Description

If you are caring for your parents in assisted living, at home, or in a long term care facility, there are certain necessary items that make life easier.  This is one of those products. I have been using this product for over two years in the care of my aging mother who is total bed care. We tried several other products like disposable pads, pads without loops and smaller pads, but this one is the right one. Not to big, not to small, it is just right. It has handles to help you roll a dependent person to prevent bruising and pushing on sore bony parts. The handles also help you slide the person up in the bed which is not an easy task. 

This bed pad is high quality and will protect your bed from stains and spills. Big enough to cover a large portion of the bed. You can put one above the sheet and one below the sheet for added protection. Great for pet and child bed use too.

Tips for changing an adult in bed:

1. Make sure to move the person to the center part of the bed so the loved one does not feel as if they will roll off the side of the bed.
2. If using diapers, unlock the velcro while they are laying on their back and tuck the ends under the hips to prevent pulling the velcro across the skin. Also, tuck the diaper between the legs before rolling them and clean the front area first with a personal cleanser or diaper wipes.
3. If using briefs, while they are still on their back, ease the briefs down on the hips as low as possible. Roll to the other side and remove the briefs. We eventually cut the sides to reduce the number of times we had to roll Mom.  Remove the brief either by cutting the sides or easing the brief down the leg by rolling slightly as needed to each side. It is also neater if there is a mess to cut the sides to prevent smearing contents (just being real here).
4. Roll the person toward their weak side so the stronger side can hold a bed rail or bedside to assist in staying in the side-lying position.
5. If using diapers, remove the diaper and clean between the legs and on the bottom with a personal cleanser or diaper wipes. Apply Aquaphor (to prevent skin rases and breakdown).
6. Check to make sure the bedding or the waterproof mattress pad is not wet. Wet linens can lead quickly to skin breakdown.
7. If you need to change the pad to a new one, just roll half of it up (and tuck the old one under the new one in a roll) while your loved one is on their side and tuck it under them, when they roll the other way, just unroll it and pull the other one out.
8. Lay the new diaper out behind and around the side that is up. Tuck the bedside tab under the person’s waist to make it easier to retrieve once your loved one is on their back to prevent having to roll them the other way to find it.
9. Now roll the loved one onto their back, bring the diaper up between the legs and fasten. Done.

Once you have done this once or 10 times, it gets easier. It now takes me about 7-10 minutes to clean and change my Mom.

More Tips:

1. Talk to them, joke with them, ask them a favorite (food, park, ice cream, dog, cat, drink, joke, story, movie, make funny faces), etc.

2. Avoid telling them what a mess they are, how bad they smell or how much trouble they are while doing this task. It embarrasses them and puts them on the defensive.

3. Also, this could be you needing help! Put yourself in their bed!

4. Explain each step….”we are going to get you clean and dry”, “we are going to roll you this way”, “we are cleaning you to make you nice and fresh”, “we are going to roll you this way now.”..”and done…feel better”?

5.  To change the bedding with the person in the bed:  Remove 1/2 of the old bedding by rolling it up to the person and tucking as much as possible.  Put 1/2 of all new bedding on the bed,  smooth to middle, roll the remainder up and tuck under the person, roll them the other way remove the old bedding, unroll the new linens, and tuck, taa daa!

Each product in our store comes with tips for caring for aging parents or disabled folks. We want to help All Ages in All Stages in All Phases of life. Look for other caregiving items in our store such as blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters (for oxygen and pulse rate), diapers, briefs, diaper wipes, skin products and more. All products are researched, and reviewed, most of them are tried out long-term, and then recommended to our followers.