Hello. My son Gabriel was diagnosed on January 8th of this year and he was just shy of his 4th birthday. We read so much in books and on the net and have the best doctors in the world and their staff is always there for us via phone or email all the time. I am sure I am driving them crazy but I need to branch out and meet mommys with the same goal as myself - best A1c possible and a fun filled times being made… We have had A1c of 6.2( when first diagnosed). 7.2 and then just 8.3 - I knew he was starting to go up so we have gone up to 2 1/2 units of Lantus in the am and then 1/2 unit of Novolin before supper and his numbers have been good this week. Mostly between 90 - 150 but I have noticed since we took him up on Lantus and I am checking him in the middle of the night often that he seems higher in the night - like between midnight and 4am. Does this happen to your little ones. What is a good snack you all feed your kiddos and have not had any bad lows. We have been giving the 1/2 cup of ice cream but I am thinking that I need to alter that to something else. I have tried sugar free ice cream that has similar fat and protein and we get better middle of the night numbers but looking for other ideas. I also have a five year old Olivia and a almost two year old Isabella. I ask on their behalf too because we are all eating the same things… I just made sugar free brownies this week and also low carb biscuits and my kids thought I was Santa Clause, Thanks for any feedback Michelle
Hi. We had used Lantus and Novolog for about three months before going on the pump with very good results. She was dx’d at 8, though, so her blood sugar targets were tighter. She would drop, and still can, between the hours of 2am and 5am. What we would do would be to bring her blood sugar up to 130 before bed time. We knew how much one gram of carbohydrate raised her blood sugar. One gram raised her blood sugar 5 points. For a smaller child, one gram could raise them 8 points or more. So if her blood sugar was 100 at bed time, we would give her six grams of milk. With Lantus you should not need an uncovered bed time snack. I would give a snack only to get her up to her bedtime target range. If she was 130 or above, we may give her a cheese stick. P.S. With a little one, you may want bed time target to be 150. Ask your team what his best bedtime target number should be. The purpose of using Lantus is to find the right basal to keep the blood sugars steady. And Lantus should keep the blood sugar steady overnight. If BS too high in the morning, endo may increase Lantus. If he is dropping overnight, endo will decrease Lantus.
Hello Michelle
My daughter Olivia was dx on 6/12/07 and she is now three years old. She gets Levemir (long acting insulin) at breakfast (1 and 1/2 units) with a scale of Novolog <200=2 units and >200=2 and 1/2 units. At lunch she gets <150=1 unit Novolog, 150-250=1 and 1/2, and >250=2 units. At dinner she gets 1 and 1/2 units Levemir with a scale of Novolog - <150=2, 150-250=2 and 1/2, and >250=3 units. And finally, at Bedtime if her number is above 150 we will give her 1/2 unit Novolog. Before this she was also on Lantus, Novolin (NPH), and Humalog. We hated the NPH because it was never consistent and without it we get a little more flexability with the time that she gets. Also you can mix Levemir so now we don’t give her the extra shot(s) because you cannot mix the Lantus. This past month we are also experiencing the highs at night. This is called the dawn phenomenon. Here is an article…
http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/articles/Diabetes_Definitions/Dawn_Phenomenon
It explains it a little more.
Olivia’s eating plan is
7:30 am Breakfast - 38 carbs
9::30am Snack - 6-8 carbs
11:30am Lunch - 45 carbs
2:30pm Snack - 6-8 carbs
5:30pm Dinner - 53 carbs
9:00pm Bedtime Snack 21-22 carbs
For a bedtime Snack we usually give her 1/2 cup milk (fat-free or 1%) with one of the following…some crackers and cheese, peanut butter and crackers, if we give icecream I usually give her 1/4 cup with some crackers, popcorn without butter and salt, some form of chips, cereral, toast, pretzels. If I give her a snack that is worth 21-22 itself, then we eliminate the milk and give crystal light. We buy no sugar added peanut butter.
It takes me so much longer to shop because I have to look at all the labels. You have to remember that the amount of protein you give, four hours later 1/2 of it will turn into sugar. Also I believe 30% of fat turns into sugar too.
I’m surprised that you give Novolin N at dinner time. Do you find him going low in the middle of the night because of the peak of Novolin N. My husband and I was very happy when Olivia was switched off of Novolin N (NPH). Now it’s not so much a struggle to get her to eat. Our A1C went from over 11 at dx to 10.6 to 8.6 to 8.2 to 7.6 and now a 7.3!
We also have a daughter who is 7 years old and sometimes its frustrating for her, but we are all eating healthier. My 7 year old (Gwen) is pretty understanding. We try to spend sometime with only her a couple of times a month. Like my husband will take her for a ride to the playground and they will stop and let her pick out a angel creme doughnut. We dont deprive Olivia either. She still gets candy (mostly tootsie rolls/ m and ms/ or skittles - that are easy to count carbs), but we incorporate it with lunch or dinner. We go to parades, fairs, etc. and she picks out something, but she knows she had to wait to eat it. Also a great alternative to normal sno cones is “Nature’s Flavors” sryup. It is sweetened with Splenda and my kids love it on crushed ice. You can order it online and the price isn’t that bad for.
This is a great site. Feel free to ask me any questions.