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My 6 year old granddaughter

Kristen48

Kristen48

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi. I am the grandmother of a 6 year old precious little girl who is Type 1 Diabetic. I was just wondering, is there a certain amount of Carbs she should have within a day? My son thinks the less Carbs she has the better. He has been limiting her Carb intake a lot and she goes low. Does anyone have any suggestions or feedback regarding this? Thank You.
 
Your son is right. Low carbs are recommended but as I'm a Type 2, other T1s will be along to advise and ask any relevant questions.

Good luck and understand your concerns :) Mike
 
A friends daughter on a pump and diagnosed 4 years ago was questioned about carbs on her last visit to hospital. Daughter now 11.

My feiends daughter has 230g a day. This is what the hospitals her daughter has been under recommended to her.

She keeps each mainmeal balanced to 60 carbs.. And the rest are for snacks mid morning,afternoon and evening.

Her daughter is on a pump and this enables her to get levels pretty good. The routine of what they eat is good too.

However, whether 230g of carb hor a child is right or wrong, I don't know.
My personal thoughts are:

A) the more carbs as a child, the more you expect and crave when you're older.
B) nutrients should come from other products than carbs... Carbs have no use to our bodies.
C) the more calcium products, protein and fat products for a child the better to comcentrate on than the qty of carbs.

The more carbs, the greater the swings can be in insulin requirements and the greater the room for errors.

I'm not the parent of a child with diabetes but I would definitely minimise carbs if I was.

From my own experience I was brought up on minimal carbs. I still have no excess fat - I am still lean andmean (a female) at 50+. I unlike others (and my brothers too) do not have cravings for food. We do not feel hungry ever. We all eat because we have to, not because we want to.
My carb content for 95% of my life has been under 60g a day. I was brought up on meat and veg and gold top milk. My carbs mainly came from a steamed rice pudding with sultanas once a month that my nan made. We didn't have puddings other than my nan visiting. My dad did wonderful fish n chips very occasionally. Apart from that... It literally was meat and veg.

However, also I had a disorder from when born that basically I didn't like food. I didn't eat normally until 6 years..(might actually have been 8 yrs old-will have to check). The only food I would eat was complan in gold top milk and sausages. It was only whenmy brothers went on holiday with my parents and I waa left behind with my Nan that I started to eat food properly. I was told I was a pain in the bum!! And wouldn't go on any holiday until I started eating.. Think I must have been 8!!

So, limited info.. I child doing 230g and me myself very few carbs....

I do worry that 230g of carb is huge for a day though for a child.. I couldn't eat 60g of carb for breakfast each day...
 
Kristen48 said:
Hi. I am the grandmother of a 6 year old precious little girl who is Type 1 Diabetic. I was just wondering, is there a certain amount of Carbs she should have within a day? My son thinks the less Carbs she has the better. He has been limiting her Carb intake a lot and she goes low. Does anyone have any suggestions or feedback regarding this? Thank You.
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Welcome to the forum, I'm type II, so my opinions may not be the same as a type I diabetic. I know that my type I relatives always watched their carb intake because they obviously had to use insulin in amounts dependent on their carb intake. So they restricted their carb intake, by how much I wouldn't like to say. Personally, I'm down to about 80 gms carb a day, but then I'm a 62 year old man with type II so no real comparison. In answer to your question, IMHO your son is right to restrict carbs, by how much is the real question, especially if your granddaughter's BG is going low. By and large most carbs are just calories and there are plenty of other sources for all the essential vitamins etc.
 
Hi Kristen48, my daughter was 9 years old when diagnosed as type 1 in 2001 and we were given lots of incorrect info by her diabetes team. At that time she was on fixed quick acting insulins twice a day, as she didn't want to inject at school. Unless you keep a mealtime diary of what is eaten, the amount of carbs in the meal, reading before the meal and approx 4 hours after the meal you'll struggle to know what's really happening. We were ofter told that my daughter MUST BE HAVING SWEETS as her BSs were up and down. Now having done DAFNE , both my daughter and myself...we're both type 1s in 2013.we're found out that why carb counting and the amount of insulin taken per meal affects the BSs. Activities will play a huge part in her BSs. Some folk need to reduce the meal insulin if activities are to follow with in the next few hours and before the next meal. Anyway, I must going on, but just keep a note on how her meals/total carbs (including sugars) react with the insulin given. Always test before each meal and the 2 hour testing can give a false reading as it can take 2-4 hours for insulin to work. I only do 4 hour testing, unless I feel funny which usually I miscalculated my carbs or I've done some activities soon after the meal whiuch I hadn't planned for like a little DIY etc. GOOD LUCK to your granddaughter. Diabetes affects us all DIFFERENTLY.
 
Going low... Sorry I missed that point..

Going low doesn't necessarily indicate that your grandaughter isn't having enough carbs...

It could be that:
A) she's in the honeymoon period that she is still kicking out a little bit of insulin from her pancreas;
B) her basal or bolus rate and ratio's are needing a bit of fine tuning;
C) she has done some exercise and this has liwered her levels;
D) it maybe occuring at specific times ie at weekends or at school, many children need a different dosage ilof insulin for school holidays than in term time....

There are other smaller factors that may need considering but eating too few carbs isn't necessarily the cause of lows...
 
