[baard28]

I'm a parent of a nice little boy aged 3 diagnosed diabetes 1 sence August 2014. He's using Medtronic Diafragm w/CGM sence January this year.
Every day is ups and downs. Thus the very recent HbA1c was at 138.74 mg/dl or at 7.7 mmol/l as we refer it!!
He's at the kindergarden and has an assistent! We're currently not working full sence we have to observe him 24/7 and switch sleeping in his room.

We do have good experiences with the pump which actually stop giving insulin at a choosen value. But we do miss a device or app that can remotely show us his values from the pump without interrupting him.
We know that the Animas Vibe pump have such solutions.

 

[Janknitz]

On Facebook there's a group for Type Ones called "Typeonegrit". RD Dikeman started it. His son is also Type I and doing great on a low carb diet. It's a closed group, you have to ask to join, and I'm not a member because I'm not Type I, but I can see RD Dikeman's public posts.

I know they recently got a set up that allows them to monitor their son's BG remotely via a CGM. It looks like a cool set up. I think it will notify you via smartphone when the child's BG goes out of range and you can also check it remotely. Pretty impressive!

I'm sorry that your little one is Type I but we live in a day and age when Type I's have the best possible chance to live healthy, normal lives.

Look up "Diabetes University" on YouTube! These are videos of Dr Richard Bernstein explaining his method of controlling diabetes. Dr. B is a Type I who is still quite healthy in his 80's. He became a doctor so he could teach people what we suggest here--eating very low carb and eating to the meter.

 

[baard28]

Low carb diet?? Why? We have been told he can eat everything he like, we just have to give him right amount of insulin to what he has eaten.

 

[Roxanne0312]

Low carb diet?? Why? We have been told he can eat everything he like, we just have to give him right amount of insulin to what he has eaten.

I recommend reading Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein. He is type 1 diabetic doctor who is well into his 80's by stabilizing his blood sugar near normal as possible at all times. You don't have to go as strict as he does, but the book is a wealth of information for all diabetics. If I ate anything I wanted then my blood sugars will be up and down all the time and I do have some diabetic complications. So I suggest doing your own research and no take doctor's orders as gospel. I understand he is a child and that territory would be scary for me at least.

This is not medical advice as I am not a doctor.

 

[Shanny]

We have been told he can eat everything he like, we just have to give him right amount of insulin to what he has eaten.

That is a lie, and I'm sorry you were misled. Roxanne has given you an excellent resource to learn the truth about type 1 diabetes. I hope you'll read it and re-read it. Here is a link where much of it is available online. Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution

Regardless of type, carbs are the specific (and non-essential) nutrients that raise blood sugar. If you desire that your child live to be old and have a long healthy complication-free life, you need to remove the grains and other high-carb foods from his meals, and there will be a lot fewer 'ups and downs' if you do so.

Eating anything and everything and then trying to cover it with insulin is a recipe for complete disaster, and your child is the one who will suffer greatly.

I hope you will continue visiting here where other type 1 and insulin-dependent people can share their experiences. One of our most-loved members is from Norway, and she adheres to low-carb as much as possible.

 

[John.in.France]

This issue with "eat what you like and cover it with insulin" is fine in theory but in practice is impossible to apply accurately. Staying with the previous poster's recommendation (that I endorse wholeheartedly), this is an extract from the book that discusses what Bernstein calls his "law of small numbers".

Please consider it.

 

[RCG]

You have been mislead.

By whom were you told that he can eat whatever he wants, and "cover it" with insulin?

 

[Janknitz]

Low carb diet?? Why? We have been told he can eat everything he like, we just have to give him right amount of insulin to what he has eaten.

Yes, this is the standard advice, but it's DISASTEROUS. The claim is that will help your child lead a more "normal" life. But how normal is it for him to constantly ride the high and low blood sugar waves while you are afraid to sleep at night lest he slip into a diabetic coma?

The more carbs your child eats, the more insulin he needs. It's impossible to precisely predict how much insulin because many things can affect how his body responds to the carbs he eats (degree of activity, whether he is sleeping well, sick or tired, the glycemic load of the food eaten, etc. So each insulin dose is at best an educated guess. If it comes out to be too little, hyperglycemia means that glucose in the blood causes organ damage at the microscopic level (and eventually it adds up to diabetes complications--see Warning over young diabetics' health - BBC News). OR the dose will be too high and dangerous hypoglycemia is the result. Nor is insulin benign. It's absolutely necessary for a Type I, but the less you have to administer, the better for long term health.

Why not instead reduce the carbohydrates significantly in order to make it easier to predict the correct insulin dosage and keep the blood glucose in a normal range ALL the time instead of riding the high and low rollercoaster? This will GREATLY reduce diabetic complications. Imagine being able to go to sleep at night with near certainty that your child had the RIGHT dose of insulin instead of too much, so his chances of having a hypo during the night are minimized. On a low carb diet, that can be the norm, instead of the exception.

Your child will lead a much healthier and normal life if his blood sugar is under control than he will constantly experiencing highs and lows of standard "eat up and shoot up" regimens.

 

[Kristin251]

I am recently DX'd type 1. I started with ONLY 20c per meal and dosed insulin. I was ALL over the place, highs and low lows. It wasn't until I gave up the carbs in exchange for fats that I could regulate my BS. I eat 5c per meal, all leafy green veggies for carbs. That's it. Then of course my protein and fats. I understand he is a child but maybe he doesn't need to know what carbs taste like. It is near impossible to have injected insulin respond like a normal persons insulin. The trick (impossible) is trying to get your insulin there at the exact same time as your food. It just doesn't work, sorry. I was taking 8-12 units per meal and now just one. My 1st thought every morning when I woke up was 'Thank God I'm alive'. I don't fear the dangerous hypos now on such small doses. I don't mean to scare you but insulin is a scary med though much needed..

Wishing you the best

 

[Shanny]

I think Kristin makes a very strong point when she says a child this young doesn't need to develop a taste for carbs. Just as well he grows up thinking that low-carb is all there is, and that other stuff is all poison - because indeed it IS poison, to him!

I understand that if carbs are removed from his meals, then you parents will prob'ly have to keep yours out of sight or restrict them as well, but as I said before, the goal here is to have your child live to be old and have a long healthy complication-free life. Right?

 

[David Burke]

and if you're worried about raising a child on low carb, make sure to read the diet doctor site. He has a post on his page of his 8 mo old daughter who eats low carb.http://www.dietdoctor.com/paleo-baby

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Kristin251]

I've been thinking about you and cannot imagine the struggle you must be going through. My heart goes out to you.

I just have to wonder what my life would have been like if I never developed a sweet tooth or a grain tooth. If I grew up on protein and veggies instead of waffles, fruit and milk shakes. I probably wouldn't be in the position I am now. I am in no way blaming my parents because 50 years ago no body knew the damage sugars and grains did. There is no denying it now. The information is everywhere. I realize it would seem like a strange diet for a child but it's kind of like someone born blind. They don't truly know what they're missing because they never had it. Perhaps while your son is so young you can train his taste buds now so when you can't control what he eats he may choose the what he knows. His diet will set his health, just like the rest of us but it's sad he has to start so young. Maybe us elders (haha) wouldn't struggle as much if we never knew and didn't remember what we are missing..

Just a thought

 

[Patdart]

My mother never cooked desserts, so I only had them at other homes and consequently I never developed a taste for them. I was always hard pressed to come up with more than a baked custard for company or pot de creme. It was a blessing looking back at it.

However, I developed a hobby of baking bread in my dotage.

 

[RCG]

I feel bad for her child, if she persists in her present course.