Moved both parents in, both fall sometimes. Any advice?
They live in the apartment downstairs (LR, BR, BA), and sometimes fall at night. Both mother and father-in-law are mobile, but need assistance walking. My FIL's mobility issues are from sitting in a nursing home where they didn't care if he got up to walk or not and now he is unsteady on his feet. In the NH he was on an alert system for any time he tried to get out of bed due to falls, but most of the time he ended up walking to the bathroom anyway because of the response time. He either wet himself or the bed in the middle of the night. Outside of sleeping down there with them, what would be the best system to have in our house in case this happens so we can stay upstairs and sleep in our bed? There is one bedroom downstairs, and it's the one they sleep in. I was possibly thinking about a walkie-talkie type device where they can ask for help to potty from us, and in short of putting a baby monitor downstairs (I would rather not hear their nightly conversations but will if it's necessary), what other type of device would make communication in the middle of the night easier, or alert us in case one of them falls and/or needs assistance? We are going to get a medical alert system, too. We have moved furniture so there is nothing in the way of them getting out of bed, they have rails on the bed to hold onto when they get up. My father in law doesn't like to wear Depends, and they seem to leak, anyway, and he usually ends up taking them off. Just looking to find out what other caregivers do that have multi-level homes.
I'm assuming they both use walkers? If not, they should. As PStegman says, a nightlight is imperative.
Also be sure to have their health care professionals check their blood pressure when the go from sitting to standing. Some elders' blood pressure drops when they stand up and that can cause dizziness and fainting/falling. It's called orthostatic hypotension.
And of course remove any rugs between their bed and the toilet. You could also consider a bedside commode, that would be closer to the bed. If it meant a good night's sleep for me, I'd get one for my parents.
Blannie's idea of a urinal for your dad is a good one but I would imagine he'd have to turn on the light in order to see where he was aiming. This may disturb your mom.
There are only so many precautions you can take to prevent an elderly person from falling. When my dad came home from the rehab the PT suggested I tear up all the carpet. Yeah, right! Like I had the money to do all of that. But clearing walkways and getting raised toilet seats or a toilet that goes over the regular toilet that has handrails. Grab bars. Discouraging risky behavior like wandering around the house at night, walking around without an aide like a walker or a cane....there are a thousand things you can do to help prevent someone from falling but a High Fall Risk person will always be a High Fall Risk person. They don't go down to Moderate Fall Risk or No Fall Risk. You just do what you can.
Ask your parents what would be easiest for them. Getting to the bathroom at night can be an ordeal for elder who isn't as mobile or steady, so the urinal sounds like a good idea long with a pee pee pad in the bad to take care of occasional accident.