Some nights (like tonight), my son's BG is low in the middle of the night. It's 12:30 AM. I'm going to bed, and he's 78. He's a pumper - Animas Ping. He has no insulin on board. He just finished up his highest basal segment from 8 - 12, so the effect will persist for a couple of hours. He was low earlier in the night and my wife was able to get some juice in him. Probably a little too much insulin with dinner. Not exercise. So now, he won't wake up to take anything. I don't want to hover over him and repeatedly check him. I did the only thing I could. I decreased his basals (by 40%) for the next couple of hours to see if that would help raise his BG.
Would like to avoid this in the future, because it necessitates re-checking. Any tips for getting some carbs in a kid who's fast asleep?
Lows happen. It was probably just a little too much insulin at dinner, but if it happens any other nights this week then you may talk to your doctor about adjusting the basal rate a bit.
Also, exercise sometimes doesn't hit me until hours later. Your son may have run around like a crazy man during recess today and then it can make him more insulin sensitive up to 12 hours later.
I think you did right cutting the basal. That's what I would have done in the same circumstance.
Cake frosting might work to raise blood sugar without waking him because you can squeeze a little it in his cheek and the sugar will absorb. But I'd do that only for a more severe low or if he was having a hypoglycemia seizure.
Unfortunately part of diabetes is having to wake up in the middle of the night to treat lows. If I had a low earlier in the evening my mom would tell me that she may have to wake me up to give me juice in the middle of the night. It isn't easy to wake a sleeping child, but they only partially wake up and fall back to sleep quickly.
I'm middle aged now and if I have a low in the evening or if I've started a new workout I try to wake up around 2am to make sure I'm not low. It's a minor inconvenience and is worth it to prevent a middle of the night low.
We too deal with the occasional middle of the night low with our son. We opt for juice with a straw (which he drinks as he's 90% asleep) when the temporary basal doesn't do it. He doesn't even remember drinking when we ask him in the morning!