My T1D daughter recently told me that she needed some new food choices, and snack time in the evening is one of the hardest. Our endo recommends no protein at any snacks. What do you feed your kids that avoid spikes in the middle of the night. Any suggestions.
Really, no protein? Why is that? At any rate we use the following for nighttime snacks…
Ice cream
Chocolate
Milk
Brownie bites
They all keep my son fairly even through the night.
I, too, find that odd about the no protein. Usually a snack with protein helps you prevent the spikes. In any case, my daughter does milk at night or milk with chocolate ovaltine. My friend feeds her son Nature Valley Oats & Honey granola bars at night. And another friend just told me a tbsp of peanut butter on something. A small slice of toast is about 13g.
I am surprised at the no protein. We always try do do a complex carb and then every night at bedtime my son has a spoonful of peanut butter or sun butter. I read one time from a girl that has been diabetic for 25 years that she does a spoonful of peanut butter before bed and has never had any lows during the night. So we started it and have just continued it. Peanut butter crackers are a good go to for my son at night. He will even have a bowl of cereal. Cereal doesnt effect him like it does a lot of people.
I'm on board with questioning the no protein at snack as our endo has always said to make sure my daughter does have protein in her snack especially the one before bed. Like the others have mentioned we also often have a spoonful of PB to go along with snack. My daughter also tends to go up a bit as we approach midnight but her basal rate (pumping) drops at 12am because she naturally drops quite a bit between 2-5am.
Here are the snacks my daughter enjoys:
carrots and a string cheese
apple slices w/ string cheese or some nuts (almonds or cashews)
trailmix (with M&M's of course)
Ritz crackers with cream cheese and a cucumber slice on them
Popcorn w/ butter
yogurt tube
ice cream
we also make sure we include some fat and protein at bedtime snack especially if he has been particularly active, our usual is lower fat nacho chips and a cheese stick, icecream ( moderate fat), or crakers and cheese my son is turning "healthy" on me, he says he would like to do a smaller bedtime snack , if we go under 15-10 carbs depending on his bs we will not bolus, i agree that this is a treaky snack and bolus if he is low sometimes I over feed him and underbolus and he wakes up high, if he is higher i have to be careful of late because he has been more active, to not over bolus it is a tricky balance hence why i do not like to go out at night and leave my husband and jacob to there own devices, if he is running lower i always retest right before bed esp if he has alot of insulin on board from dinner, i'm perplexed about the no protien at snack maybe he is trying to keep it simple and not have any delay from fat and protein but that is what you want for bedtime and also for general healthy eating, jacob just asked me the other day, am i getting enough lean protien in my snacks, what have i created! i'm glad he has an interest in nutrition and exercise though!! good luck, amy
I am also surprised your doctor said no protein. My whole family is Type 1 diabetic (myself, my 10 year old son for the last year, my older brother and dad) and I can tell you that protein snacks are encouraged by our doctors and dietician. We are told to have protein ALWAYS at bedtime snack with a carb to keep his sugar steady during the night. As well, you must eat a protein with every meal to keep blood sugars stable.
I am not sure if maybe you misunderstood, if not I would get a second opinion. Truly I have never heard of this in my life, nevermind that many non-carb snacks are protein such as turkey, ham, cheese, edemame hummus, etc...
As far as ideas for snack are concerned, I guess it depends on the age of your daughter but aside from what I just mentioned, you can add:
crackers/hummus or cheese
carrots and dip or hummus
Milk
Ice Cream
Fruit
Cheese/string
Vegetables
Popcorn
Toast
Pudding (can be sugar free if needed)
Cereal (dry or with milk....things like Honeycomb make a good dry snack)
I always test my son before bedtime and then I check him around midnight before I go to bed. He is not on the pump at this time although we are looking into it. He takes fast acting Humalog at meals, he takes Humulin N (slow acting) at breakfast witih the Humalog and at bedtime he takes Lantus.
I urge you to recheck about the protein as this DOES NOT sound correct.
Good luck
Jodi
No protein? That's... kinda weird, if the goal is to avoid spikes. Are you sure that's what he/she meant? Because my son's endo says exactly the opposite -- protein, plus a very small amount of carb. PB and celery, cheese & crackers (heavy on the cheese, light on the crackers), or a handful of trail mix are what my endo suggests. I find that a cup of milk works just fine too, or a small yogurt.
Have to agree...my daughter is 4, Dx since she was 2 and it's been recommended that she has protein at night to keep her from going low and I have heard it's supposed to help with the spikes. I would have recommend a few crackers with some cheese.
Just want to say thanks you to all who repied!
I really appreciate your input.