Kristen48 said:
Hi. I am the grandmother of a 6 year old precious little girl who is Type 1 Diabetic. I was just wondering, is there a certain amount of Carbs she should have within a day? My son thinks the less Carbs she has the better. He has been limiting her Carb intake a lot and she goes low. Does anyone have any suggestions or feedback regarding this? Thank You.
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Hi I am also a nana to a 6 year old type 1 granddaughter ( she was diagnosed at 2 1/2 yrs). She is doing well and is a happy child, but her blood sugars are constantley up and down, she is given a lot of carbs. I ask her what she had for breakfast and that time, it was biscuits :eek: I try not to say too much ( she lives with her dad) who seems to eat a lot of convenience food most of the time ( he works part-time), ( unless now, he has a new year resolution). My GD is on a fixed amount of Insulin with each meal, injections, not a pump.
I do worry about her yoyo blood sugars. It's a difficult one. But possibly being too restrictive could have the opposite affect as she grows up ? Trying to find a good balance can be tricky.

All the best RRB :)
 
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Growing children even diabetic ones have different dietery needs to adults so their diet should be devised for them not what a adult would have Most of us here do not have any experience with diabetic children so unfortunately we are not in a position to say what is right or wrong for her
 
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Hi. Generally the less carbs we have when on insulin the lower the dose needed and the smaller the blood sugar swings. Having too many carbs when on insulin can also cause unwanted weight gain. I note that you only list Lantus as the insulin your grandaughters uses? Is she also on a rapid insulin such as Novorapid for use at mealtimes? Many of us on the forum as adults have less than 200gm of carbs per day; some a lot less. I know nothing about children's diet needs but the NHS often advises a higher carb intake than we really need. A varied diet is obviously essential and proteins and fats as well as veg and fruit are important and carbs less so for diabetics.
 
donnellysdogs said:
Going low... Sorry I missed that point..

Going low doesn't necessarily indicate that your grandaughter isn't having enough carbs...

It could be that:
A) she's in the honeymoon period that she is still kicking out a little bit of insulin from her pancreas;
B) her basal or bolus rate and ratio's are needing a bit of fine tuning;
C) she has done some exercise and this has liwered her levels;
D) it maybe occuring at specific times ie at weekends or at school, many children need a different dosage ilof insulin for school holidays than in term time....

There are other smaller factors that may need considering but eating too few carbs isn't necessarily the cause of lows...
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Hi. Thank You for your reply. Yes I am concerned about my granddaughter because she has highs and lows too. She seems to run low when my son doesn't give her enough carbs. That's what concerns me. Also, her lab work just came back and she is positive for Celiac Disease, which is also an auto-immune disease. Poor thing can't catch a break!
 
Coeliac will alter the foods that she can tolerate and gluten isn't one.. Ie bread, pasta...unless its the gluten free products.

Best check whether an appointment with a dietitian has been organised...their used to be prescriptions for an allowance of gluten free bread and biscuits however this may well have changed in recent years.

@iHs can you give any advice?
 
Bless her - this cant be pleasant at all for her .
Coeliac ? this is an autoimmune condition and is known
to run along side Type1 children .
The NHS is seeing more of this developing nowadays .

I am coeliac too - so look at protein foods free from wheat/gluten to replace the excess carbs .
Are her parents being supported and guided through the coeliac issues now this has been diagnosed ?

Rule of thumb is it is the gluten in foods that will trigger the reactions off .
It can make her feel really washed out too .
Never mind just her diabetes poor lass .

Troughing and peaking BG levels is consistent with food intolerance reactions .
As this impacts badly too - I know this factor to be true myself .
One will bounce on the other kind of thing !

She is a lucky little girl having such a lovely grandmother like you looking out for her :)
Please do ask as many questions as you wish/feel here .
We will support you too best that we can do.
 
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donnellysdogs said:
Coeliac will alter the foods that she can tolerate and gluten isn't one.. Ie bread, pasta...unless its the gluten free products.

Best check whether an appointment with a dietitian has been organised...their used to be prescriptions for an allowance of gluten free bread and biscuits however this may well have changed in recent years.

@iHs can you give any advice?
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Her weight , BMI gets calculated to a unit measure of GP scripted food allowance .
Mine is 14 units for female .
Thing is - the list is heavy duty on the carbs quantity .
Breads,flour,rice,crackers,cereals,biscuits.
Part baked baps,loaves,pizza bases,etc .
So I only order in the waferthin crackers and puffed rice cereal .
Light stuff only ... !
Rest I use the proteins,salads,veggies. to make up my meal's with .
Do my own lettuce parcels and casseroles,soups to play safe with .

Worth a peek in our recipes forum for ideas to pitch forward to her parents with ?
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/food-nutrition-and-recipes.3/
 
Kristen48 said:
Hi. I am the grandmother of a 6 year old precious little girl who is Type 1 Diabetic. I was just wondering, is there a certain amount of Carbs she should have within a day? My son thinks the less Carbs she has the better. He has been limiting her Carb intake a lot and she goes low. Does anyone have any suggestions or feedback regarding this? Thank You.
Click to expand...


You should discuss your daughters dietary needs and low bg levels with her HCP's, they will give you the best advice.
 
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