Bath time

[Jgrafton88]

We are currently have the problem that I'm sure most of us have experienced, my grandad thinks he's had a bath so won't take one and thinks he's changed his clothes but hasn't for weeks. I'm worried he'll get a skin infection or uti and I'm desperate for any advice. I've read abiut the no wash shampoos and body wash but if I get these how in gods name do I get him to use them. I also know I can sneakily swap his clothes over if he takes a bath. He understands (on a good day) that he's been 'naughty' because he 'hasn't done what he's told' but he's like a naughty school boy and giggles away about it. Bless him.
Any help appreciated x

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

You could always try the 'clumsy me' approach:

'Oh I'm so sorry Grandad - I've spilled this cup of (barely tepid) tomato soup all over you! Let me help you get washed and changed...'

 

[canary]

Are you expecting him to run the bath and take the bath all by himself?
It may be that he cant remember the steps and what he has to do. I started getting this with OH, he was getting later and later with taking a shower - sitting downstairs in his dressing gown , sometimes till late afternoon. Then one day I went into the bathroom while he was taking a shower and suddenly realised that he wasnt showering properly - he would put some shower gel in the palm of his hand, run it down his stomach and rinse it off. And that was his shower! He could not remember what to do.

After that I would shower him - Id get the water at the right temperature (I discovered that quite often he would end up with a cold shower and didnt know how to alter it) and just assume he would come and shower. Id pretend that he had asked me to do it and because I presented it as a done deal he complied. I now actually have carers to come in and do this and he has got used to it.

 

[Dimpsy]

Same as @canary, mum used to shower herself every morning until a chest infection knocked another couple of books off the bookshelf (it's how our local Memory Matters clinic describes a downturn) and she simply stopped. The routine of waking up and showering had gone.
I shower her now, and I have to say at least l know all her bits and bobs are washed properly. I can't shower her every day as I'm out early on the days I work. Mum loves me showering and dressing her and then drying her hair. I love that it makes her happy but for me I feel even more of a carer rather than a daughter and it's one more in I have to do.
Once the threat of Covid lessens, we may go down the route of outside carers coming in.
I can only suggest turning bath time into fun time, warm the bathroom; dont point out he hasn't bathed for a while, you know it, but it sounds like Grandad has lost the sense of time passing and if that's the case, the old woopsy with the spilled tomato soup can be used regularly as suggested by @Jaded'n'faded