Is it proper to do lock Mom's bathroom at night who has dementia?

I am a caregiver for 8 years for mom who has dementia. My mom goes to bathroom all the time. If she go to bathroom by herself she will miss up the bathroom everywhere (floor, walls....etc) and herself. I put a detector for a full year so I can wake up at night when she goes to bath room and help her, However this is make me not to sleep more than 3 hours a night which caused me to have chronic fatigue and being ill. Someone close to me suggest to lock the bathroom at night since she is wearing diapers and this is will save my insanity and allow me sleep at night at least 5 hours. I thought about it that if I lock the bathroom at night will it not affect mom since mom she will have dirty diaper even if she go to bathroom many time. In addition many times at night I try to take mom to bathroom she refuse stubbornly and she would rather to sleep than go to bathroom regardless of the result ( ..you know what do I mean).
Please give me an advice is this will affect mom dementia , her mentality or her feelings. . Am I hurting mom feelings if I do that?

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My thought was as Jessie suggested: get a commode and put it in her room. Help show her how to use it so she can get used to it.

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I agree that locking the bathroom would probably not get you any more sleep as she would likely wake you trying to get in. I also think if she is messing up the bathroom when she goes herself having a bedside commode would just move the mess to her room. It seems to me what you really need is to find some medications to help her to sleep through the night.

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Something I thought about would be if she would continue to try to go and rattle the bathroom door when she found it locked. Or if she would come to get you to let her in. It all depends on how she would respond to the door being locked. If she rattled the door or woke you, it wouldn't accomplish what you needed -- to get a good night's sleep.

Is there any chance you could get some help in occasionally so that you could take some time for yourself? If you could schedule breaks every few weeks, it would give you something to look forward to, as well as a needed breaks to catch up on your sleep.

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I think there may be some legal problems with locking the bedroom door. I wouldn't do that. I would consult with her doctor about medications that might help. Older people do have to use the bathroom at night very often. We just have to try to find ways to work around the problems associated with it. People with dementia or other problems often do make a mess. It can be exasperating to clean so often, but it often goes with the territory of keeping a loved one at home.

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I wonder if she will remember the bathroom is locked, or will she continue to get up to use it, so have the same general problems. Have you tried a potty chair in her room? I wonder if she would use that, instead of making the trips to the bathroom. I don't blame her for not wanting to use her diaper if she doesn't have to. I don't know if I could be comfortable with a wet or dirty diaper on me. I sympathize with elders who are wearing them, though I know they are necessary.

You could try locking the bathroom one night to see how it goes. I don't know if it would accomplish what you want -- her not waking you -- but it is worth a try.

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Mom wearing her diaper. but if she goes to bathroom she make a lot of miss everywhere. Also she goes some times a lot which make me not to sleep at night at all. I had this issue for years. I put a detector to know if mom in the bathroom to help her but this caused me to collapse for not sleeping

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Thank you for your thoughts. what if I lock her bed room ( I do not feel good about that to lock her in bed room) her bed room is large and has windows.
what kind of medication will help her to sleep. the thing when I tried to give her Tylenol pm after I consulted with her primary doctor she had constipation, any advice

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yes me too does not like lock the door on mom. this is so awful to do that.
what about a gate in the door

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I found a solution. Put up signs. I found it in google. the article says" Sometimes, just hanging a sign inside a door to the outside that says ''Stop'' or ''Do Not Enter'' can be enough to prevent your loved one from wandering. By the same token, consider putting signs on other doors -- like the one to the bathroom -- so he can see which door leads where"

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Is it proper to do lock Mom's bathroom at night who has dementia?

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