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We often have problems with The Superhero and his breakfast.
This is one meal we HAVE to pre-bolus for or he SPIKES.
And the amount of time I need to pre-bolus him depends on what he decides he wants to eat. Cereal takes a LONG pre-bolus, 20-30 minutes ahead for the whole thing. But something like toast or a bagel, might only need 10 minutes for a part of the food.
So, I always ask The Superhero what he wants to eat. We go through his choices and he picks, or is persuaded to just pick SOMETHING.
Then, if I am lucky, he will actually eat what he asked for 20-30 minutes prior. But, on days he changes his mind, it is a whole different story! I have begged, pleaded with, and bargained to get him to eat the breakfast HE chose so we don't have a DROP in BG, or a LOW.
Well, before The Superhero started preschool this was not a huge issue. He was home with me and I could make sure the lows were caught should he choose not to eat.
Now that he is in school, Ugh!
One day last week he did not eat more than a grape or two for breakfast, and I sent him to school.
He DROPPED at school (might have a basal issue, but eating breakfast would have prevented this low). He was 50 something. Awesome Nurse S. dealt with it just fine and moved on.
When I picked him up from school that day, his teacher, #1 told me I should NOT bring him to school if he has not eaten breakfast. They did not like him going that low. This was the same teacher that told me it might be a "problem" to take him to the nurse every day.
So I said I would do my best to make him eat his breakfast each day. I know where she was coming from, but seriously, she needs to think about her wording and her tone when saying things to this parent on the edge.
Anyway, I KNOW we would not have had a BG issue had he eaten his breakfast. I just have a HARD time holding him back from ANYTHING because of Diabetes. I mean, if it were The Princess that chose not to eat her breakfast, I would send her to school anyway.
But, I can't do that with him. If I could just not pre-bolus, I could deal with it. But since I do pre-bolus at least part of his breakfast, he HAS to eat. I end up forcing him to eat SOMETHING.
Rod and I have decided that he HAS to eat, or NO SCHOOL that day. I am not battling, begging, bartering, ANY MORE!
As much as I hate holding him back because of D, I am going to hold strong on this and make sure The Superhero understands I WILL make him STAY home if he does not eat.
(Update since I wrote this post Wednesday...Today, Thursday, I told The Superhero I was making french toast for breakfast and if he did not eat, he would not go to school. I did not give him ANY choices. I just told him what I was making. Period. And, it WORKED today! I hope it continues to improve, because this is just too stressful!)
Maybe when he is older we won't have these issues? I can hope, right?
For you D Moms and Dads out there, how do you handle meal issues?
With him only being 3 I have a hard time telling him "If you don't eat this, then you have to make up the carbs with milk, etc"
Any insight to what you all do, would be great!
11 comments:
Yay...for your victory the other day with no breakfast battle. Is there ANY? way you could bolus afte breakfast? Or is his blood sugar too far gone to kingdom come to catch it? It sounds like he spikes big time...so most likely bolusing after really isn't an issue. I have always (even when Joe was 3) made up the difference if I had to, milk would work. Sometimes juice. I hate battles over food...they make me feel bad. It is hard to "force feed" someone especially a 3 year old.
We don't tend to have any issues here with eating except the sometimes Lovebug will take too long and her insulin kicks in and she drops shortly after she is done eating.
Maybe you could try a combo bolus and bolus him just before he is done eating. You would have to try it a couple times to get the right combination but you could do something like 80/20 maybe? Just a thought!
I also tell Lovebug that I am going to feed her like a baby if she doesn't eat. She doesn't like it when I feed her, so that helps us.
I hope you find something that works for you!
Breakfast is our major issue here as well. Lily just wants to graze all morning! I usually limit her to two choices, one fruit and one oatmeal/bread/egg type of choice. She's only 3 as well and she may not always want the choices that I give her, but I tell her she has to have one or the other. Maybe you could limit the Superhero's choices to two items that are fairly similar in pre-bolus? If he enjoys school and you hold him back because he hasn't eaten, he should learn pretty quickly and the battles will stop!
As you know Joshua is only 18 months... our doctor has us doing the lantus as soon as he wakes up and then correction/coverage AFTER he eats. This seams to do better for him as he doesnt always eat what I need him to. If he is high I will sometimes correct as soon as I test let him eat then cover. YEs it gives him 2 shots but I feel like the insulin onboard earlier may be better... Sorry I dont have more
That sounds SO frustrating! From the very beginning I have never given Elise a choice. But then again, she was diagnosed so young she doesn't remember anything else than having to eat what is put in front of her. Some people tell me that I am way too rigid and that I'm setting myself up for issues with Elise later on, but so far it seems to be working. It also helps that she's a pretty compliant child.
This one, for some reason, brought this NaNa to tears!! I think it's the teacher!! Someday she might say something to me and she will be very sorry!!! I don't mean that in a mean way... just that she may be in tears in the end as well. This is so hard when you are trying to give your child the most "normal" life as possible with D.. but other people who just don't get understand get in the way of that. They just don't get the fact that we don't WANT to have to depend on them, or anyone else, to help keep our kids alive!! God, I would give my life to have a cure for all our babies!!
It worked again today! I TOLD The Superhero what we were having instead of giving him a choice, and he ate everything on his plate! I hope this continues!
@Shannon, When we were on shots, I never pre-bolused, but now that we are pumping I have found that I get much tighter control if I do. We also have the CGMS and I typically don't see the spikes like we did in the past. He used to go up around 400 after breakfast. Pre-bolusing has helped A LOT.
We will see how the next several days go, but this battle might be over, for now. :-)
Breakfast is the worst! Addison was predictable for a while and we would bolus before but not so much now so we do it after. It is the spikiest time of the day for sure. I try and keep his choices to things I know won't be too crazy on his BG. I find when I don't limit the amount and type of carbs he has it really makes his BG shoot up too much. As far as not eating goes..can you give him a smoothie maybe so he can get some carbs that will hold him a little steadier?
I have had many a conversation with my 3.5 yr old that start with "You need to have some carbs because your blood sugar is a little too low right now/you have to eat something in the morning to keep your blood sugar up/etc". Not a conversation I like to have with my toddler but most of the time he seems to get it (after a few "why's that is!)
Sounds like not giving him a choice was helpful and If it works..keep doing it! Good luck Tracy!
That seriously stinks that even with your FASTER acting insulin, we have to pre bolus. I remember the battles well. I'm glad you may have found your remedy. No choice...its this way or the highway. You go mom!
I don't have anything to offer....Sugar has just started to give me breakfast battles and SHE'S SEVEN!!!!!!!
GOD HELP US!!!!!!!
If we give Jack insulin to cover carbs that he ends up not eating, we have him drink milk or eat yogurt. That usually does the trick and prevents the low.
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