I have been trying to deal with Halloween for years, I'm just wondering how others do it?
What I used to do when I would go trick-or-treating and get pounds and pounds of candy :) would be that I would end up seperating it into sizes and selling it to my parents, or make care packages and send it to those fighting over seas, or my cousins up at college, that way there would be less candy there to temp me, and make my blood sugars go up. hope this helps
As parents of a child with diabetes, I can attest that this strategy works. We'd buy back candy with cold hard cash.
We also save up our kids' favorites, keep them in a bag in the pantry and have them handy for low blood sugar times.
As the adult w/ T1, I still crave the candy. Husband bought up bulk on the day after for himself so the temptation is all over the house. I grabbed up a bag of candy corn, counted out several "snack packs" of 15 carbs worth for occasional snacks and quick fix for my odd lows.
I'm still so new to this, figured that I needed to deal with it head on instead of pretending I wasn't interested. Since I'm giving myself permission to snack once in a while, I felt that would keep me from going overboard.
And yes, I am good at the one snack pack and walk away.
-C
At first, we bought the candy back and kept some for lows. As he got older, I PAID him to hand out candy at the door. He got to buy something with the money and never really missed the candy. I do buy a lower carb candy to hand out and then he can have some of whatever is left. He was much happier with the money (cheaper for me than the price of a costume) to buy a video game or songs for his Ipod.
Ironically – so far Halloween has not been an issue for my 6-year old daughter Kim. The first year she had D I was scared to death – I had all these plans of paying her for the candy or taking her to a toy store to trade the loot bag for a toy she wanted and we never really had to.
The first year I ran a temp basal (increase) on her because I thought she would be munching on candy all night. She never slowed down between houses to take any from the bag so she ended up going low. (Luckily we had lots of fast acting sugar with us!) So now I worry more about lows with all the excitement and extra activity and no time to slow down and eat.
And once the candy is IN the house she is pretty darned good about picking one or two pieces. I’m always armed with my 3 page list of carb counts for every kind and every size candy you could imagine and I’m ready to put the pump to the test – and just let her be a kid for the night. (Within reason of course) But that opportunity has never materialized.
I have more trouble getting her to finish the candy she starts. I’m not sure if it is because she really does not eat too much candy or if the dramatic swings really make her feel rotten or what but she frequently eats one bit or takes a lick or two – and she is done.
I have a whole bucket of Halloween candy sitting on my washing machine right now. After 2 days I moved the bucket out of sight and she has never asked for it. Halloween for us is more about the dressing up and running around. The candy is a really small part.
I ate what I want in moderation and take insulin for it.
When I was younger, my mom would give me a nickle for every candy I gave her and then I would get a few to eat that night. After that, i'd get one in my lunch at school or one after dinner if my BG was alright. Worked well for me (and my mom, who got the candy I didn't like haha My brother also got to eat some of that too)
I was always allowed to eat the candy. When I was on shots my parents would raise my insulin a bit. Once I was on the pump I just gave a bolus for it. When I was really little my parents would give me a piece or two after supper. For Easter they measured out "point" portions in the eggs (I think a point was 15 carbs) and then after supper me and my sisters were allowed to get an egg. This only lasted for a couple years until I knew what I wanted, and then they just raised the insulin. They wanted me to have the same childhood that my sisters had. They fought the doctors to let them give insulin based on food instead of the other way around. . . This was pre-insulin pump era. . . and now I feel old. Giving the insulin 10 minutes early for sugars helps keep the high blood sugar away too since the insulin has a head start.
My daughter, who was diagnosed T1 this past June, is allergic to corn & soy too so most candies have been a "no go" for us for a few years now. How we have been dealing with it is fairly easy. The first year she trick or treated our dentist was actually sending Halloween candies to the US troops in Iraq. Moo loved that idea! Last year, we opted for something a bit different, we donated her candy to the Rainbow House ( a guest house for juvenile cancer patients and their families) - the residents appreciated it and my daughter still gets the thrill of trick or treating.
We also have collected donations for Unicef since she was old enough to speak. This year, however, we will be collecting for JDRF! We decorated some collection buckets and will be asking for donations as well... last year she collected $16.00 just on our block... and this year we are expanding!
Last Halloween was our first with type 1. It went just fine. We made candy part of her meals and added extra insulin for it. It is easy to deal with because it is fast acting and the carb counts are easy and accurate.