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Breastfeeding diabetic toddler

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Blissfool

Active Member
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Hi - I was wondering if anyone has any insight to give into the affect of breastfeeding a toddler with diabetes. I have maintained bf with my son, allowing him to lead the weaning process (within reason!) - this has given him a very healthy immunity (ha, except having diabetes type one) and nourishment and a lot of comfort, especially in the last few weeks. The doctors are at a loss to know how to carb count it on the pump, and it appears to only lead to gentle rise and fall, and offers the benefit of helping with nighttime lows. I was wondering then if anyone knew about the carb etc and their experience of it...
Thanks x
 
The sugar and fat content of breast milk changes throughout the day. One of the only ways to carb count might be to weigh yourself (digital scales) before you feed and then weigh yourself after and then keep track of bsl's at each time of day to see what feeds contain the most sugar. This is also going to depend on what you eat. I would be avoiding grapes and lots of sweets/chocolates.

As you have already found it hasn't been a big issue there would be no reason to stop. I tried Khaleb on formula and it is extremely high on carbs and had to put him on cow's milk earlier than I planned.
 
Thanks Jen for all your supportive replies to my posts. It is such a help. I had never thought ofnthe weighing in thing, but it could be interesting. My other concern is that if I do have a glass of wine (I never drink more) then will the alcohol go through in the milk in sufficient quantity to put django at risk of hypo at later point? It is such an undocumented area of diabetes control with an infant, and the dietician can offer no insight. The consultant suggested I stopped the day django was admitted to hospital - I said " ok, are you going to tell my very scared ill child that on top of all this, he can't breastfeed?"!!

I have noticed that night-time feeds tend to raise his levels more, which also corresponds to his lower levels too, if you see what I mean. Intuitive?

Onward hey ho. End of a tough day but one with successes too - django had his first full bath in months, having developed a real fear of them when ill. Yay!
 
Can't really answer the alcohol question. I'm lucky to have a glass of wine at Christmas and New Year. I wouldn't think alcohol would make it to breast milk even if you had more than 1 glass but as I didn't drink while pregnant or feeding I probably shouldn't comment.

Good news about having a bath. Do you know what triggered the fear? Khaleb is terrified of the doctor and screams the moment he goes into the room. I've taken to getting the Dr's to see him in the playroom as I don't really care if other people can hear the conversation. No one can hear anything if we go in the clinic room :lol: .

I think you would be right about the intuition and your body knowing what your baby needs. I find I wake up at funny times in the night and go check Khaleb when he's low/high even if I was planning to check him much later anyway.

You'd not get told to stop breastfeeding in this country under any circumstances even if it meant waiting for blood sugar to rise to a level that you'd then correct (like sick day management). Do you find that you are testing more often than what is normally recommended?

Hope you have a few days that aren't too tough and keep having more successes!
 
Hi Jen
Yes, I do find myself testing a lot more. The consultant said to test 4 -6 times a day, but Django eats very small amounts, at very erratic times, which is then added into the breastfeeding mix. So it is more like 15-20 times a day. The dispensary actually tried to say no when we called up for a repeat prescription! I have promised Django we will cut back as soon as we can. The other day an alarm sounded in his sleep and he outstretched a finger!

I didn't drink when pregnant at all, but have had a small glass of red wine each evening since, at a time when he has just fed, so hopefully wasn't in milk. I got very upset that maybe I had somehow caused the T1 diabetes through alcohol related pancreas damage, but they tell me that isn't possible. There are contradictory statements of alcohol and breast milk here. And yes, we are somewhat in the dark ages regards breastfeeding, especially long term into toddlerhood.

We had a good night though - and even managed a lie in until 7.30 and still reading ok. :D
 
I'm sure you'll manage to gain enough confidence to reduce your testing soon. Even 3 yrs on I still test an average of 7 times a day. While Khaleb's been quite sick over Winter it has been up to 10 times a day. There is only so much room on little fingers so at night I use a toe if he's sleepy enough for me not to tickle his feet. Other people using pumps have told me that testing increased compared to injections. I suppose this is one of the drawbacks of only using fast acting insulin.

Are you getting any sleep? Do you have help with it all? It is easy to run yourself ragged.

You definitely didn't cause diabetes.

Breastfeeding late in toddlerhood seems to becoming quite common. The kids seem to give it up on their own just fine. I suppose it is only a problem if you are having difficulty conceiving another pregnancy or the next baby needs to take over.

I only try and keep Khaleb's bsl between 4 and 10.5mmol. We still have the odd spike that is out of range but not many hypos. I'm usually pretty good at picking him going hypo and Khaleb is often asking (signing) for food when he's heading south.

Hope there are many more lie ins heading your way.
 
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