Electric blanket safety

[morgaine42]

Hi,
My mum is 89 and was diagnosed 2 years ago. As she also suffers arthritis, spondylitus and various other physical ailments she gets great comfort from her electric blanket. However given her increasing confusion and memory loss we have found it left on with increasing frequency. Also her bladder and bowels are becoming less than reliable and there has been occasional bed wetting. My sisters answer is just take the blanket off her and she can use a hot water bottle - she cant as her shaking hands she would scald herself, and extra blankets not the answer either.
Just wondering if anyone could offer any advice?
thanks,
Judith x

 

[Katrine]

Personally I would never have an electric blanket again. When we bought one it came with a servicing scheme. Every year we packed it up and posted it to the manufacturer for servicing. Every year it failed and we were sent a new one. After 3 repeats we wondered how quickly the new blanket was actually becoming unsafe, and decided not to buy one again.

There was an American product called Soft Heat that was designed for the purpose you require it for, but it doesn't seem to be available in the UK. I would look for waterproof heated pads that are sold for pets. There are quite a few on the market. Here is an example: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...liid=I2XJBGLDC131YX&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

 

[Kevinl]

Could you get and electric overblanket rather than an underblanket? Most modern ones are thermostatically regulated so leaving it on isn't a problem.
If you go down the hot water bottle route the new generation electric ones don't need filling you just plug them in and recharge, the better ones have a gell in them that stays warmer much longer than water.
K

 

[Batsue]

You can get microwavable pads which stay warm for up to 12 hours, I had one for my dog when he was a puppy.

 

[BR_ANA]

Can you warm her home to tropical weather so she didn't need her electrical blanket?

 

[Kevinl]

Can you warm her home to tropical weather so she didn't need her electrical blanket?

Only if you move to Brazil Have you seen the cost of gas and electricity in the UK, just to keep a house warm can cost over £100 a month in the winter hot could double that and tropical...you'd need to be a millionaire.
There is a winter fuel payment which can be as much as £300 a year but you can use that in electric heating in a month.
K