Hello everyone. I was just looking for some different snack/drink options for my 12 year old daughter when she gets low. Her normal go to are the glucose tablets/gels, juice and skittles. What else is good for raising her BG levels? She would like to try different things every once in a while but we are not sure what would be good. Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!
Hi! Fruit strips work great! We usually get the Archer Farms brand from Target. They are flat, light and very portable, so we have them everywhere - in every pocket, purse, backpack, glove box in the car, etc. They are 11g. carb, and we find that for our 6 yr old daughter, they quickly bring her back in range, without the dreaded bg spike that she used to experience with juice boxes. Hope this helps!
I use honey stingers. They are a chew designed for elite athletes to use when they get hypoglycemic during a race. There are 4 grams a chew and quite yummy. My diabetes educator taught me a formula to calculate how many grams my son needs to be normal. For him (he’s 3), its 120(his target BG)- actual BG/7(a factor that changes with age. I figured out that if his BG is less than 72, he needs 2. They work super fast.
http://www.honeystinger.com/
My daughter likes Jelly Belly jelly beans...They are easy to figure out the carbs because they are 1 carb each..
We use fruit - its healthy - we bought a scale that you punch in the code for the type of fruit you are going to eat then weight it and it tells you the carbs. Not fast and convenient as some quickies but if you are at home it's a good option.
Depends in how low. Under 80 juice and then a more sustaining option like part if a builder bar. Before bed to get to a good level for sleep, or for post or Pre work out activity we love yogurt tubes.
My 9 year old likes the nutella snack packs
Hi desi, my 14 yr old always carries jelly beans on him when he is not home as someone else suggested they are about 1 carb each, so pretty easy and easy to carry, tastier than glucose tabs! at home he typically has 1/2 a glass of apple juice if under 50 he may have some saltines also, if it is before bed like last night! he tends to have milk and some type of chocolate to follow last night 2/3 cup of milk and 4 hershey kisses brought him up to 98 from 68 and he woke up at 114. he was 68 before his bedtime snack so i usually make him retest ( about an hour after right before bed) he doesnt like this he's like mom i always come up well when he was 68 again ( i have a sixth sense about when he should retest!) he just grinned and said i guess i need some kisses!!! best of luck with your daughter. amy
This is a very good discussion. We have used just about everything suggested here and they work but my major concerns are her teeth. We try to have her brush her teeth more often, curious how others feel and what they do?
Love this suggestion!! Thank you!
I have never heard of these. But they sound awesome and Kiely is very involved in martial arts so I think this would work for her!! Thank you!
Kiely loved this suggestion and wants to go out to get some jelly beans now! lol Thank you!
Fruit is something we always have in our house so that is great idea! Thank you!
my sons lows tend to hit close to meal or snack times where he brushes after to i never thought to much about this, luckily he rarely has lows away from home so he isnt eating to many jelly beans :)
This may sound a little odd, but we use chocolate milk boxes for Eric except when he's significantly low (juice is then the favored treatment). The reason is, we've found that chocolate milk will get his BG up and keep it up for a sustained period of time, whereas juice tends to be short lived... and if Eric is trending low, or if he's very very active, the chocolate milk does a better job of keeping him in range, whereas juice/candy or glucose tabs tend to peter out quickly. We do not use chocolate milk when he's significantly low, because it takes longer to absorb... but, for instance, if he drops to 50 after hanging in the lower part of his range for most of the day, I'm likely to give him 10 g of juice carbs and then follow up with 22 g of chocolate milk 15-20 minutes after (with insulin given to cover the chocolate milk but not the juice). With that pairing, I can be generally certain that he will not go low again for at least 2-3 hours.
Horizon Organics is the chocolate milk box of choice. Nestle and Hershey's tend to make him shoot the moon, for some reason, but the HO version of the milk box just gets him up and keeps him there.
This may be a totally stupid question but we are still learning (she was diagnosed less than a year ago) but is it a good idea to have something like a builder bar after juice? And does yogurt keep the levels up (in the normal range)?
Great idea!!
Thank you so much Amy! Hershey kisses are a favorite of Kiely's but she doesn't eat them often. She is really liking the jelly bean idea. lol Tomorrow we are heading to to get some jelly beans. :) I asked this before but, from your experience, is it good for her to have something else besides just something to raise her BG? For example you said he drinks milk with the Hershey Kisses or crackers or whatever. I hope I am making sense. lol I have seen others say they do juice and a bananas or crackers. We are still fairly new to all this, her 1 year diagnosis is on Feb 15. Thanks for your help! Lauren
Great question!
Thank you! That is another thing we had problem with is her getting up but going up too high or not going up fast enough.
I am so thankful for everyone's help!!