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10 Year Old Type1 Son Hates Having To Eat Breakfast. Any Advice Pls ?

Babydee00001

Well-Known Member
Messages
62
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Bless my newly diagnosed son is really struggling with eating his breakfast .
He loves to sleep and I wake him each day in order to get up and had his breakfast on time .
He’s usually not ready to eat but because of school and needing to get ready he has to have it upon waking .
I’ve said how about getting up earlier to wake up properly but he says he just hates eating breakfast .
He’s never complained before but the last few weeks I can see he literally struggling to get through it and is having to be nagged every two mins as obviously he’s injected for it love him .
Wondering about maybe trying smoothies or any other ideas anyone may have for ppl who are not big eaters in the morning with Type 1 .
Tia xx
 
I’m not sure that eating or not eating breakfast is a problem. Skipping breakfast has help me manage dawn phenomenon.

If I need something in my stomach, hot tea is filling. If my blood sugar is lo off my bike in the morning, I eat lightly. Dawn phenomenon raises my numbers every morning just getting out of bed. More breakfast means higher numbers and more insulin.
 
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Jollymon said:
I’m not sure that eating or not eating breakfast is a problem. Skipping breakfast has help me manage dawn phenomenon.
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I wondered also , he has a carb free snack at school at 11 then lunch at 12 it’s been working out well that way , I’ve found if I leave him to have breakfast too late he usually has a hypo . I wonder if he could have a homemade fruit smoothie without injecting to keep going until break .
The 6 weeks hols is coming up after next week , think maybe I’ll give it a bash then .
I don’t eat breakfast too so I know where he’s coming from .
Maybe his hormones kicking in bless him .
Thank u for reply
 
Chocolate milk? Cocoa? I know it's packed with sugar but I'm not sure it's any worse than a fruit smoothy... And (hopefully) he's a growing lad....

Edited to add. What did he have before the diagnosis? Can you just adjust the insulin so he continues with that.
 
EllieM said:
Chocolate milk? Cocoa? I know it's packed with sugar but I'm not sure it's any worse than a fruit smoothy... And (hopefully) he's a growing lad....
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Would that be ok then ? I just wondering now ... I just thought he had to have breakfast. Chocolate milk would suit him down to the ground !!
Thanks
 
Babydee00001 said:
Would that be ok then ? I just wondering now ... I just thought he had to have breakfast. Chocolate milk would suit him down to the ground !!
Thanks
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I think I edited my last post before you read it. What did he used to have for breakfast before diagnosis?
 
EllieM said:
I think I edited my last post before you read it. What did he used to have for breakfast before diagnosis?
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He pretty much ate the same , for all his life he’s loved his breakfasts . But the last few months or more he’s loved to sleep in .
And just recently saying he just hates eating eating wakes up .
I think it could be hormonal as I few of my nephews went the same but when hit seniors
 
Is he taking injections that are adjusted for his meals or are they fixed doses?

If they're being adjusted depending on what he eats a couple of thoughts:
  • If he's struggling to eat the breakfast could the portion be reduced?
  • If the portion size isn't too big but he's struggling to eat it could the injection be split (half up front, half after) so that he doesn't feel forced to eat the whole thing?
  • Could the injection be given after breakfast (I'm not going to pretend this way wouldn't be good for dealing with the spike in blood glucose but it wouldn't force him to eat it all)?
  • If he's not hungry does he have to have breakfast every morning?
Before doing anything with doses check with his nurse for their thoughts as the usual 'everyone is individual' applies.
 

Yes we inject with carb counting . And yeah I wondered about having half before half after but he doesn’t want to inject twice bless him .
I thinking maybe the chocolate milk idea would be a good one .
He may change his mind again in future .
Such a shame as he got sad this morn trying to eat it when wasn’t hungry .
If I don’t give him anything I worry he’ll have a hypo .
Could we skip breakfast and just check his levels before school perhaps ?
 
If skipping a meal causes a hypo it's likely caused by long acting (background/basal) insulin being wrong. It sounds like your son is on MDI which is designed to give you the flexibility to eat as and when you like. Aside from small movements within a few mmol/L long acting insulin should keep you steady (excluding other factors - exercise etc.). The fast acting (bolus) insulin he takes for breakfast and other meals should only deal with that food over the course of a few hours as it digests and that's it.

That said, you said your son is fairly newly diagnosed so there may be more at play such as the honeymoon period which can cause unexpected lows. It's also subject to the doses being given being right for your son and this can be like a moving target with honeymoon. Maybe try the breakfast skipping on a weekend at your own pace to see how it works with your son?
 

