My DH has a hard time sitting on our 18 inch ADA toilet. He sometimes forgets how to bend his knees, or goes halfway down and can't figure out how to sit. I end up pushing his body into the right position. Does anyone have a really high toilet. He is only 5'5" and if the toilet is much higher his feet won't reach. Anyone have similar issues? Thank you
we have a 18 inch ada also but i still have a toliet/bedside chair that i use on the toliet the arms seem to help quite a bit to guide my DH . but sitting anywhere is a big issue!
monika we had this problem as well. DH has issues with bending his knees and has for some time. i found it helps if you have a good long grab bar next to the toilet to help them hold the weight while they lower themselves. i think they become fearful and of losing balance. they do have a high riser that you just add to the toilet and it raises the height. you can buy at medical supply houses or online. they connect to the seat of the toilet instead of having to buy a new higher handicap type. the one we used had rails which worked pretty good as it helped lower him holding the rails on the sides. you can probably google high rise toilet seats and get some hits.they come in various heights. if hes short and its too high that may pose other issues. maybe a small step up /down stair once hes on the seat.
I bought my father a high seat that goes on the toilet. ( http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=high%20toilet%20seat&index=blended) When I need to use his bathroom when I am visiting him, my feet dangle. (I am 5' tall - almost, so my feet dangle everywhere). I kind of slide off when I'm finished. I don't know if your husband would know to do that if his feet were dangling. It seems that what you are doing is the best solution, but I haven't had much experience with this. Hopefully, someone else will come along who knows more or has a better idea.
monika--my husband has had this issue for a while now. He has no problem sitting on a chair, bed or sofa, but doing a squat to sit on the toilet is awkward for him. I remind him to bend his knees, push him a little in the right direction, have a portable commode over the toilet itself to raise it, etc. But there is still hesitation on his part and it takes patience and coaxing on my or the aides' part. He gets halfway down and stands up again, it takes about 3 tries to get him to sit. I just think there's something about getting into that position that seems scary or uncomfortable and he resists it.
Well, I got a high seat to put under the regular seat. He doesn't have to bend his legs, his feet dangle, but he can get up by himself. How the problem is that he peed right over the rim and everything got wet. Maybe the lower seat helps everything else to be lower. I looked at some of those splash guards, but that isn't all that great for me to have that guard there all the time. We only have one BR. It never ends.
Make sure he is sitting back far enough and that the "apparatus" is not sitting up on top, or else, the urine will come out of the front (this means he will require supervision each time). The splash guard does make cleaning the toilet more complicated.
Monika, I so know what you are saying! I have to ease Lloyd onto the toilet. Can't be too forceful or he will fight me. There have been times he peed all over before I could get him to sit and there have been times he sat too close to the front and peed all over anyhow. Then there are the times he just doesn't make it. I can't even remember all the times I've had to strip him, wash him, dress him, and scrub the bathroom floor in the middle of the night. Marilyn, I think Lloyd is afraid of falling so I have to be very gentle and hold his hand and put my hand on his butt to ease him down. Then there are the times that he won't let me lower his pants...he stands with his feet apart. Or I will pull his pants down and he will immediately pull them back up. He has problems sitting anywhere. I have to grab his belt loops and pull him back to the chair or sofa or he would just end up on the floor. Other times he will climb up on the furniture like a small child.
Yes, there are so many steps involved in using a toilet, it makes it a difficult situation. I agree that fear of falling is probably involved, after all, the seat has a hole in it! I keep repeating "I won't let you fall" etc.
Amazing how many of us have similar problems. Thank you for responding and for your suggestions. I did take out the raised seat and no more accidents. Maybe it is a good exercise for the legs to use the toilet.
My wife had this. I put in a higher toilet and it helped. I agree she didn't have that problem on the bed or the couch in the same way. She also would pull her pants back up at times resisting and sometimes it was a serious battle to get her down onto it where she would call out "Listen Mister!" or "You're really great!" while fighting me. It was clearly sometimes that trust in sitting without seeing which seemed toilet and single chair specific.
In so many cases a restart helped. I would say fine that was ok and lead her back out of the bathroom, turn right around and lead her back in and no problem.
I had a terrible time with Gord and the toilet. I would try to get him to sit but as many here say, he would get so far and then pop back up. He was 6foot 4 so it was a long drop for him. I never did solve that problem.
Lately Lloyd has been hovering over the toilet. Then I have to just grab "it" and aim in the toilet while still trying to get him to sit. Hey, whatever works. There are days he will only pee once. It makes me crazy! No accidents either. I guess peeing is a voluntary thing and unless he wants to...he won't. Go figure. Wolf, I restart lots of things. Such a good strategy. He will refuse to take a bite and I will give it a minute and try again successfully.
I did have the same problem with my wife. I installed a simple set of rails I gof at Walgreens for about $35.00. They install very easy now I tell her to hold on to the safety rails and she can lower herself down. They worked great for about six months but now she has trouble because there are too many movements using both hands and sitting all at once so I have to place her hands on the rails for her. Without them she would not be able to use toilet anymore.
Isn't it amazing, sad and terrifying how our dear ones forget the basic movements of living. I will never forget the first time my husband had no idea how to get into a car. It took three of us to get him out of the car for a doctor's visit. While in the waiting room he just got up out of his seat and wandered all over the office and into the exam rooms. You better believe he was seen quickly and we were helped out of the office :0)
Anchor 20, I think I will have to ask my SIL for rails when the new bathroom goes in. Alot of times, he actually puts his hand on the toilet seat to steady himself which puts him off the mark anyhow so I have to nudge to get him there. Can't stand that hand on the toilet seat!!! Touching where other arses have been makes me crazy even if you can wash his hands immediately after! Bluedaze, we have trouble getting into the car...never getting out because he likes the "escape" part. Mine wanders, too, but less since the Marinol.