Clara's going along with her 70 - 100 carbs a day, and that's all just fine. Thank goodness at Walk for the Cure the other day, where she saw other T1 kids eating 100s of carbs in one session, she had no inclination to join them.
However, one of my lower-carb parent friends said her daughter "wasn't growing" and "was just too tired" with low carbs and she upped her allowance. I've also read the literature by Dr. Morrison who said that her 17 year old son didn't have enough energy so he increased to 150 carbs/day.
Here's my question, and I hope I don't sound like a dumb bunny. Clara's my oldest child; I've never had another almost-11 year old before. She definitely having hormones, and some days she really drags. How should I think about this? Regular 10 year old girl tired or does she need more carbs? How in the dickens would I even figure something like that out?
She has grown taller this year but hasn't gained a pound. Her pedi says not to worry about it because T1 kids just don't put on a lot of weight. Her annual apt with her endo is Wed, but I'm sure she's not a low-carber, so I don't expect any useful advice from her in this area. (We haven't seen the endo since Clara's dx almost one year ago. I enjoy her CDEs. They're not low-carb, but I feel that they respect me, and they're impressed with Clara's numbers, so they don't give me any trouble.)
That's a tough one! A ten year old shouldn't be tired. If adding more protein doesn't help, which I'd try first, then up the carbs. Protein also helps with weight gain. How many more carbs is going to be one of those fun trial & error things. Start small, like 5-10 additional carbs per meal for a week & work up from there. Maybe Clara just needs more carbs in the afternoon &/or morning & dinner can stay the same.
I guess I am just a closet liberal. Clara is a teen. My 16 year old has shot up to 6'2" and barely gained any weight, and I feed him ginormous amounts. You can try to increase protein, do the whole protein shake thing, but you have to realize some teens can consumer 10,000 calories. If you can increase her carbs without a marked degradation in blood sugar control, and that enables her to gain weight and be healthier, then that is fine. Just try some things and see how they work. And being 11 years old maybe she can keep a journal of how she feels and start to have a role in making observations about her control and feelings and deciding her course.
I have raised four girls, and I wouldn't be too concerned at all about lack of energy. The hormones make them tired. School makes them tired. Growing makes them tired. All the after school activities make them tired. I have 16yo twins that sleep every spare minute, and they are not diabetic. I'd think hard about this one before I added carbs. That sounds like a lot to me. I'd feel awful if I ate 70-100 carbs a day. Is she a Type 1? I have no experience with Type 1 children, so do not know how it differs. I'm LADA (Type 1) and feel bad if I do not maintain my low carb status.
Went to the endo yesterday and met with a nutritionist for the first time. I have to say, I was mightly relieved that no one flinched when they saw Clara's carb logs. However, her growth has slowed down this year, and she's lost weight (not just not gained any), so I was told I really needed to increase her carbs. Her average is around 85 now, and I was asked to increase it to 120. So I guess there's my answer: when your child is becoming twig-like, it's time to increase.
I'm tremendously nervous, but so far (one dinner), so good.
