We would love to take our three-year-old tent camping before the summer is done. (We recently had an endo appointment and had several changes made to her pump basal rates...REALLY struggling to get BG under control since then.)
We tried camping in the back yard last night as a trial run and it was a nightmare. Of course she couldn't go to sleep until it was dark (11:00 pm here in MT) and it just got worse from there. We were up every two hours checking BG - chasing numbers with extra carbs and extra insulin. Couldn't get her BG back up after she started crashing, then she was up over 300. She screamed and kicked when we did checks because she was in an unfamiliar place.
How do we survive the night and make it a fun family experience? Any tips or hints?
Sounds like you need to completely wear her out so she falls asleep earlier! Also, obviously the basals need to get figured out before you hit the woods. Do you use the temp basal function on the pump at all? We have a 3 year-old, and I am constantly doing temp basals based on his activity level.
But, if it makes you feel any better, we didn't get our 3 year-old's basals worked out until we put him on a CGM. If it helps, he's 34 lbs, and his basal rates are as follows: 12a-1a: 0.05
1a-4a: 0.10
4a-6a: 0.15
6a-8p: 0.30
8p-9p: 0.20
9p-11p: 0.10
11p-12a: 0.05
We still make minor adjustments from time to time, but this set seems to be working best for him (for now!). Best of luck! Fellow hiker/backpacker, Jen
In my experience I think your question "how do we survive the night and make it a fun family experience" goes for any 3 year old camping!
I have always camped with our kids, and it is a little hit and miss in general. Add diabetes and the extra stress (keep fast sugars in the tent in bear country?) and there is a little more to deal with, right?
And even my non-type 1 kid started puking in the tent last time we camped! Oh boy! (stuck him on a cot we happened to have outside the tent- will always have a back up tent and bag from now on!)
I would give them a special flash light that is all their own to play with and stay up as a family reading favorite books. Your one night of ups and downs might have been a total fluke. All you can do is try it again, be near a car incase you have to dash, and make it as fun as possible. Pretty soon she will love it!
We had taken our 2 year old T1 ( and non D 6 yr old and 8 month old) on a trip to Europe 6 mos after diagnosis (she was MDI at the time) - it was crazy with the long flight, time change,a broken double stroller, giving shots on a tour bus and everything else but we were glad we did it - it really felt like after that trip that diabetes was not going to hold us back. SO I don't have any advice for the camping but take that trip - you will feel like you can do anything afterwards (even if you don't feel that way on the trip). You will probably have some great stories either way...
