Sleepover Nights: Sizing Mom's Route for the Visitors You Will Really Have

A floor plan shows the bed, the hall and the bathroom door as empty spaces. A house with visitors does not stay empty. Before a grandchild, a cousin or a second adult sleeps over, walk the route with the arrangement you will actually have that night.

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.

Set up the night as it will be

Put the sleeping bag, the air mattress or the cot where it will go. Set the suitcase where it will sit, the shoes by the door and the backpack where someone drops it. Leave the bathroom light on or off the way it will be used. The point is to see the route with the clutter that visitors bring, because that clutter is what she will step around in the dark.

Measure the clear width

Stand at the bed edge and look at the path. Check how much space is left between the bed and the sleeping bag, and whether she can stand, turn and step without touching anything. Then check the hall. A bag set against the wall, or a bed against the door, can narrow the path to the point where a turn becomes a grab.

Check the bathroom door

Open the bathroom door fully with a bag or case in front of it. If the door cannot open all the way, or it hits a bag on the way in, she will have to step back or reach for the frame. Note whether children use the same bathroom at night, and whether the door is closed when they do.

Time the walk

Walk the route once on a quiet night and once with visitors in the house. Note the light she will see, the sounds, and whether anyone else is in the hall. Ask yourself whether the second walk looks like the first. If not, the sleepover night is the one to plan for.

What to write down

Write down what was on the floor, what she stepped around, where her hand went and whether she paused at the door. Write down which visitor slept where, and how the house was set up. Keep this list with the route notes, so the next visit starts from the same checked plan. For help with home arrangements in the area, see local help after a fall, St. Louis.