i was so happy that my son was out of the hospital. my son was dx on 7/23/2010. my wife and i are having problems finding stuff to eat for our son. we are so worried if we give him the wrong food, his bg will go up in a crazy way. does anyone know a good eating plan for a two year old with DM?
Just let him eat normally and give him his insulin dosage for what he ate. Correct if he goes too high. You will discover, over time, which foods affect him as to lows and highs. It can be very different for each child. My daughter goes sky-high with pizza. A friend’s daughter tends to drop after eating pizza. Just eat healthy and log everything. You will learn. We are 4 1/2 years out of Dx and we are still learning. We can keep on top of it 90% of the time. The other 10% has a mind of it’s own.
oooo nooo… So sorry. Our daughter is now 3.5 years old and dx at 2. It is REALLY hard. Dose for what he eats and let him “graze” as a two year old should. That being said you can prob only dose at 0.5 unit levels which is too much for such a small body snacking in small increments. I would sometimes find myself letting her eat 10 carbs and then check her and hour later and “back dose”. Hard to do. For such small ones, please pressure your doctor into pump therapy. We are now on Medtronic and it has allowed sooooo much freedom from the ups and downs. Please let me know any questions you may have. It does get easier with time.
I agree mostly with everything said. I believe, as did our doctors, that the child should eat normally. We got a pump about 3 months after diagnosis and it has made everything a lot easier because of the smaller insulin increments. As for free food, there are some good choices, although quite a few have lots of fat (which isn’t necessarily the worst thing for a kiddo). Most nuts, cheeses, meats (if not breaded) and sugar free jello are all good items that can supplement meals. Don’t try to use only carb free items though, because we all need carbs for energy. With such a small one, I wouldn’t abide by the less than 10g per serving though. 9 grams of carbs with no insulin will make a blood sugar number JUMP!
I remember the first day out of the hospital. I had the same fears as you do. My daughter’s free foods at the time of diagnosis was 7 carbs. Now, 8 months post diagnosis, 1 carb is free. We got her on pump therapy in March and it has been wonderful. Here is a link for a facebook page “Find a Cure For Juvenile Diabetes”: http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=2204811909#!/topic.php?uid=2204811909&topic=13702 It has a whole list of great items. At your son’s age, the popcorn, hot dogs, and pickles are probably not a great idea, but there are others ideas that would be good. Some of them you may have to dose for, but they are all ideas with low carbs snacks (less than 15 for the most part).
I allow my daughter to eat like her non diabetic sister does (with some restrictions). She can’t have sugared sodas, regular jello,or a whole bag of candy.
It will get easier with time . . .There are a number of free foods like sugar free jello or pudding, celery (maybe cut up into smaller pieces) with cream cheese, ham or turkey with a little cream cheese - and then roll them up and cut them into smaller bite size pieces, eggs, string cheese, light and fit yogurt smoothie . . Also - I think graham crackers are like 12 carbs each too . I agree - right after dx most kids are starving trying to recoup and recover any weight they lost . . . Good luck !
So sorry your son has type 1. I remember when my daughter was diagnosed, almost 3 years ago now. She was also 2 years old. It’s a scary time, but remember that things will slowly get easier over time. And eventually the diabetes management will become just another part of your daily routine.
I have a lot of advice I can give you, but since I know you’re feeling overwhelmed I’ll just give you a couple for now. Give one carb serving of fresh fruit or vegetable at every meal, and for snacks. Don’t worry if you can’t measure it out exactly, for some reason fruits and veggies are much for forgiving and will not impact his blood sugar as much. I also give my daughter a glass of V8 every day because she won’t eat vegetables. If you need to do this too try to get the sodium free. I switched my daughter from the regular V8 to the sodium free one day without telling her and she didn’t seem to notice, so it might not be that hard for you either. If you want to give him a treat, like McDonalds, don’t get him the whole meal. Get him 6 nuggets and the toy, and substitute the fries with some fresh fruit.
Our daughter is 2 yrs old and eats a lot of the same things she did before she was dx’d. Certain snack foods or deserts of changed, but not by much. Granted we have discovered some foods will make her BG go crazy, but for the most part her portions are so small to begin with it isn’t a big deal. We are EXTREMELY lucky in that our girl loves her vegetables. She eats food I don’t and won’t put in my mouth. To give you a typical day she eats breakfast, lunch, dinner, and has a snack before naptime and a snack before bed. Her lunch time snack is around 6 carbs, but her nighttime snack is around 10 carbs plus 5 carbs of milk. The snacks are her “free” times. For some reason our daughter drops during naptime dramatically and at nighttime if we test she is high but drops about 6 am. If she didn’t get so many carbs before bed we are dealing with severe lows. It took us a bunch of time to figure this all out.
