Ok so little one is starting school. I was wondering what other parents of type one kids sent to school in their care bag. I know the glucose reader and all of it’s accessories. She isn’t on meal time insulin yet. Just basal. I was going to send like a “low kit” like we carry with us but I wasn’t sure. I felt like it would be a good thing. This is her first year of school so I’m trying cover my bases.
Juice boxes are aa great item to include.
Did you check with the school ? The schools in my area have some great team tactics for handling diabetic students and potential lows. I have even seen where all the class were advised to stay on the lookout for unusal behaviour of little “type 1”.
And I saw it work on a grade 3 field trip.
IT WORKED WELL !! And a severe low was averted within a few minutes.
I hope you can find similar support!
Hi! I am meeting with her school nurse on July 18th. And her teacher and the principal. All in same meeting nurse set it up she wants everyone on same page. She seemed very nice and helpful when she spoke to me about setting it up.
I think in her bag I will include a low kit for nurse. It makes me feel better. We normally carry juice and fast acting glucose tabs with us when we go somewhere anyway. So I feel like what I carry in our bag should be what she has on hand at school.
My daughter wasn’t so young so these may not apply. She carried a small bag with meter & low supplies & snacks. I provided a box for the school nurse with extra supplies: insulin, test strips, batteries & spare meter, juice boxes, glucose tabs, glucagon kit. Later on, it included spare pump supplies. We used a Caboodle makeup box (a hand me down from her older sisters) that had individual compartments. In middle school her school nurse decorated a small plastic fishing tackle box for her daughter’s supplies. I’m sure they’re probably easier to find than a Caboodle.
For special classes outside homeroom (phys ed, music, art etc) I made care kits using plastic pencil boxes & included juice & other low supplies along with small snacks (peanut butter crackers, protein bars etc).
That’s a great idea!!! I had not even thought about using a small tackle box. It will also be a lot cheaper than the diabetic supply bag I was looking at for kids it like $52! The one that had all compartments but the tackle box would work perfect! And I’m so glad you responded I had forgotten all about PE class. I will send a small kit for them to. So much to sending her to school. I just want make sure I get it right and she has everything she needs.
We don’t have meal time insulin as of yet. Same for pump. Although I am considering it even though she is only on basal I have read that you can get much better control with the pump. I’m still researching it though. So right now I don’t have to worry about that unless it changes before school. Which it very well could I’m very convinced diabetes does whatever it what’s when it wants. It plays by no ones timeline. Some days she will be great right in target range and other days I can’t get her out of 200’s so i dont know. We don’t tend to have a lot of lows but When we do they get low fast so I always like to be prepared. She will have a bag with her at all times. With meter, extra supplies for it, and glucose tabs, and juice box small pack crackers. She can’t check her self sh learning but still doesn’t like the pricking part. I’ll take your idea for nurse and make a supply box for her to keep in her office if needed. Fingers crossed it won’t be! Same with PE!
Hi there!
Can you describe a little more about your daughter? How long has she been living with diabetes and how old is she? Does she have snacks during the day and how long is she in school? The fact that she doesn’t require mealtime insulin seems to really streamline her care, and it’s something I find quite remarkable, incidentally.
My son is currently 15, and was diagnosed when he was three. He has always required mealtime insulin and his breakfast dose was always the most significant and the aftermath always plays out while at school so we’ve always had to be prepared for corrective action if needed - treat a low, correct a high. Without that, having back up supplies seem straightforward and you have a good plan in place.
Caleb’s school supplies when he was young included snacks and fast sugar for the classroom and nurse’s office, backup everything - meter, batteries, strips, etc. Glucagon for the nurse’s office. Clear and simple written instructions on what to do. My contact information. Gosh it all sounds so simple but didn’t seem so at the time!
Good luck!
Hi! Well Abigail was DX when she was 3 so about year ago. She never went into DKA. She got very sick tired all time drinking a lot peeing a lot this went on for a while. Her glucose labs would come back within normal ranges but her doctor had a feeling so we did sugar log on what she ate versus her numbers and her fasting. We would see numbers in the low to high 200’s sometimes around 170 and her fastings would be 96-120. Doctor said we caught it very very early. And we were very lucky. Starting insulin immediately afterwards and low carb. She started out on 2 units on insulin and is currently now on 5 units basal. It had kept her sugar levels steady for most part until recently I am seeing a rise in her fasting again and her after meal numbers are heading back in the 200’s. So I’m sure meal time isn’t far away. We have done very wel with basal insulin and low carb. I know it won’t cure her but I believe it has helped. We don’t experience a lot of lows at all more high spikes.
She does snack during the day. And she goes to school from 8-1
Thanks for the context. It reminds me a little of Caleb was he was first diagnosed. He was using Novolog and NPH and needed no insulin for dinner or pre-bed snack and was using less than 2 units in total each day. But he definitely needed insulin for breakfast and the NPH covered his lunch.
The fact that she does not need mealtime bolus insulin definitely makes things smoother and significantly reduces the risk of lows.
As you progress though the school process continue to ask questions. There are lots of different ways to handle diabetes at school so hearing the various approaches may help you decide what’s best for you. When Caleb started, he went to the nurse for everything. I had that changed pretty quickly to have help come to him so his instruction was not restricted and and by the time he was in third grade, he had a phone in his classroom he would use to call me rather than go to the nurse. In fourth grade he started texting me from class, and so on and so on. Now he goes to school and comes home and I’m not entirely sure what happens in between. 
Good luck! Sounds like you have a good team and solid plan in place.