Jolene Brackey
Enhanced Moments
P.O. Box 326
Polson, Montana 59860
407-883-3770 phone/fax
jolene@enhancedmoments.com
As the disease progresses their age regresses and one of the best things that happen we are young is having a baby. These are the days we will remember for a lifetime. This is why it is not usual that a person with Alzheimer's is looking for their children. For some ladies all they know is having babies and raising children. What better way to fulfill the need to hold and care for a baby then to buy doll that looks like a real baby.
As I stated earlier it is even better when you have the environment for the items that are most significant to them. In this case that would be a bassinet and inside the bassinet would be baby clothes, baby rattle, booties, baby blanket, and maybe a burp towel. What ever the person is searching for to take care of the baby those are the items you include. If they do on respond to an item you may want to remove it. The less stuff to focus on the easier the task to complete but for another person it might be the more things you include the more memories triggered and they will have more ways to take care of the baby.
A lady was constantly looking for her babies and when they talked with her family they found out she had a set of twins. So the family bought her two babies and put them in a large bassinet. She tended to those babies with great care. When she would woke up in the middle of the night asking where her babies were at staff would whisper, "Your twins are sleeping soundly in the bassinet over there. Don 't worry Jam going to be up all night working so I will wake you if J hear them cry." It helped when staff said "your twins" because if they would have said "Your baby" she may worry about her other baby. In other words, you want to say with the most reassuring tone of voice enough information so they will not fully wake up and also feel at ease to go back to bed.
We all know when you take care of babies the first responsibility is to keep them safe. This is when you have ladies who won't eat dinner because they won't leave their baby. This is your cue to reassure them that you would love to watch their baby while they eat. Depending on the person you may have to go as far as puffing the baby down for a nap so you can get some work done. Now you will be in the clear if the lady comes looking for her baby. In many cases because of short term memory loss they will forget they have a baby or who they gave the baby too. When their memory of a baby is triggered you will want the baby close at hand to give it back. Because items get easily lost with a person who has Alzheimer's, I highly recommend you keep extra babies in the closet, just in case. Children dolls are highly effective too. I have seen people bounce doll children on their knee, sing to them, play simple game (peek a boo), and talk to them. Again find other items to fulfill the responsibility to taking care of a child; a brush to comb their hair or extra clothes to change them into, rocking horse. Be creative and ask yes and no questions to find out what they would like for their child.
When I was telling the staff that baby dolls and children dolls were a good thing, they proceeded to tell me of the delima they were experience. A man was very fond of this child doll they he had He would ooh and gooh and her and show people his cute little girl. He would hold her and play with her. Well sometimes he would play to rough and her arm was loose so it would fall off. When the other ladies saw this they became very angry with the man and try to take the baby away from him. This, of course, started an argument and small battle. In this case there are many options... have more then one child, fix the arm, or try to keep the two groups of people apart. You will of course come up with your own creative ideas. One however should not be to get rid of the child doll altogether. This person found momentary joy from being with a child. That is priceless!
Women with Alzheimer's will also go through times when they think they are pregnant. This reaction could be triggered from a variety of reasons e.g. stomach aches, gas, uterus dropping or maybe seeing a pregnant women on TV or in real life. In any case, you should treat it seriously. Seriously meaning suggesting they sit down, breath and relax or you might say you will call the doctor. Say whatever it takes to make them feel like this is a place where someone will help if they need it After you have helped them to get comfortable, investigate why they might feel like they are pregnant.
A lady would get up several times in the night and walk around and look into other roorms. Talking with her spouse the staff found out she had nine children and it was her "habit of a lifetime " to get up and check on them. Once the staff understood this they now knew how to respond to her so she would feel assured that her children were fine. They also didn't fight her so much to go back to bed right away because when she completed her rounds she would go back to bed on her own.