Falling out of bed - how to prevent?

[trumpisagit]

My Ddad, who lives alone, just told me he fell out of bed twice last night!
It does happen occasionally and on one occasion he cut his face on the bedside table.
I have often suggested he sleeps in the centre of the bed (a double).
He says he does but as he always falls out on "his" side I suspect he doesn't.
He insists on keeping my (long dead) Mum's pillows on the other side, so that makes it harder to sleep in the middle.
Would a bed guard help, or is it just a trip hazard?
He gets up frequently in the night.
Any better ideas?
He is landing on carpet from a low bed height, but he is heavy and I worry he will break a hip.

Contact Red Cross and ask if they can loan you a bed guard. They are easy to fit - I've got one, after my stroke last July

Is he mentally fit or is he forgetful? if the former, it is mainly case of asking what he wants. show him options for bed guards etc, and discuss. But they will make it harder to get up in the night and so could make the problem worse. My aunt broke a hip when in a hospital bed with bed guards - she tried to climb over the bed guard and fell further (she had dementia too).

Also, make sure he has some kind of alarm or phone within reach of the floor near the bed, so that if he did fall & get injured, he could call for help.

You can also get padded mats to go on the floor next to the bed for a soft landing, but again they make it harder to walk near the bed.

My dad has a bed guard for this reason. Now he's used to it it doesn't stop him getting up to use the loo. It doesn't go all the way down the bed. (He fell out of bed and broke a vertebrae- he's fine now but happily accepted the bed guard after that. - my mum also usually sleeps separately so he can sleep in the middle of the bed too. He also had a hip replacement which went horrendously, took 2 major ops and a long time to heal so we were really worried that would be damaged.)

Get him to ask for a referral to the falls prevention team. Or ask if you can contact the GP on his behalf.

My mum has a bed guard but just on one side of the bed. She says that feeling it there in the night enables her to reorientate herself and now that she can't go any further that way - if you see what I mean. Obviously she can still get out easily the other side for night trips!

Use swimming noodles or rolled up towels under a fitted sheet / mattress as this should prevent them being able to roll out of bed.

My mum had a short bed guard (maybe a third of the length of the bed) which wasn't where you would sit up and put your legs over to get out normally, but was enough to stop her rolling out. It stopped her falls and she didn't have any problems with it even though she had severe dementia

Thanks all. I will talk to my Dad about all these suggestions.
I don't think he would want to be referred to the falls prevention team, or discuss with gp, but we can try some of the practical ideas.
Is the short bed guard, just a couple of foot at the head end?
He says he has moved his pillows into the centre of the bed.

Yes the bed guard is only a few feet long. So just at the head end.

@trumpisagit

Thanks all. I will talk to my Dad about all these suggestions. I don't think he would want to be referred to the falls prevention team, or discuss with gp, but we can try some of the practical ideas. Is the short bed guard, just a couple of foot at the head end? He says he has moved his pillows into the centre of the bed.

The Falls Prevention Team exist to keep people independent at home. He would probably only need one visit and they'll assess how he moves around the house/what equipment might help. They don't prescribe equipment for the sake of it.

Don't concoct your own solution with swimming noodles in the bed. Get an Occupational Therapist to assess him.