What should my son’s glucose reading be about 1-2 hours after eating? He is two years old. Also, his dietitian wants me to shoot for about 35-40 carbs per meal. About how many carbs should he be getting at his snacks? What about his bedtime snack? If it helps any, he weighs 31 pounds. Thanks!
Hi - Generally 2 hours post prandial (post meal) his bg should be in the range that you and your endo decide is the target range. My DD’s day time target is 120 so post meals I like to see her anywhere from 90-150. Any lower and I know she is dropping and we gave too much insulin, any hugher and I know we did not give enough insulin. It is a hard balalcing act.
When was your son dx? In the beginning we were told to try to have 15 carbs at snacks and 35-40 carbs at meals. Now we have no limits. But we are 9 months since dx and DD is 8 yo.
I would ask your endo what he/she thinks about a target range and then give insulin based on an insulin:carb ratio. Ours is 1:50 and 1:60 at most meals.
What insulin regimen are you using . . . lantus, levimir, humalog, R, NPH???/Pump? Just wondering - there are different management styles based on the different types of insulin regimens.
HTH
Vicki
Hi! He was diagnosed just 2 months ago, and they never told me how many carbs to give him at snacks, or what his sugar should look like after meals. And I keep forgetting to ask, lol.
If your target is 90-150, then my son’s should most likely be 110-170. When we first came home from the hospital, he was on Novolin and Novolog. Then they switched him to just Lantus in the morning because he was honeymooning. We slowly added in Novolog at other meals.
Now we are on Levemir and Novolog. I certainly hope this works. My son, Kristian, has a problem with textures and we were seeing an occupational therapist long before he was diagnosed with diabetes. We had some problems with her, so we stopped seeing her. He won’t eat solid foods, he will only eat stage 2 baby foods and baby cereal.
Yeah, I know it’s crazy. A 2 year old still eating baby food, lol. You should see the look on people’s faces when we go grocery shopping. So he pretty much eats the same thing everyday, and that’s why I think that we don’t have to worry about the insulin carb ratio thing. 1/2 unit of Novolog always does the job at every meal. Thanks for your help!
My son is now 2 1/2 years old, he was 1 when he was diagnosed. He typically averages about 35-40 carbs per meal and we usually do snacks of about 15-16 carbs. Although his dietitian is always telling me to let his appetite be our guide, within reason. If he wants more, we give him some more. She said at his weight and age he should have about 160 grams of carbs a day, he very rarely gets that, but he is growing fine. He is on a pump now so that makes giving him another bolus much easier. We are still struggling to find the best basals and ratios for him.
His endo said he should ideally be less than 200 for 2 hours post meal. I’ll let you know, that very rarely happens. We have a lot of trouble with his post meal numbers. It is tricky because he may be high at 2 hours but than be in a normal range by next meal. We are trying to give him his bolus sooner before he eats so it gets into his system quicker to start working with the food, but you know how that can be with a 2 year old who may not eat everything you have figured. Thankfully he is usually a good eater for us. And he eats the same things most days. It is frustrating though, how one day he is better 2 hours post meal and at next meal than he is on other days, even though he has eaten the same exact thing. This disease has me just about pulling my hair out most days! And the poor little guy still has no clue what it is all about.
200 two hours post was our initial postprandial target. That is because her DIA (using Novolog) has been tested at 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Even today, if she is 200 two hours post, she will be in range at four or five hours after eating. However, we have given her more insulin so that she is 160 two hours post, but then have to “feed the insulin” at hours three to four. It’s tricky. You should test his DIA a few times, different hours of day. Then you will be able to adjust with confidence.
I recently poised this question to our endo team and here is their response.
“With his age and weight, we do not normally suggest post-prandial (after meal) checks. As long he is back in range before his next meal/snack you are doing well.”
I asked this, because my son (3 1/2) often goes from 125 before eating to 250 or 300 after eating. It stays in the 200 range for 2 -3 and sometimes 3 1/2 hours after bolusing for food. Even if I give bolus before eating or before he is done eating it still goes high and stays high for 2 to 3 hours.
If it helps, he is 3 1/2, diagnosed 9 months ago, 38 poinds or so, I/C 1:24 and all insulin is novolog through an OnmiPod.
Absolutely it makes sence that he can be 250 two hours post and in range four hours after eating. That was initially what happened with my niece. No one told me this was okay, though, and it drove us mad. Novolog lasts for four and a half, used to be five hours, after eating, so she would be 250 and in range at next meal. Now if she is 200 two hours after eating, she is in range next meal. Because we do not want her to be 200 two hours postprandial, but want her to be around 160 two hours after eating, we give her enough insulin to bring her to 160 two hours after eating and “feed the insulin” partially at hours 2-1/2 and 3-1/2, usually 10 grams at a time. If she is away from us or at school, this is not safe; therefore her two hour target at school is 200 and we adjust insulin accordingly. We just put in the Dexcom cgms and this should help immensely, though not at school, as she does not want to keep adjusting while away from us. We will micromanage with the Dex while at home and overnight.