My seven year old daughter has diabetes and we have just started with carb counting.I was just wondering about snacks and how they fit into it.For example if her sugar is ok and she wants something to eat,do I have to take note of the carb value and give insulin with it??Im finding it all very complicated and at the minute I am wondering if its worth it.Any advice appreciated.
carb counting
- Thread starter martina
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Hi, I also have a 7 year old daughter and she ususally needs an injection for any snack containing more than 5 grams of carb. Once you get your head round carb counting it actually makes giving snacks alot easier as you can work out exactly how much insulin to inject. You just need to be careful not to give too many snacks and injections as you may get a stacking affect of insulin.
Thanks for the advice.We have worked out that she needs 1 unit of insulin for every 15 grams of carbs.Would i be better to try and keep snacks under 15 grams?
Hi, it helps if you know roughly how long it takes for the novorapid to have worked. With my daughter that's around 2 - 3 hours. So if she wants a snack which requires insulin we makes sure it's at least 2 hours after her last injection. We then do a blood check and give the required dose which in her case is a ratio of 1 : 12. Its probably better to give one big snack with unsulin than lots of little snacks which don't require an injection as these little amounts will add up and possibly push her bg up. Hope that helps.
It does help thanks.Im finding it all very frustrating and to be honest I wish I never started with counting the carbs.
Yes, it can be hard at times but stick with it. Carb counting does make things much easier and allows you to be more flexible with food. Once you get to know the carb values of food you'll soon be pleased you used this method. I now have an in built carb counter in my head and most foods are labelled these days which makes it much easier.
I carb count also. Khaleb can have a morning tea of less than 20 gm carb without insulin, an afternoon tea of less than 10gm carb without insulin and a supper of around 15gm carb to get him through the night without insulin. Are you on a pump or injections? If Khaleb were particularly hungry I'd still just feed him even if it meant I added that insulin to next meal. If he was hungry late in the afternoon I might give him his meal early with insulin and another snack later. I, like Leggott, wouldn't want to give Novorapid injections too close together.
It does all seem confusing at times. Once you get used to the speed that insulin works it does become easier to judge whether your child is going up or down at whatever time of day. I truly believe my brain has a devoted little spot for diabetes now.
It is all trial and error but don't dwell on the error and keep a record of the trials that work.
All the best. Carb counting does make life easier and I have found this especially so when it comes to other people looking after your child.
It does all seem confusing at times. Once you get used to the speed that insulin works it does become easier to judge whether your child is going up or down at whatever time of day. I truly believe my brain has a devoted little spot for diabetes now.
It is all trial and error but don't dwell on the error and keep a record of the trials that work.
All the best. Carb counting does make life easier and I have found this especially so when it comes to other people looking after your child.
Thanks for your advice.My daughter is on five injections per day.How do I tell how long the insulin has lasted?I take it that it is best to wait until the insulin she has had with a meal has done its job before giving her more.If I dont will this cause her sugar to drop?Things are getting better as I get used to counting her carbs but as you can probably tell,I find the snacks and what to give when confusing.I have been finding that Her sugars are going quite low at about 2pm,however this seems to be only when she is had school which I find quite strange.Does anybody have any ideas as to why?
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martina said:
Martina,
It depends on the type of insulin your daughter is using, novorapid lasts for approx 4 hours and is all but finished. Try typing in the google search your daughters insulin and add the word 'profile', this should give you the manufacturer's website or related sites that will tell you how long the insulin is active in the body.
Nigel
Hi Martina
Try giving your daughter less insulin for her lunch time injection. I don't know what the ratio of carb to insulin is for you.
My son who is 2 gets less insulin at teatime than at his other 2 meals as we found that he was dropping too low 2 hours later consistently. Assuming his blood sugar is between 6 & 10 he gets 2.5 units of Novorapid for 30g of carb at breakfast and lunchtime but 2 units at teatime.
As to why it's happening? More exercise after lunch in the playground? More tired after lunch on a school day?
Erland gets roughly 30g carb at breakfast, lunch and tea. Snacks are 10-15g but supper can be 20g. I found snacks hard to begin with too especially as he seemed to be so desperately hungry but thankfully that's eased off now. He has a morning snack about midway between breakfast and lunch but his afternoon snack is closer to teatime than I would like because he's just not hungry when he wakes up after his nap. As long as I keep an eye on his blood sugar he's ok with that.
We were told not to overlap the novorapid injections.
Annette
Try giving your daughter less insulin for her lunch time injection. I don't know what the ratio of carb to insulin is for you.
My son who is 2 gets less insulin at teatime than at his other 2 meals as we found that he was dropping too low 2 hours later consistently. Assuming his blood sugar is between 6 & 10 he gets 2.5 units of Novorapid for 30g of carb at breakfast and lunchtime but 2 units at teatime.
As to why it's happening? More exercise after lunch in the playground? More tired after lunch on a school day?
Erland gets roughly 30g carb at breakfast, lunch and tea. Snacks are 10-15g but supper can be 20g. I found snacks hard to begin with too especially as he seemed to be so desperately hungry but thankfully that's eased off now. He has a morning snack about midway between breakfast and lunch but his afternoon snack is closer to teatime than I would like because he's just not hungry when he wakes up after his nap. As long as I keep an eye on his blood sugar he's ok with that.
We were told not to overlap the novorapid injections.
Annette
Hi
I recently started carb counting and found it abit dawnting at first but my DSN told me you can allow for 10g of carbs free without giving extra insulin so 2 x rich tea biscuit or a packet of quavers.
good luck
tracey167
I recently started carb counting and found it abit dawnting at first but my DSN told me you can allow for 10g of carbs free without giving extra insulin so 2 x rich tea biscuit or a packet of quavers.
good luck
tracey167
hi,
this is my 1st contribution, i can see some are struggling with the carb counting and we have started today but hit an obstacle. My son is 10 and had type one since 2Y old. we were told to carb count so we move to the pump and seems OK theoretically.
my question is: carb counting is to balance the nova rapid but we give him morning and evening insulin lava-mid and did not see any mention about that and the effect of the doses on the carb counting, so how can i cater for that?
thanks for the advise in advance
abid
this is my 1st contribution, i can see some are struggling with the carb counting and we have started today but hit an obstacle. My son is 10 and had type one since 2Y old. we were told to carb count so we move to the pump and seems OK theoretically.
my question is: carb counting is to balance the nova rapid but we give him morning and evening insulin lava-mid and did not see any mention about that and the effect of the doses on the carb counting, so how can i cater for that?
thanks for the advise in advance
abid
leggott said:
Most of what we eat is home made ie cakes, bread main meals, (and mostly home grown too). How do I work out the carbs in home made fruit cake?
Hi, when I make home made bread, I work out the carb value of the flour and sugar. I then weigh the loaf once it is cooked and cooled. Then you only need to work out the carb value per gram and then times this by the weight of each slice when you cut it. This method can be done for everything. If you tend to make the same foods you get to remember the carb values per 100g weight and then just work out the individual portion. Hope this helps.
