My son is 14 years old and has the Dexcom. He does not want to take his phone out all the time in High School to check his BG. His Doctor suggested that he get the Apple Watch, that way he can check and feel the alerts if they are on vibrate. Does anyone have the apple watch for this and does your phone need to be in range if you do not get the data plan with the watch.
Any advise would be great.
Thanks.
I use the Apple Watch to monitor my son’s BG while I’m at work. I love it. A quick raise of the wrist and I can see his number and glucose curve. The phone does need to be in range, but if he is using a Dexcom G5 with his phone, he’s got his phone with him anyways (like most teenagers!). The watch needs to be in range of whatever phone it’s paired with (unless you get the newest Apple Watch that uses cellular network - I have no experience with that one - but I can see my son’s Dexcom info on my watch even when we are apart because he allows me to follow him via Dexcom Share app. So he’s at school and I can follow his numbers from work, etc. Hope this helps. Best of luck to you!
This does help. Thank you. I think I am going to get him the Apple Watch for hi to wear.
Thank you for the advice.
Just for the record, the cellular capability won’t help anything in this case – so you can save money on your son’s watch without it. The Dexcom sensor communicates with the phone which updates the watch (and the cloud if sharing is enabled).
Interestingly, though, having cellular would benefit someone who is shared with. You could still get BG updates if you were away from your phone.
That is good to know. Thank you for the information.
This helps alot
Sharon Baronian
Coldwell Banker Pascack Valley
Hillsdale, NJ 07642
Cell: 201-417-3480
http://www.sharonbaronian.com/ www.sharonbaronian.com
Hi Sharon, my son has his Dex on his apple watch. He wouldn’t be without it. Your phone does have to be in range of the watch to transmit the readings. He thinks the new “generation 3”? watch will not have that issue. I don’t really consider it a problem, he could just keep his phone in his pocket or backpack? Hope this helps
Cathy
My 8-year-old had issues with getting called out for being on his phone at school, since phones are not allowed in school. Thus, we got the watch, and it works well for him. We can also text him during the day and tell him to bolus or eat, since we have the Follow app, and he can see the text on the watch and react. It is expensive, however, and it’s already been dropped and broken once.
Your 8-year-old child should be able to look at his phone in school regardless of school policy. Your child is protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Having access to the phone is a reasonable accommodation for his disability and therefore a federal right.
Hi @jasontanner, as Anne @AnneTrei says your son should be allowed to look at his Medical Device that displays BGL in school as often as is necessary - just because that Medical Device looks like a phone and can make and receive phone calls does not define the thing as “phone”. Address the school authorities in that tone, and if they do not want to listed, refer then to Public Law 101-336; the ADA.
Thanks, Dennis. We are aware, and have already had to deal with an ignorant teacher. We opted for the watch just to make it easier on our young son, so that the attention isn’t always on him.
Having the watch also comes in handy on the weekends, because my phone requires a password, so I’ll wear the watch when we go out and it’s easier to monitor him.
They already get enough attention for their T1D. If we can give them one less thing to draw attention, we do it.