Dementia patient sleeping in living room

[MAIKET]

Hi, hope everyone is well.

My girlfriends father has dementia and recently one night he slept in the living room and the next day he brought his clothes and shoes into the living room.

Now everytime those clothes are put back in the bedroom, after some time, he will bring them back... points to note:

- He sometimes helps put them back into the bedroom, but then maybe a couple of hours later, he brings them out again....

- sometimes its not only his clothes but my girlfriends and his wifes

- he always starts by placing the clothes in the same corner

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this / knows why he is doing this and also how to get him to sleep back in the bedroom?

Thank you in advance.

 

[sdmhred]

You could try putting laminate signs with a picture and writing on each door saying bedroom, living room etc

Is there a problem with him sleeping in the lounge? If not I wouldn’t waste too much energy and just let him get on with it…there will be more difficult battles to follow …

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

Hi, hope everyone is well.

My girlfriends father has dementia and recently one night he slept in the living room and the next day he brought his clothes and shoes into the living room.

Now everytime those clothes are put back in the bedroom, after some time, he will bring them back... points to note:

- He sometimes helps put them back into the bedroom, but then maybe a couple of hours later, he brings them out again....

- sometimes its not only his clothes but my girlfriends and his wifes

- he always starts by placing the clothes in the same corner

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this / knows why he is doing this and also how to get him to sleep back in the bedroom?

Thank you in advance.

A bit of a pain for you but is this really worth fighting? You could try locks on your girlfriend's and his wife's wardrobes so he can only move his own stuff which may mean that this is easier for all of you.

As for his own stuff and sleeping in the living room, chose your battles carefully and as this one is doing no real harm, save your energy for more important things.

 

[MAIKET]

Wow! Quick responses, thank you so much!

There are no issues with this really, she was just trying to understand what was behind this behaviour and if there was anything she could do to change it.

I see the point about picking your battles. Thank you ❤️

 

[Kevinl]

As has been said, you can fight all the battles you want but you will lose the war, AZ doesn't take any prisoners, us carers are just collateral damage, you have to learn to live in their world when they can no longer live in ours. K