Thank you for all that info ! Yes recently we have reduced his Lantus so to be honest he hasn’t been having any hypos of late . He had a good few months of hypos so i think maybe his honeymoon is passing now . I will so as you say and try over this weekend and his school holidays
 
Probably not the best nutritionally but I have tea and plain-ish biscuits...dunk the biscuits in the tea and away... I'm not a morning person at all x
 
Grumpy ole thing said:
Probably not the best nutritionally but I have tea and plain-ish biscuits...dunk the biscuits in the tea and away... I'm not a morning person at all x
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Have to live at the end of the day don’t we . Thank u for reply
 
No advice as I'm a T2, but as a young, and non-diabetic, teenager I could never face breakfast - I used to feel sick at the thought of it, so your son has my every sympathy. But it never actually did me any harm, and as an OAP I'm still not a regular breakfast eater but now at least I can call it fasting!

Has anything changed to make your boy feel "off" in the mornings? (Part of my issue was that as an army child I often changed schools - army ones abroad were Ok as we were all in the same boat, but for me going to a new UK school where everyone else already knew each other was an ordeal...)

Robbity
 
Thank u for reply , no everything’s the same apart from the actual getting type1 itself .
I think your probably right in that it could be that that has just put him off of finding the joy in eating altogether .
I’m a real foodie and all my boys love to eat but since this he’s just fed up of it all . I think it’s the pressure of complete his meals and the regiment of it all .
He’s happier today as he had a milkshake for breakfast and has eaten a foot long bacon roll for lunch
Thank u for your in site
 
Hi I am Type 1 and very rarely eat until 4 hours after I waking only time I do is lsomething like a Banana if BG is low. as long as his BG isnt low or sky high missing Breakfast won't hurt.
You have menioned he has Hypos when at school if he hasnt eaten. What insulins is he using and how much Background is he using?
Also his bady is full of everchanging levels of hormones at the moment. I remember being a teenager and wouldnt eat anything on school days but when the weekend and holidays came along I was like a food hoover lol.
 
I have always loathed breakfast, and wasn’t diagnosed until 24. My parents insisted I eat it before school, even though I was actually retching trying to get the stuff down. And then I spent a few happy years at university not eating until lunchtime, which suited me just fine. Then along cake T1, and it was hammered into me that I had to eat soon after waking to soak up all the insulin. Forced myself to do it for years, and resented every bite. Can you tell I’m not a morning person? Anyway, two decades on, I’ve finally got my basal right, which means I don’t eat until late afternoon if I don’t want to.

Breakfast isn’t essential, but getting the basal right is.

I’ve got a 15 year old son myself, and know just how stroppy they can be in the mornings, although he’s not T1. You have my sympathy!
 

Hello thank u for reply ! He started his background insulin on 7 units but is now down to 2 each night and we have found he has far less hypos . Oddly with the weather he has managed to eat low carb snacks throughout the day and not having set meals other than his dinner without injecting at all and his BG has been totally level . We have put that down to the weather tho as of course he’s burning so much off just due to the weather being so so so hot and lovely at the moment .
He’s been enjoying a 200ml milkshake each morn instead of breakfast without injecting and he’s been fine until lunch . I’m wondering if it’s ok not to give insulin for it but his BG has been level after having the milkshakes so I guess ok? The milkshake is 24 carbs I think with the milk.
Like you say it’s all up down round and round lol just when we think we know what we’re doing it all changes lol .
I will keep monitoring him and see how he goes once he’s back to school and the weather cooler .
Thank u again for your reply
 

Hello thank u for reply !
As I mentioned in previous comment of late he’s been having a milkshake in morning with out insulin with BG staying level then having snacks all through the day and not injecting and his levels have stayed fine . It’s most likely the hot weather allowing him to burn it off rapidly rather than the insulin doing it . For dinner he has been having it still and if we obviously have a proper lunch .
His background insulin has gone from 7 when first diagnosed to 2 each night now which has had him waking in the 5s most mornings which is wonderful .
I wonder if it’s ok not to give insulin if his BG is tolerating the snacks he’s having ? They usually 20-30 carbs a snack .
I expect once he’s back to school and the weather cooler he will need to insulin again for everything.
Just hope we are doing it all right ya know !
The other day we was out all day in sun , he has a good few bits to eat , BG stayed level then once he had his insulin for carb counted dinner he had a hypo 20 mins after . I don’t know ... just gonna keep a eye on him see what happens .
Thank u again for reply
 
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