why get her upset?  just agree or redirect her attention.

if she gets upset about the child just tell her the baby's at
(some other relative's) house "for today" or "for tonight".  then
divert her attention to something else.

redirection and "loving deception" are the best ways to help keep
AD folks from being upset.  they might not remember what they
were upset about, but they will remember being upset.

My mother in law had a delusion similar to that.  She was told that she was
a great grandmother when her granddaughter had a baby.

She connected with the idea of a baby that was somehow connected to her, but
could not grasp how or whose baby it really was.... she kept asking us over
and over "where's the baby?"   She wouldn't go to sleep at night thinking
she had to nurse "the baby" etc.etc. ( you get the idea).

There were no magic solutions we discovered, other than telling her over and
over again that the baby was with its mother, the baby is fine, the baby has
been already fed, and anything else we could think of to put her off the
idea.

This occurred at a stage in her illness where this was not the only
delusion, there were others, but the baby delusion was especially compelling
for her, and very stressful.

Remember this;  To HER it is absolutely REAL.   Can you imagine how you
would feel if your child went missing?   So try not to lose patience with
her..... and muster up as calm and 'matter of fact' manner you can, and tell
her the baby is with a babysitter or something similar.

In the nursing home where my mother in law now lives, they have quite a few
baby dolls that look quite realistic.  I was not surprised to discover that
my mother in law had managed to find one and was keeping it in her room.

If the delusions become very stressful for her, you might want to mention it
to her doctor.  There are medications that can help.   In my mother in laws
case the doctor gave her Risperdol for the delusions, which was very
helpful, but it does have some side effects, so be sure to ask about what
they are.

Here is the deal. She has global brain damage that is getting worse
with time. She isn't doing any of this on purpose. Her ability to
remember things is damaged. Her ability to reason is damaged. Her
perceptions are damaged. Its no different than if she was in a terrible
car accident and had a major head injury. You just can't see what is
happening to her brain inside - there are no outward signs that this
person is so terribly injured and no longer mentally intact.

Its not like you just need to explain things to her more carefully. She
couldn't follow the argument if she wanted to, let alone be able to
think through what she was told and come to some sort of logical
conclusion. She wouldn't remember the thought even if she did figure
out the truth momentarily.

She is doing the best she can with what her damaged brain will allow.
Can you imagine what a complete jumble the world has become for her -
it must be terrifying and nothing makes sense. I think the closest you
or I could come to it would be being very drunk, and having people and
events swirl past us in an unfathomable mess.

My experience with people in mid AD is that the best plan is to
reassure and comfort and divert/distract them onto some new activity or
subject if that is possible. You get nowhere arguing and correcting -
all you do is get them upset. You don't win any points and all you have
accomplished is to make them feel threatened and angry and put down.
Its like arguing with a two year old. You aren't arguing with someone
who is your peer - it ends up feeling like bullying, no matter how you
package it.

Put your arm around her, tell her everything's okay. Make up some white
fibs if you have to (everyone is fine and safe, we'll sort it all out
in the morning, don't worry, we love  you, give me a hug, lets go back
to bed etc. )

Incidentally, my MIL used to introduce my husband (her only child) as
her husband, and I became her sister. Given that her brain had deleted
about 50 years of her history, I don't think she could believe she had
a middle aged son and a daughter in law, or that her husband was long
dead and her sister was very elderly, so she just guessed at what we
were most likely to be according to what she could remember. That was
okay with me, at least she still knew we were family and friendly!

Mary G.

Ronny:
The other night my Mom thought I was her Papa. And once the other day
she reminded me matter of factly that I was older than her. :-)
Sometimes I am one of her deceased brothers and then other times I do
believe she knows who I am. I don't try to correct her anymore because
if I do she is just more insistent that she is right about knowing who I
am.

My 85yo Mom also has her baby at times or sometimes it a young child. I
just tell her,her daughter,my oldest sister,is taking care of the baby
or child today or tonight so that Mom can get some rest and sleep. That
works for now. Might take one time telling her,sometimes a little
more;but it calms her to find out her daughter is taking care of the
baby or child and she usually goes off to sleep then.

When this particular confusion first started happening,I would usually
correct Mom and a good many times she would be or seem to be OK with
that;but then as delusions became more frequent I saw it was no use to
try and correct her. It just wasn't getting through and I was just
causing her more upset. That's when I changed to telling her the baby
was as Sis's house,etc. or not disagreeing with her when she thought I
was one of her brothers.