Coping with christmas......

Hello, welcome!
Sending a hug to your daughter and you Have you considered making some Christmasy low carb snacks and nibbles for your guests, family and your daughter? That’s one way of offering it to everyone without feeling too guilty. I went through Christmas watching people eat, sugar free gifts was just as bad as normal chocolate and it wasn’t good for my stomach. However low carb snacks does give a bit of leeway.

Type1parent said:

New to this forum,
My daughter was diagnosed with type 1 6 months ago.
It has had its challenges and levels are still all over the place ups and downs like a yo yo,
The frustrations are immense and I think I become so obsessed with carbs and numbers and everything else with it that sleeping had become a thing of the past.
With christmas approaching and the fact that I have other children makes it really hard she will do all her daily injections but any extra ones like snacks she will refuse and add on to her next meal so if you offer chocolate or something like that to the other children she will ask to save hers for later.
My question is how do you as parents get around Christmas time when there is other children eating what they want when they want and potentially could end up with one child miserable watching everyone else being care free .

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Hi there, you don't say how old your daughter is but it sounds like she is very sensible to me. Many of us don't like having to take 'extra' insulin mid meals to cover a snack, it makes it all very complicated because you have to calculate how much insulin you already have on board from your last meal, etc (which you probably know because you do sound well informed) and then running the risk of going low. Don't rush to assume your daughter will feel 'miserable' or left out either, at the end of the day she has a condition that is very much managed by insulin and FOOD, you cannot blame her for being careful about the two. For the rest of her life (Christmas or not) she will always be having to think about her food choices, when to eat, what to eat and so on. That's the reality. I think you run the risk of making her feel different if you are the one obsessed with carbs and numbers and whether she is missing out. If she wants she could have a low carb snack (possibly without taking insulin dependent on her ratios) or as others have said maybe a low carb mince pie or whatever. Either way I would respect her wishes and if she is eating 'normally' and doesn't have any sort of eating disorder maybe you should let her get on with it. It's the same for us adults, to me there is nothing worse than someone trying to force a 'treat' on me that I don't want just because THEY think I am missing out or deprived in some way. Maybe you could tell us a bit more about how she actually feels about it all? x

Type1parent said:

Thank you for your replies
She is 9 and has 5 brothers and sisters including her step ones.
She is a very grown up 9 year old and has taken most of it on the chin and will make sensible choices on her own as you can tell already. But she struggles when her siblings are all together and can and do eat sweets in front of her even when shes decided that she doesnt want to inject.
She is very open and she very much wishes that someone else could have it instead of her or that someone makes a cure one day, we have our battles when she doesnt want to inject or tries to avoid correction doses because in her words I'll be ok without it, she had a libre sensor which has helped her fingers but I don't think it gives as much control but thats another story.

As for the low carb snacks shes still a child and thinks most things apart from cheese are horrible so struggle to find anything she can have without injecting, mainly her ratios are 1-15 .
Cheese and ham are about all she will have unless anyone knows of any sugar free low carb sweets that wouldnt need insulin most in the shops are not exactly low on the carb front.

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Just a childless T2 here, but can she cope with home made low carb/keto cookies?

https://forgetsugarfriday.com/keto-cookies-recipes/ for instance. There's keto brownies etc too if you google them. It's something to do with the kids, the house smells wonderful, and she can actually participate, within reason.

Type1parent said:

Thank you for your replies
She is 9 and has 5 brothers and sisters including her step ones.
She is a very grown up 9 year old and has taken most of it on the chin and will make sensible choices on her own as you can tell already. But she struggles when her siblings are all together and can and do eat sweets in front of her even when shes decided that she doesnt want to inject.
She is very open and she very much wishes that someone else could have it instead of her or that someone makes a cure one day, we have our battles when she doesnt want to inject or tries to avoid correction doses because in her words I'll be ok without it, she had a libre sensor which has helped her fingers but I don't think it gives as much control but thats another story.

As for the low carb snacks shes still a child and thinks most things apart from cheese are horrible so struggle to find anything she can have without injecting, mainly her ratios are 1-15 .
Cheese and ham are about all she will have unless anyone knows of any sugar free low carb sweets that wouldnt need insulin most in the shops are not exactly low on the carb front.

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I don’t think it’ll be too bad for just the christmas period or in general to have a small low carb treats. If she doesn’t want to inject for it and if her basal/ background insulin is correct, the low carb snack shouldn’t affect her levels too much. You can do keto cupcakes, small dark chocolate peanut/almond butter cups, sugar free jelly with cream and strawberries, chicken wings with homemade dip, crispy cheese sticks or bites with mayo, pigs in blankets, cucumber sticks, deli slices etc, homemade baked crisps with beetroot, etc.
What I’m saying is that she doesn’t have to miss out and she can still enjoy the little snacks. I wish I knew about low carb snacks as a kid. I would sit somewhere where I couldn’t see people eating.

Hi

Ill have had diabetes for 40 years this winter. Food and Insulin will always be the first thing on your daughters mind. In the past I would take extra insulin at meal times to cover a snack. It works as long as you make sure you eat and don't exercise more than you would normally to avoid going hypo. If you she is willing to avoid snacking between meals then that is good.

There is an app called MyLife that you can log insulin and carbs into. It will work out how much insulin you need (you will need to put the ratios in and how long the insulin works for) and tell you how much insulin is still active in your system,

What ever you do do not get diabetic treats. Too much and you have an undesired effect and a whole lot of other problems

Hi @Type1parent ,a good run round the park or ride on a bike will wear off a number of carbs.

My way around this when my 8 year old was diagnosed a couple of years ago was to not let ANY of my other kids eat what they want when they want...!! Sounds easier said than done but it's worked out fine...in fact I think they all get a little treat far more often now...Just add the treats for everyone to the end of meal...!!