My 5 year old son was just diagnosed 5 days ago with type 1 diabetes. It was such a shock!
3 weeks ago he fell and broke his arm and had to have surgery, pins, cast, etc. At this time he started to not sleep so well, and started peeing the bed on and off. Well it just so happened that he had a well visit this past monday and we mentioned the peeing of the bed. The dr took a urine test and his glucose was over 500 and he sent us right to the ER and sure enough he has diabetes. We caught it very early.
I understand all the math and equation part of this but the problem I am having is the snacks between meals. It is almost impossible to find snacks for a 5 year old that are under 5 carbs! If anyone has any snack suggestions that are under 5 carbs I would really appreciate it!!! thx
I'm so sorry your son was diagnosed. It was a real shock for us when our son was diagnosed, too. But it sounds like you've got a handle on it.
Our favorite low-carb snacks are cheese sticks and nuts. William doesn't eat vegetables, but you might want to check out the carb count on the raw veggies your son will eat. Celery is low and can be paired with peanut butter. Sweet bell peppers (I like the red, orange and yellow ones), snap peas, etc. You can also check on "diet" snacks if you don't mind the artificial sweeteners (we avoid them except for the flavored drink sticks that William uses).
Keeping a snack under 5 carbs is probably going to be a challenge, especially if he snacks frequently. Are you limited to 5 carbs for snacks because your son is on a fixed carb meal plan? William was originally placed on Humalin R/N and Lantus at the hospital, which required we stick to a meal plan. Once we were home our current endocrinologist put him on Humalog and Lantus, so he's free to eat whatever he wants, as much as he wants, as long as we cover it with Humalog.
Anyway, feel free to contact me if you'd like to chat. I know it's really overwhelming at first, but you've got the basics down and it does get easier to manage day-to-day. There are lots of folks here on Juvenation who've worked out all the tricks of the trade, so to speak, so please ask questions as they come up. Chances are someone else has already figured it out and is happy to share :)
My 5 year old daughter was just diagnosed in August. What kind of snacks are you looking for? She normally has sugar free jello, I cup of popcorn, peanuts, cheese stick and pepporoni, celery and peanut butter, or candy (Bartell's carries a whole line of candy that is sugar free by Russel Stovers). Let me know what kind of snack you are looking for and maybe I can come up with more suggestions.
You might only need to do the 'free food' snacks for a little while (a few more weeks?) longer. Your clinic is probably having you call in with the numbers and they are looking for how long the insulin is acting on his numbers, etc. When things get evened out, then you will probably be given more freedom to serve anything as a snack and just give a shot for it.
Most of my suggestions are covered so far, but popcorn is a great one because it feels more like a carb snack but 1 cup is only 5 g because it has so much fiber too. Cottage cheese, carrot sticks, grape tomatoes are the favorites at our house. Carrots and dip is the 'go to snack' when my son is at school and has a high BG at snack time. Sugar free Jello and occasionally Crystal Light are the only sugar free products I will buy. Most other things still have carbs anyway (Sugar free pudding for instance) and I just prefer to serve 'real' food.
Finally, I'm sorry about your son's diagnosis and his broken arm! This sounds like a very trying month for you, but it will get easier. You can also check out the Parents group - there is a lot of great information there (as everywhere on Juvenation.)
I find that the sugar free candy has just the same amount if not more carbs... I run into this problem all the time. Do all type 1 D count carbs, I know we do for our son but sometime it sounds like not everyone does?????