Is there a portable bathtub?

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Is there a portable bathtub?

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My gran loves to take baths. We had to move her down to the main floor because we (my mom and I) could no longer get her up and down the stairs. We do not have a bath on the main floor.
She has a sponge bath every day, but she really misses her bath. Personal support workers are not allowed to help us get her upstairs.
Any ideas?
Thanks

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I have a portable bath I bought on Amazon. It’s a plastic tub supported on an aluminum frame. Actually I use it inside my tub, because my tub is so damn shallow, I wanted one deep enough to soak in, which this one is. It was about $100 I think. Search on Amazon for foldable tub. You’d have to set it up on water safe flooring and have some place to drain it to, but it is free-standing.

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It’s summer, so if you have a deck of some type, OP might be able to set up this type of portable bath like this outside, with some ‘modesty screens’. If the frame is collapsible, the water could just go through the floor or over the edge. I think a hotel would be better, but this is something else to think about.

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is it worth renting a hotel room on a first floor and taking her there once a month for a bath? see if they are handicapped accessible. We have a place with a room designed for handicapped, wider bathroom etc.

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A 'portable bathtub' would require, in my opinion, superhuman effort to fill and to drain. Think about an inflatable children's pool outside and the level of time and attention that's required to fill and to drain IT. Then think about what would be required to fill and to drain a tub big enough to fit a full sized adult inside of it, in your kitchen, and you'll have your answer. It's not reasonable to believe you can accommodate such a thing for your grandmother. Perhaps you can drive her over to a facility spa tub, as cwillie suggested, which is a MUCH more reasonable way to facilitate such a request. Otherwise, you may just have to accept the fact that her bath days are now over.

My 95 y/o mother had an issue where she was leaning way over to the side in her wheelchair as well, which sounds like what your grandmother is doing. We believe mom's leaning issues were due to small strokes she was having. Such leaning made moving her quite difficult/impossible, and dangerous as well, b/c dropping her would be very likely. Dead weight is hard to manage. Use extreme caution when even thinking about trying to place such an elder into a bathtub, or getting a chairlift, or doing anything out of the ordinary. Safety is the #1 goal when an elder's mobility is compromised, meaning what they 'want' is secondary to what safety dictates.

Good luck.

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By "facility spa tub" do you mean ones that is in a care facility? I would be extremely surprised if they'd allow a non-resident to use it. Too much liability risk for the facility plus they'd need their own staff on hand to help you figure out how to use it. But, it never hurts to ask...

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I had never heard of a portable bathtub for adults so I looked it up on amazon.com. They even have inflatable ones for under $100. I would read the reviews very thoroughly, but looks like an interesting option.

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Have you considered a 'stair lift'?
Pretty expensive but might be cheaper than installing a bath downstairs.
Perhaps, if you have some VERY good friends or neighbours (or both!), you could lean on them for support - once or twice a week should suffice but do take a gift to say thank you...

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We were ready to buy stairlift but Occupational Therapist advised against it. He said my gran isnt mobile enough to use stairlift.
On very good days she can partially support her weight on her legs and with alot of support she can walk 40 feet
Other days she is too tired and is like a floppy doll. She flops to the side also when seated.
Im not 100% confident in our OT. Do you agree about stairlift?

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If she flops to the side when seated, think about what will happen if she's riding on a stairlift chair traveling UP a staircase! Please follow the OTs advice and do not attempt to transport your grandmother up stairs on a stairlift!!!!!!!!!!

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our stairlift has a seatbelt, fyi. you can help her get on and mom could be at the stop to help her off. mom and I use it all the time to send our laundry up and down, and groceries for the cellar fridge.

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@Becky139, I had never even considered that portable bathtubs might exist, but after reading Geaton777’s comment that they are available on-line, and then reading of TopSailJanet’s positive experience with using one, I think maybe you could make this work out for your grandmother.

Yes, you will need to put a lot of thought into it, and choose carefully, but in literally a one minute on-line search I realized you can buy antimicrobial inflatable tubs; and various tubs which rather than being completely rigid all the time like a tin tub, come with a power pump to quickly inflate and deflate the tub for use and storage; some have electric pumps to drain the water rather than just expecting gravity to drain the water from bottom of tub, etc… I would NOT recommend an el-cheapo tub that you would have to somehow tip up on its side to cascade all the soapy water into your kitchen sink, or toilet (or shower if you have shower on ground level). You will most assuredly hurt your back and then you won’t yourself be able to navigate stairs, much less grandma doing so.

If you commit to this, consider carefully and be prepared to spend some real money, but it really looks doable in the right situation. I don’t know setup of your house but I imagine grandmother would bathe in kitchen, so the electric pump drain system would be essential: don’t try to drag an unbelievably heavy water-filled tub to the porch to throw soapy water off into the grass. Have a pump to automatically drain water into sink.

And whatever you do, if you situate grandma in a tub at a facility, or in a hotel room (both interesting options suggested by posters to at least try), please be ultra careful when getting her out of tub so you don’t hurt yourself. Again, your own physical safety is paramount.

Good luck, and if you do go down this portable tub route, let us know how it works out.

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As people age, it gets more difficult to get in and out of a bathtub, and also to stand up if the bathtub doesn't have a sitting area. Be mindful when getting something for her.

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If the portable tub has to be on the floor, consider how difficult it may be to get her in the tub and especially OUT. The bottom of the tub may be slippery plus you might not be able to lift her without hurting YOUR back

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There are plenty of inflatable and collapsible adult-sized bathtubs with easy fill and easy drain options. Amazon has them, of course, but so do many other places, including Overstock and Wayfair Just make sure you check out the reviews before purchase and use Fakespot to check for review authenticity.

Good luck!

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When you say 'easy fill', does that mean dragging a hose inside the house? And how would the tub get drained? Would there be a pipe leading the water outside, or would you just use buckets to throw the water out the window?

Is there a portable bathtub?

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