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Mom is having trouble getting to the toilet. We don’t want to take up the carpet or bathroom rug because she has fallen and we think having something softer to fall on is safer for her. Looking for secrets, tricks and tips.

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Hello, thanks for the responses. I really do appreciate. Mom has been wearing “travel pants” (what we call Depends/adult diapers- more dignified) for some time now. She gets up in the middle of the night most nights and takes them off while in the bathroom that is situated around the corner from her bed. It’s 10/12 feet away. But we also have a commode that is in between her bed and the toilet. She has a walker she usually uses and when we can intervene during her night visits to the bathroom we can put on a new pair of travel pants. Her bathroom has ceramic tile floor and she has an extraordinarily thick oriental rug. We spot clean and take it outside and scrub and clean when we can. It will be thrown out when she is no longer with us. The bedroom has a medium shag wall to wall carpet. I do believe it is softer and safer. My dad fell on a hard wood floor with a thin oriental carpet, broke his hip and was dead a month later. Mom has fallen getting in or out of the bed (we have a rail) a handful of times and has not sustained major injuries. The bedroom carpet will be thrown out too when the time comes, I could care less about the carpet itself - just keeping it as clean as possible. I did get one of the bissel spot cleaners but it takes more time than I have between a full time job, mom and taking care of two households. I’m thinking of just keeping two buckets of water nearby - one with dish soap/detergent and the other with just water so I can paper towel dry, soap, rinse and then paper dry towel again. Just was wondering if anyone had some tricks ….
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waytomisery Aug 12, 2024
“ Travel Pants”

I like it !!
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Cotton rugs can be washed, or just squirted with a hose outside and left to dry in the sun. However loose rugs are notorious for slipping and leading to falls. Unless the rug or carpet is quite thick, it probably doesn’t make much difference to softness or safety. Floor surfaces like vinyl are easier to mop up. Perhaps you need to look at rails that M can hang onto on the way (even well placed furniture can help), or a conveniently placed commode to avoid the ‘journey’.

Think about when the ‘accidents’ happen. If at night, can she wear padded knickers to bed, to absorb the ‘urgency’ drips on the way to the toilet? If in the daytime, is it time for depends? Remember that M’s falls are likely to get more frequent, and think about the long term.
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Reply to MargaretMcKen
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Have Mom wear adult pull up type diapers .

When the carpet becomes the toilet is when you take away all their regular underwear and replace them with pull ups briefs .

There is the Bissell Green Machine hand held carpet cleaning machine . I have heard it’s good from two people who use it for spot cleaning elderly pet accidents . I have not used one.
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stellysue Aug 12, 2024
I love mine and use it a lot more than my big shampooer. It's easy to carry around and sucks up liquid like a full size. I've got a 10 year old dog and 2 cats and throw up is a regular event.
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She needs to have a diaper She’s past going to bathroom stage
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A carpet isn't safer to fall on than luxury vinyl plank flooring which is soft and cleanable. My father fell on wall to wall carpeting and broke his hip, and gashed open his eye. My mother fell 50x on vinyl plank flooring and never hurt herself or broke a bone!

Carpeting is nasty and stinks no matter how often you clean it, and it's never truly clean either.
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BurntCaregiver Aug 11, 2024
Right you are, lealonnie. I hate wall-to-wall carpeting. I think it's disgusting. I don't have it in any room. All the floors in my house are hard wood or Italian tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. No carpeting. No matter how much it's cleaned it's never truly clean. Also, when it's over-cleaned the padding underneath gets mold.
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Can a commode be placed discretely near her?

Maybe time she starts wearing Depends. Women wear them just for minor incontinence. My Mom did. She wore pads until a rehab visit and they gave her pull ups. She loved them.

That urine gets into the pads of the carpet. You will never get it completely out. Bathroom, is there vinyl flooring underneath or sub floor? Again, will need to eventually be torn up. And if subflooring, that may need replacing. My Moms bathroom the flooring was not shiny and was rough when you took your hand over it. My daughter recommended one of those memory foam rugs. Doesn't seem to slip.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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If she's having 'accidents' on the rug all you can really do if you want to save the carpeting is get a plastic runner and make sure she stays on it.
Otherwise, you will have to tear up the carpeting because if it's wall-to-wall and it's been peed and pooped on enough there is no way to save it.
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JaxPOA Aug 12, 2024
I thought about that too, but worry she will slip. Maybe I need to revisit
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