The only free foods my son will eat are breakfast sausage & cheese, so we use those 100 calorie packs. Then adjust his activities. The winter months are hardest.
An expensive solution to his wanting to eat ALL carbs has been the Wii. A couple rounds at boxing & he's fixed!
Good Luck!
My son Noah is 8 and has had diabetes since March of 2005. I saw that yours is hungry all the time. Noah went through that faze and it reimerges now and again. I was getting frusterated with it all and then I desided to let Noah have fruit when he would become hungry before meal or snack times. He tends to burn carbs from fruit and veggies fast. Most times I count the carbs and make a note of it but, rarely do I need to give him insulin for it. Carrots and apples are good choices for Noah.
Sounds like my daughter when she was diagnosed. If they lose weight before diagnosis their body wants to gain it back. The best solution we found was going on a pump, we regained flexibility in our schedule.
My daughter is the same way. She is 5 and I am not sure she is really hungry or just bored but either way I hate to tell her no. I fixed this by freezing the sugar free kool-aid and now she can have a popsicle whenever she likes. It is great to be able to give her something to eat and yet not raise her blood sugar!
mismidge,
my 5 yr old son was diagnosed last week and I am having a really hard time figuring out what to give him for his snacks. I don't like the "diet/sugar free" snacks out there because of all the junk in them. Do you have any suggestions for some "carb free" foods that he could be eating in between meals? I've been searching online and calling different health food stores, but no one seems to know anything. It's very frustrating because the hospital just told us to let him eat as much as he wants of whatever he wants and then just cover the carbs. Long story short, he's having a lot of lows and they have lowered his meal dosage to just 1/2 unit with a meal no matter how many carbs he eats. I'm also having a hard time trying to figure out what he's supposed to be eating. I felt like the hospital was giving him lots of carbs and that I needed to also when we got home, but now I'm re-thinking all that. We are a pretty healthy family who eats a lot of organic, whole grain foods. I've also noticed that his appetite has changed tremendously. He's not craving the same things anymore and isn't always liking the same foods that he normally ate. I'm so confused and frustrated!
Can anyone help me out?
My daughter is a big fan of beef jerky. It fills her up without all the carbs.
Looking through some of the posts about food frustrations, I have a couple of thoughts. First, though, our son (8) was diagnosed 5/13/09. We're not "experts" by any stretch of the imagination, but we've been pretty successful at managing his BS with the training and assistance from our ped endo. So, I'm just passing along what I've learned about T1 management.
There are a number of insulin programs out there. When our son was initially diagnosed, the hospital's endo put him on a R/N insulin program. He received a fixed dose of R/N insulin three times a day with a sliding scale correction, and a dose of Lantus in the evening. He was pretty much restricted in his meal plan, because he had to eat the number of carbs per meal/snack dictated by the insulin program he was on.
When we got back home (we live in Atlanta, GA, and his onset occurred while we were on vacation in Orlando, FL), we immediately got in to see a local pediatric endocrinologist. The first thing he did was change William's insulin program, so William could eat anything he wanted during meals and snacks. Now, William gets Humalog with each meal/snack, based on a carb/insulin ratio determined by the endo for each meal/snack, and a sliding scale correction. He also gets 10u of Lantus with supper. As challenging as BS management can be with kids, with all of the hormone fluctuations, changing activity levels, illnesses, etc., this has been a GREAT program for keeping good control of his BS. His first A1c, three months after diagnosis, was 6.5. It takes a little more work, testing 5-6 times per day, calculating doses, and injecting 4-5 times per day, but it's really working well for us.
So, if your insulin program is not working well for you, I would really encourage you to talk to your endo about changing it. If your endo is not open to doing that, start looking for another endo if you can. And, if possible, go to a pediatric endocrinologist. They will have a better idea of what parents are dealing with trying to manage their kids' BS than an endo who primarily treats adults. Ideally, your child should be able to eat anything they want during meals and snacks, and not be hungry between times. Kids need carbs! And, their carb requirements vary depending on a dozen different influences at any given time. It's just not reasonable to expect them to stick to a fixed meal plan, or a fixed insulin program.
If you're looking for specific suggestions for low-carb snacks, there has been an ongoing discussion in the main Juvenation community.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I'd be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.
Blessings,
Mo
BTW, I'm reading a fabulous book on diabetes management with insulin called "Think Like A Pancreas" by Gary Scheiner. I highly recommend it for anyone ready for further "info and training" in T1 management.
I don't like the diet/sugar free stuff either. I only have a little bit on hand for 'emergency' or special occasion - like having a diet root beer during a party, etc.
Carb free foods that my son likes for snacks: veggies (carrots, grape tomatoes, celery sticks), string cheese, sausage, cottage cheese and pickles. These are my 'go-to' free foods. I have a skinny kid so I (and my dietician) are not worried about the higher fat content of some of these.
I try to have him eat no less than 30 carbs at a meal. And of course am trying to have balanced meals with a good mix of veggies, protein, dairy, grains and fruit. He's four, so he doesn't always eat everything. There are some meals where he doesn't get any insulin because he just doesn't eat enough. We check 2 hours later then to make sure he hasn't gone too high. I do find though that is pretty easy to get him to at least drink 4 oz of juice and that is 15 g carb right there. We only drink 100% juice.
We also had to institute a mid-morning 15g carb snack because he kept going low before lunch - pretty much regardless of activity level. This has helped tremendously - so even if he is in his target range at 9 AM, he gets 15 carbs, and then is usually still in range at 11 AM. (This compared to before where we were getting 60s, 70s and even some 50s at 11 if he had no mid-morning snack.)
Go with what he is wanting to eat though - your body will 'crave' foods that it needs - so if he is craving meat, protein - give it too him, as much as he wants. His body needs it. If he is craving sweets - use fruit. Our clinic (and I agree) that you shouldn't be withholding sweets or treats, if your family is eating them in moderation.
Also, if you haven't met with a dietician at your ped endo office, ask to speak with one. Our clinics dieticians have been great what to look for in foods and how to get in carbs when needed.
I pretty much look at diabetes as not having changed how we or our son ate, all I have do do now is pay attention to what he is eating and figure out the carbs.
And if he is having a lot of lows - ask about lowering his long-acting insulin dose as well. We did that and it helped with some of the day time lows too.
Thanks everyone! This has been a huge help. We had my son's 1st checkup since his diagnosis and his A1c was 7.4. The Dr. was very pleased with that and said that we have really caught it all early. They did lower his lantus and it made a world of difference.
[quote user="jandjpeterson"]
Thanks everyone! This has been a huge help. We had my son's 1st checkup since his diagnosis and his A1c was 7.4. The Dr. was very pleased with that and said that we have really caught it all early. They did lower his lantus and it made a world of difference.
[/quote]Yay! Good news on the checkup. The A1c is great so close to dx. Congrats, and keep it up!
Mo