The box says motion-activated, and that phrase is what you need to test at 3am. Before you accept the kit, find the warranty sheet and the return terms. The warranty covers parts that fail in the box. It says little about whether the light reaches the stop where your mother actually loses her footing.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Read what the warranty covers

Look for three things: whether the sensor is covered or only the lamp housing, how long the coverage runs, and what is excluded. Warranty sheets often leave out batteries, mounting hardware, and damage from moving the unit. Ask the seller, in writing if you can, whether a sensor that stops detecting motion is a warranty repair or a placement problem. Write down the model number from the box and keep a copy of the warranty page with the receipt.

Walk the route before anything is mounted

Stand at the bed edge at night and walk the stops you already marked on your floor plan, in order, from the bed to the toilet. Check where the sensor looks. A sensor aimed at the doorway may catch her after she has already reached the hall, and a sensor mounted high may miss the low point near the bed edge. Mark the sensor's detection zone on the floor plan in pencil before anyone drills a hole.

Check the return route before you open the box

Read the return window and whether an opened kit can be sent back. Ask whether a unit that sees the bed edge but not the hall can be exchanged or returned for a different placement. If the seller will only swap a defective unit, the warranty will not solve a placement problem. Settle that question before you pay for anything else on the list.

Name who checks the lights and changes the batteries

Battery replacement and sensor resets are often outside the warranty and fall to the household. Put the answer on paper in your own words: who checks the lights on a set day, who replaces batteries, and who calls the seller if the light stops working at night. If a hired helper will do these checks, that is an errand and a check, not medicine, so write it down the same way.

What to write down

Write the model number, the warranty length, the return window, the sensor placement you tested, and which stops the light actually covers. Keep the sheet in the same folder as the other home papers so the next person can find it at night without searching. If the light does not reach a stop, call the seller or installer before anyone walks that route in the dark again. If your mother falls, the question of what caused it goes to her physician, not to the light seller.

For how this desk checks paperwork, see How we write this desk.