Newly diagnosed 2 year old

absnsi

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11
Type of diabetes
Parent
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Insulin
My Daughter has just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. They are still trying to get her insulin levels in place at the hospital. But have told us 40g of carbs for meals and 15g of carbs for snacks. Meals I can handle. But snacks?? I'm lost. She loves to snack and now she is being restricted she is so crabbit. What can I give her that will keep her satisfied yet within the 14g. She loves strawberries but won't that increase her blood sugar if she eats too many? So much to learn. It's only been two days and my head hurts thinking of it all. Any help would be appreciated.
 

Resurgam

Expert
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9,952
Type of diabetes
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I'm afraid that you'll need to weigh out fruit and other carb containing foods, maybe make a list of the weights of various foods equaling 15gm.
How about hard boiled eggs, or chicken thighs as snacks with whatever amount of carbs as well?
I am a type two, diet controlled, and sometimes 40gm of carb is what I have in a whole day - so I don't really understand why the regime she is on is restrictive - unless she is used to all snacks being some form of carb.
I was eating low carb when bringing up the children and the foods available as snacks were usually meat or eggs - which might explain why my children are so tall - my son is almost a foot taller than me.
One way to extend the couple of ounces of strawberries or other fruit might be using soft tofu and a blender, with a little vanilla extract and make a smoothie, or make small pots of sugar free jelly to go with the fruit.
Most of my recipes are for tiny amounts of carbs per serving, so not much use, but I am sure that there must be loads of possibilities.
 
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EllieM

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Firstly, may I say how sorry I am that you are having to deal with diabetes in such a young child. It would be so much easier if she were just a few years older. Having said that, you do have an opportunity to influence her diet choices so she never gets addicted to sugar.
100g strawberries has 8g of carb, so actually it isn't a bad choice....
15g is actually a reasonable amount of carb for a snack, as long as it isn't biscuits or sweets.
Can I ask, do you have other children? It's going to be a lot easier to make healthier choices for her if the whole family is doing it....
 
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absnsi

Member
Messages
11
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Insulin
Firstly, may I say how sorry I am that you are having to deal with diabetes in such a young child. It would be so much easier if she were just a few years older. Having said that, you do have an opportunity to influence her diet choices so she never gets addicted to sugar.
100g strawberries has 8g of carb, so actually it isn't a bad choice....
15g is actually a reasonable amount of carb for a snack, as long as it isn't biscuits or sweets.
Can I ask, do you have other children? It's going to be a lot easier to make healthier choices for her if the whole family is doing it....
Thanks. There is no diabetes in the immediate family so this is a big and new thing to us all. So much to take in. They said strawberries, meats and cheeses are things she can eat on top of carbs things for snacking but she's more of a toast kid for snack and when she snacks she used to to take big amounts. They said her need for snacking will calm down as this was one of the symptoms caused by the diabetes as the body wasn't getting the benefits from the food so she always felt starved. I'm hoping she will start accepting smaller snacks that are more healthy soon. She's not been big on other fruits or egg or cheese or even picking and bits of chicken or ham. I have a 7 year old who tbh doesn't have a great diet, she won't eat fruit or veg and likes chicken nuggets or fish fingers. She also like to sit and snack on dry cereal (had a fair amount of issues with her eating) her younger sister ATM likes to sit up next to her and copy her eating cereal which is probably going to have to change too. They said I'm basically going to have to carb count but yet some people are saying I shouldn't need to restrict much as she should burn alot of while running around. Sorry for the long reply. X