My daughter was diagnosed almost a year ago. She is now 3 years old, wears a pump, and will be going to preschool for the first time this fall. It is a Lutheran preschool, and I was wondering if any of you had any advice for us.
Do you have any advice on how to have an initial discussion with the teacher (speaking points, ways to talk about my daughter's needs without scaring them, etc.)
How much responsibility should I ask them to take on....do you think I should ask if they would be willing to do blood sugar checks?
Do you have any advice on how to handle snack time? If at all possible, I don't want her to feel different from the rest of the class.
My daughter is just finishing preschool and she too has a pump. My first advice would be to call your pump company. My daughter has a Minimed and they sent a certified trainer to meet with the preschool staff and owners. The trainer is coming back in August to train the school staff and the kindergarten teacher. This takes some pressure off of you and doesn't give them any more than they need to know. I did not give my preschool a choice. I told them her blood has to be checked at certain times and there was no budging on it. As far as snacks i asked for a list ahead of time, and attempted to figure out the carbs for them. I also sent along a copy of the Calorie King book for them to keep. They found this helpful. I also made very simple cheat sheets for them like a list of Courtneys favorite foods and the carbs in it. This helped them not have to stop and look things up every time. I think meeting with them ahead of time and keeping it simple is the best. I also let them know that there was no 100% correct thing to do because every situation is different. We all, I am diabetic too, have days where we just run high for no reason or low and can't explain it. i made sure they knew I was only a phone call away incase there were questions. The owner of the daycare did tell me that she thought having the trainer come in was best for the whole staff. They felt better hearing a professional tell them that if they count carbs wrong its not the end of the world.
As far as checking blood, i told them to never hesitate even if Courtney says she feels fine. they are to do it at every and any snack, if they notice odd behavior or if she tells them she feels low. They always write it down for me too so i can see if she is having issues. Best advice though is to keep it simple. They don't need to know about filling the pump or programming it. i taught them the Bolus Wizard and that was it. Give them the basics, which is still alot of info, make cheat sheets and highlight most important spots, and try to relax. If they see you are relaxed about it I found it makes them more relaxed and comfortable doing things. Good Luck and please let me know how it goes.
I have a 4 yr old going to preschool in a lutheran school also. She went to 3K there last year, but she did not have her pump yet. She was able to have a 15g carb. snack without needing insulin. I met with the teacher, secratary and principal about a week before school started. I made lots of cheat sheets. I did make them check her blood sugar at snack time, just so they would know how to do it. I also went to school the first couple days in case the teacher had any questions while checking her blood sugar. We were able to see what snack was going to be when we dropped her off, and then we could tell the teacher how much to give her. We also had some 15g snacks that we left at school just in case snack was something really full of sugar and she wouldn't be able to have it. I stay at home with my kids so I was able to run up to school and give insulin if there was a birthday treat or something. This year she is going to have her pump (we start monday). So that will make things a little different. I will be going in again a week before school to show the staff how to work her pump. Just checking her blood, giving her a bolus for snack, and the signs of highs/lows.
I was really nervous the first couple days. After awhile I realized she was in good hands, and I could relax a little bit.