Some good snacks that we use: Crystal Light Popsicles, Freedom Lite or Blue Bunny Low Sugar Fudge bars (12c for when she is low or trending low at her nighttime snack), Carb Smart Ice Cream, or Slow Churn Low Sugar Vanilla 1/2 cup, Watermelon, Cherry Tomatoes, Grapes, Cheeses, sometimes a few small wheat crackers. There are more things, but I can’t remember them. We do have some “Food Rules” that are funny - She can eat a cinnamon toast Eggo Waffle for breakfast - but only 1 b/c 2 send her high no matter how you treat, whereas one has no ill affect. Fruit Cups with low or no sugar are a favorite of getting her to a benchmark when eating. Like her dinner time carb ratio is a 1/2 unit insulin per 20 carbs and she eats 29 carbs - give her a fruit cup to get up to 40. She CANNOT eat pop tarts ever! No matter how much insulin you give her it won’t be enough. 1/2 a banana is fine, but a whole one sends her high. Fried egg sandwiches stabilize her numbers the best. The low sugar Oatmeal is awesome and keeps with her. Pizza which affects others dramatically has shown no effect on her other than typical treat her for the carbs in it. Same thing with french fries or potatoes - they don’t send her high like I read about other people having a hard time with them. Eventually you will find what works for you and your family. Highs will happen. Lows will happen. Try hard not to think of these numbers as a judgment on yourself (I still struggle with that). Things will get easier. We have been at this a year this Friday. I am by no means an expert. But we are surviving and docs say we are doing great. If you need anything or have a question I would always be happy to listen. With both our babies being 2 we will probably have a lot in common.
Ellen
My daughter’s much older than 2, but I recommend plain food. Don’t combine foods, make snazzy casseroles, or use pre-pared stuff. Stick with food that’s just the one food: plain steamed broccoli, plain chicken breasts, plain porkchops, plain 1/4 or 1/8 C serving of brown rice, plain . . . I’m sure you get the picture. This will help you enormously while you get your D legs underneath you, which you will.
My little man turned 2 in Feb and was diagnosed in April. I have found that sticking to a meal plan has been absolutely great for us. Of course we have freebies here and there but the meal plan is key. we just had our first A1C and it was 7.5, and that included all of the highs from before and right when he was diagnosed. My husband has also been type 1 since he was 4 so we’ve been lucky that we have a little more confidence on how this all works so we have really played with foods for Jake and have even found some great treats for him to have that don’t spike him. If you would like to see our meal plan just send me a message. Good Luck!!!
We had to see a nutritionist who set up a meal plan before she left the hospital. Also after at her endo’s office. They told us the amounts to feed in the beginning (she was 8 years). I still remember… 180 grams of carbs per day; initially, they broke it down 50 or 60 grams per meail with a 15 gram snack. Then we were supposed to stay within the 180 gram guideline, but could modify the amount of carbs per meal to suit the way she ate. I’m guessing 150 to 180 grams a day? Basically, you know how much he ate before diagnosis; this should not change too much. You just need to cover the food with insulin. P.S. Our endo did stress no grazing (she is not a fan of grazing). She ended up eating the way she normally would prior to diagnosis, light breakfast, light lunch, large afternoon snack and large dinner.
My 6 yo son was diagnosed with Type 1 on July 1st of 2010, so I am not too far ahead of you. For your son’s normal meals, you can feed him whatever he would normally eat but then just make sure to give him enough insulin to cover the carbs for that meal. our main problem when we got home was in between meals. He didn’t want to get extra shots, so finding foods for him to eat for “free” and not have to get a shot was our main goal at first, and it was really hard because he is a very picky eater and was still always hungry. Plus, we are vegetarian. We relied on a few staples to get us through the first few weeks. He like hard boiled egg whites so I made a bunch up at a time so they were always ready. String cheese only worked at first and then he got sick of it. Sugar-free Jello only worked for the first couple of days and then he didn’t want it any more. Morningstar Farms meatless chicken strips are only 6 carbs for 12 strips, so I tried to have those cooked up and ready in the fridge all the time. Smart Dogs veggie hot dogs are only 2 carbs each. He could have a couple of raw carrot sticks. 5 saltine crackers are 11 carbs. Anyway, that first few weeks were hard, but it wasn’t long before he was used to getting the insulin shots and he began choosing to get shots in order to eat whatever he wanted to eat. It has only been 2 months now, and he almost always chooses an “insulin snack” now and east whatever he wants to. I would say as soon as you are able to, help your son to let it be his choice to have a free snack with no shot or to have a snack that requires insulin. They have lost so much control with this stupid disease, that giving them back a little bit of control where you can is a good thing. I know this has been an awful shock. It still is for me. Everyone tells you it will get easier. You don’t see how it ever possibly can or when it will, but I am starting to feel it already. It has only been a couple of months and he isn’t crying anymore, and it feels more like a normals routine for us now. I don’t like it for sure, but I’m not quite as shell-shocked anymore. Stay connected online, here, and on Fecebook, etc. keep asking questions. You’re not alone.