. I got several free sample from Betty Mills. I didn't end up ordering any, because for my needs they weren't worth it.
Best of luck with the dementia! So far we've been pretty fortunate in that my mom is pretty lucid except when she has an infection. Then all bets are off.
It’s a blessing to have a mom that is lucid with dementia. My mom went straight into delusions, talking to herself and hallucinations right away. She truly is in her own world. This makes dementia even more difficult. But I’m blessed so far that she can still walk, she can eat real food with a fork. So I don’t have to purée anything yet. She stop wandering and doesn’t have Sundowns anymore. That was a huge issue. She has settled down quite a bit from 3 years ago. I use music therapy and make sure the window shade is up so she gets sunlight. This makes her sleep through the night so far. But she does get agitated sometimes. I just wish I could have my old mom back and this nightmare never happened, but I know that will never be and she is slowly progressing into the final journey... good luck to you and your mom too. Thanks for the kind words.
A couple of hours' browsing should be well worth your while, and some manufacturers are happy to send samples so that you can try before you buy.
Shes been wearing them a couple of years now. When you start with them, remove all your mom’s regular underwear from her room. Otherwise she will get confused. I knew about this but didn’t remove them and sure enough, multiple pairs of pants and underwear were on the washer one day where she had had several accidents.
She also quit wearing shoes during this time. I decided it was due to having to take them off so often when she changed.
My mother did not like depends. She preferred the Sams brand. The Depends are form fitting. My mother thought they were too snug even with sizes obviously too large for her.
I get the Depends at Costco. Occasionally they can be purchased with a discount. Also check online.
You can sometimes find sample packs at grocery stores so you can try different sizes without having to buy a larger supply.
One last thing, what ever she calls her underwear now, that’s a good thing to call them when you switch over. Don’t call them diapers.
Again, thanks everyone for your replies it helped me out a lot before it starts to get bad, I will be more prepared. I already brought some bed pads and other linen a year ago.