Adjustable Beds

[Glynda]

We need to buy a queen sized adjustable bed for my 101 year old mother who is having trouble getting out of her regular bed. Getting to a sitting position on the side of the bed is her problem. She's currently having in-home Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. They've both approved of her method but she's just not strong enough. particularly sitting up. She refuses a hospital bed (and/or a lift chair) saying "I'd rather you just throw me out in the yard and let me die." Her therapists have said that their patients have better results with a regular adjustable bed with a bed rail.

Hubby and I have a split king Tempurpedic and love it, but I'm worried that she would have trouble with memory foam. I was surprised when I visited a mattress store today and was told that innerspring mattresses can be used on an adjustable base! Apparently the springs are not constructed as in earlier days. They are more flexible? Not tied in the same manner? Something like that. Googling tells me that they can be used but don't last as long.

I'm wondering if any of you have an innerspring mattress on an adjustable frame and what you think of it? Looking for suggestions too.

 

[VacationForever]

We have Sleep Number bed, with adjustable base. We got our own bed frame and the Sleep Number thing cost us about $10K in itself. I know that there are cheaper alternatives out there that do the same. I haven't seen anything that is not a hospital bed which comes with bed rails.

 

[Talent312]

DW has Parkinson's. She uses our adjustable TempurPedic
bed (split king) to lift her back up into a sitting position so
she get out. I built a step she uses to back herself into bed.

She has no issues with the foam matteress, which is semi-hard.
.

 

[Glynda]

We have Sleep Number bed, with adjustable base. We got our own bed frame and the Sleep Number thing cost us about $10K in itself. I know that there are cheaper alternatives out there that do the same. I haven't seen anything that is not a hospital bed which comes with bed rails.

I think we can add a smallish rail at the top of the bed between the mattress and base. She has one like that now between the mattress and box springs. We don't need rails at the bottom of the bed.

 

[Glynda]

DW has Parkinson's. She uses our adjustable TempurPedic
bed (split king) to lift her back up into a sitting position so
she get out. I built a step she uses to back herself into bed.

She has no issues with the foam matteress, which is semi-hard.
.

My mother has Parkinson's too. That lift to sitting is what we need also. From there I'm pretty sure that she can swivel and swing her legs over the side. I am worried that the memory foam will make the swivel difficult. And I don't want the edge of the memory foam to collapse under her and slide her off so it would have to be firm. She is claustrophobic and the one time she slept on a memory foam mattress, she felt stuck in it.

 

[VacationForever]

My mother has Parkinson's too. That lift to sitting is what we need also. From there I'm pretty sure that she can swivel and swing her legs over the side. I am worried that the memory foam will make the swivel difficult. And I don't want the edge of the memory foam to collapse under her and slide her off so it would have to be firm. She is claustrophobic and the one time she slept on a memory foam mattress, she felt stuck in it.

The option which we chose for the mattress for our sleep number bed is memory foam. It is not a regular memory foam bed.

 

[moonstone]

A possible alternative could be an assist pole. My 91 yo MiL has bad arthritis and deteriorating discs in her spine. She began having trouble getting out of bed about 5 yrs ago. SiL found and purchased a short (24-30 inch) bed rail that has straps going all the way around the mattress so it wont slip or get pushed out. It is beside her pillow and extends to the point where her legs hang over the edge when she gets out of bed. She even uses it to help roll over in bed. That helped for a while then Mum began having trouble getting up out of bed. I suggested a 'johnny pole' type aid. It is a pole that goes from floor to ceiling and held in place by tension. Mum weighs about 250 lbs and it doesn't move under her weight. DH made sure the top end is directly under the ceiling joist and not just on drywall. The pole has handles in a few (adjustable) heights. It is frequently used for stroke patients. We purchased it at a medical aid equipment store.

When I worked in a nursing home we had a patient who moved in with her lift assist recliner chair. She said she hadn't slept in a regular bed in years because she couldn't get out of one. The recliner chair went from flat out recline to a sitting position then the seat kept going up so she was almost in a standing position. It was electric so no strength required to get in or out of the chair. I have since purchased one for my 92 yo dad who was having trouble standing from his low recliner. Our sons told him it needed more power and then it could be an ejector chair! Dad, a Tim Taylor/Home Improvement fan thought that was funny.


~Diane

 

[Glynda]

A possible alternative could be an assist pole. My 91 yo MiL has bad arthritis and deteriorating discs in her spine. She began having trouble getting out of bed about 5 yrs ago. SiL found and purchased a short (24-30 inch) bed rail that has straps going all the way around the mattress so it wont slip or get pushed out. It is beside her pillow and extends to the point where her legs hang over the edge when she gets out of bed. She even uses it to help roll over in bed. That helped for a while then Mum began having trouble getting up out of bed. I suggested a 'johnny pole' type aid. It is a pole that goes from floor to ceiling and held in place by tension. Mum weighs about 250 lbs and it doesn't move under her weight. DH made sure the top end is directly under the ceiling joist and not just on drywall. The pole has handles in a few (adjustable) heights. It is frequently used for stroke patients. We purchased it at a medical aid equipment store.

When I worked in a nursing home we had a patient who moved in with her lift assist recliner chair. She said she hadn't slept in a regular bed in years because she couldn't get out of one. The recliner chair went from flat out recline to a sitting position then the seat kept going up so she was almost in a standing position. It was electric so no strength required to get in or out of the chair. I have since purchased one for my 92 yo dad who was having trouble standing from his low recliner. Our sons told him it needed more power and then it could be an ejector chair! Dad, a Tim Taylor/Home Improvement fan thought that was funny.


~Diane

We have a shortish bed rail that goes from the head of bed and stops where she ends up sitting. For an adjustable bed, it will have to be secured differently than just wedged between the mattress and lifting frame. Thanks for the idea! A couple of years ago, hubby rigged a bright orange strap out of seatbelt like material and secured to the bed frame on the opposite side from where she sits. Her end has a place to slip her hand through and the belt is knotted once beyond it. She pulls on it and digs here heels into the mattress to get herself straight in the bed.

She will have nothing to do with a lift chair. We had her try one the other day and it was more dangerous than the way she is getting in and out now of her chair. The "johnny pole" is an interesting idea but not sure about that.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Sorry to hear about your mother. We bought an adjustable bed with Airloom innerspring mattress about 2 years ago. (many thanks to Tuggers advice). We have been happy with it, however you need to shift the mattress around every month for the 1st 6 months and then every 6 mos after to avoid sagging in the memory foam top or you lose your warranty protection. The bed was not cheap, however it was a split king so a twin XL would be half of what we paid.