Getting her to bathe
kerry latrece
always says she is going to do it but never gets there. When Sherry
suggests she do it Now, she says she will later. She has not washed
her hair. How do respect your elder and make them do something as
basic but personal as bathing?
Kerry
Evelyn
news:543faa78-8332-4a51...@n11g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
Kerry, there are no magic ways, but I had the exact same problem with my
mother in law and we managed to get through it with some clever techniques
we worked out.
If you think about it there are a lot of steps involved in planning to take
a shower. You need to figure out what to do first, and then next, and what
to wash and how, and then to dry off, and you need to organize yourself with
clean clothes to put on afterwards. It is VERY confusing to a person with
alzheimers.
Your mom just can't handle sequences of actions anymore, so it isn't her
fault. She needs to get someone to help her through the whole process.
Make it a nice experience. What I would do is get my mother in law when
she was taking off her nightie and planning to get dressed in the morning,
because she was ALREADY undressed..... that was half the battle. I would
tell her "we need to shower first" and no matter how she objected, we urged
her to get in the shower.
We had a shower stall with a little bench and the shower head on a hose,
which made things much easier. I would put on a longish tee shirt and get
right in the shower with her, and help her every step of the way. I would
give her a shower puff with soap on it, to keep her hands and attention
occupied.
First thing I would put some shampoo on her head right away. That way she
would HAVE to wash her hair, because it was already in process. I also
would direct the water AWAY from her, and get her to approve the water
temperature. They just don't like to shower.... so her participation was
really important.
I would direct her to first wash this, then that..... while I washed her
hair. The rest was easy. I would give her nice fluffy towels to wrap up
in, and I'd comb her hair for her.
In short, we made it sort of a spa type of an experience. Only in the very
beginning did we have resistance, because she was daunted and confused by
the task. Once I began helping her to shower it never was a problem
again.
You may need to push her a bit in the beginning, but as long as you insist
nicely and help her along, it will work out OK. And be sure to catch her
when she is either getting ready for bed, or first getting up in the
morning. In short, when she is already getting undressed or planning to
dress.
Let us know how it works out for you, ......and don't let her say she will
shower alone. It just won't get done.
--
Evelyn
"Even as a mother protects with her life her only child, So with a boundless
heart let one cherish all living beings." --Sutta Nipata 1.8
Lynn Lynn
potty chair and I shampoo her hair and bathe her by hand. It was
difficult at first but am getting used to it by now! So far she has not
opposed getting bathed!
Lynn
Evelyn
news:1955-4A9A...@baytvnwsxa002.msntv.msn.com...
Lynn we have a stall shower. I would get my mother in law to sit on a
shower chair. I had the shower head replaced with the one on a hose. It
made ALL the difference in the world. If you can get her to sit on a potty
chair, and to tolerate being bathed by hand, you can also get her to sit on
a shower chair.
Lynn Lynn
shower chair and showerhead but Mom is unable to sit on the chair and
lift her legs over the tub enough even with my help.
She is 92 (will be 93 in October) and very very fraile.
The hardest part of sitting on the potty is shampooing her hair good.
One thing is that her hair is short and very fine so not a lot to rinse.
That helps.
Lynn
Evelyn
Hi Lynn,
They do make a special shower chair that has a sliding seat, so you can get
her seated on it outside the tub, then gently slide the seat part over and
into the tub. When you are done, you just slide her back. I can't
imagine how hard it must be to bathe her without a stall shower. Even
still with that sliding seat, you might need someone to help you to hold her
in place and lift her legs over the edge.
Brick
On 29-Aug-2009, "Evelyn" <evely...@gmail.com> wrote:
> "kerry latrece" <kerryl...@gmail.com> wrote in message
. . .
> You may need to push her a bit in the beginning, but as long as you
> insist
> nicely and help her along, it will work out OK. And be sure to catch
> her
> when she is either getting ready for bed, or first getting up in the
> morning. In short, when she is already getting undressed or planning to
>
> dress.
>
> Let us know how it works out for you, ......and don't let her say she
> will
> shower alone. It just won't get done.
>
> --
>
> Evelyn
Great post Evelyn. Ditto on all of the above. Your point about sequences
of actions is most apropos. I experienced the same problem with baths
and treated it the same way. I have another example. If DW is presented
with a hospital tray containing a myriad of items, she will likely eat
nothing
at all because she cannot figure out where to start. At home I present her
with no more then three items on her plate and nothing else within reach
except a drink. Rice must be mixed with other ingredients or she will eat
all of the rice before toughing anything else. Until I got the hang of it,
she
would fill up on rice and have no room for anything else. The tendency
is to eat that which is the easiest before moving on to other items.
--
Brick (Life is tough but more desirable then the alternative)
Evelyn
"Brick" <hrbr...@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:cmUNm.39796$%j4.1...@newsfe18.iad...
Brick,
My mother in law got so that the only way I could get any real balanced
nutrition into her was with home made soup. She would always eat my home
made soup, and I made it with loads of good fresh vegetables and meat. I
really think it is why she stayed in good health for so long. She would
refuse a plate of "real" food, but soup was always welcomed.