cabin door locks

[mortgage maven]

My mom has some dementia and a tendency to wander out of the cabin

when my dad is in the bathroom or asleep. Has anyone found a travel

door lock that can be used to keep her inside during those times?

[okbookgirl]

I'm thinking that there is no such lock at least from the inside........maybe your mom should sit this kind of vacation out, either that or you put a gps on her, you know the kind that kids wear and then mom wears the matching transponder and if the kid gets more than 20 feet away the "home" unit begins to make noise. That might work.

[TexasCPA]

My mom has some dementia and a tendency to wander out of the cabin

when my dad is in the bathroom or asleep. Has anyone found a travel

door lock that can be used to keep her inside during those times?

I must agree with the PP and state that I also don't know of anything that can be made to keep her inside. I'm sure that the ship's personnel would consider any jury-rigging of their doors to be a fire/safety hazard of some kind too.

 

If this were the case with my parent I would either plan to keep her with me all the time, or I would find an alternative care source while you go on your trip. I can't imagine what I would do if she wandered off while in port (especially one where I did not speak the language)...it could present quite a problem.

[cb at sea]

If she's at the "wandering" stage, a cruise may not be the best thing--she could get really "discombobulated" by being in a strange place--and a ship won't be the safest place for her to wander.

[JanineM]

How about getting one of those door-knob alarms? I had one of these years ago when I lived in an apartment. It hung on the door knob and would go off if anyone opened the door.

[giftwrapper7]

I don't remember if the door nobs are round or handled. If they are round maybe the kind we have gotten for our kids and grandkids, when they try to twist the nob it just goes around and around. You will find it in the childrens safety area at target or walmart. Also the door buzzer idea sounds good also.jo

[Janevo]

This door stop alarm might be possible - not sure how robust it is, if in an emergency someone needed to get in, and past the door stop.

http://www.traveloasis.com/dooralarm.html . See also http://www.dmail.eu/prodotto.php?cod=161639&PHPSESSID=03bc54417879e312caacb5ce07ba9e34

There are a lot of different products which might be worth a try as they aren't very expensive to begin with.

[fann1sh]

I cruise with my mother, who has dementia.

 

A lot will depend on how ingenious your mother is. The door handles (depending on which line you cruise) tend to be the lever type. The deadbolt is quite a bit like any standard one - flip it to slide the bolt.

 

The door alarm may work - as long as you don't arm it when the steward is liable to come in, and scare the dickens out of him!

 

Is your father physically able to construct an "obstacle course" to discourage Mom (and alert Dad something is going on)? Put the desk chair, in front of the door, for example. It would have to be a barricade he would be able to quickly take down to let the steward have access to the cabin!

 

The key to a successful cruise with family member with dementia is to keep them under observation all the time. Usually, that means having more than one person who can be "on duty". I'm single, and if my parents are cruising, go as the third in the cabin. We are lucky that my Mom won't wander if there's a familiar face in sight, even when she wakes in the middle of the night.

 

I posted this query on the Holland America board some time ago. Some of the tips in the thread were quite useful:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=583404

 

The cruise was a blissfully perfect one. It can be done, but requires tremendous planning, and some sacrifices by the fellow cruisers - usually more than made up for by the wonderful memories!

[LarAndShar]

:rolleyes: spring loaded shower curtain rod (have to twist it to tighten) put across the door way... not only will it take some work to get it down.. it will give pops enuf time to catch her.... it won't be up when you're out of cabin, so room stewart shouldn't have any problem accessing room.

 

Could even tie a bell or two on it for it to make noise loud enuf to hear if in bathroom

 

just an idea...

~S

[mortgage maven]

Thanks for all your suggestions. There will six of us going with my mom

and dad so all we're concerned about is when the two of them are in the

cabin alone. We may try them all!