Staying Out of Trouble at Night

People with dementia often get into the most trouble at night if they escape from the bedroom while the caregiver is still sleeping. So, here are some ideas that might help.  If you sleep in the same room, you could place a doorstop under the door, which will create a ruckus when he/she tries to open it up. The doorstop we have has an alarm on it that you can turn off and on, depending on how deeply you sleep (less than $10). 

If you go to bed after, or wake up before, your loved one, or if you sleep in a separate room, then the problem is knowing whether he or she is up or not.  To solve this problem, I bought a wireless driveway alert (the one I bought is from Bunker Will and costs $15); it detects motion, so you would position the sensor under the bed or somewhere that won't pick up when he just rolls over, but rather when he gets up out of bed. The monitor can be in another room up to a couple hundred feet away. If the battery dies in one of the pieces, you won't get the alert. The batteries in our deivce need to be replaced every 4-6 weeks or so.

I also recently bought a night vision Infant Optics camera (about $100), so I can see if he is up and what he is doing when I am not in the room. It costs a little more for the night vision, but this works very well, and I decided it is worth it. I didn't know this existed until my niece was having a baby and had one on her registration list. It feels a little like spying but is intended to make sure he is safe and so is very reassuring.

I ordered all of these things at www.amazon.com. It is amazing what you can find on the internet these days!