Normal readings for 2 yr old(and holiday!)

[emmamadi]

Hi! My 2 yr old was diagnosed about 3-4 weeks ago and I had a question about 'normal' readings for him. His consultant has said that between 4 and 10 is ideal (sorry for my numbers, I am very new to this and still learning!) but what I have found with Jac is that if he is 4ish he gets shaky,pale grumpy and unwell as I would expect in a hypo. Is this normal for little ones? Do they need to be just a little higher to keep going? He can be 4.8 and still show signs of a hypo. I just wondered if little ones readings were a bit more sensitive to being lower because of being a bit smaller?
Also, we are going away in england on a trip to visit family that had been pre planned before he was admitted to hospital. I feel able to cope with this I think (dont want him to miss out on a fun few days away) but is there anything I should be aware of or any tips anyone can give us? We will be quite active while away so Im guessing I need to give him more snacks to keep him level.
Thank you for any advice!
Emma

 

[leggott]

between 4 - 10 are the recommended target ranges for children of that age. My children can often feel low when they are in the low 4's and other times feel ok even though their blood is much lower than 4. I think sometimes the way they feel can depend on whether their blood has fallen quickly.

If I test my kids and they were in the 4's and it had been some time say 3 hours after their last injection, I would normally give them a small biscuit just to take their blood to around 5 -6mmol. if they were in the 4's but had had an injection less than 3 hours before then I would probably give them some faster acting sugar like glucose tablets incase their blood was still falling.

It is good that he can detect he is on the low side at that age. Keeping the blood around the 5/6mmol would proabky be ideal but very hard in a child so small.

As for holidays just make sure you have lots of supplies. The frio bags are good for keeping insulin cool when out. Activity levels may change so you may also need to adjust insulin ratios. In hot weather you may well find that the insulin starts to work quicker and more efficiently so he needs less and given after or delayed at the end of the meal. Eating out might make carb counting harder as well, but a good book we use 'carbs and cals' is a godsend and is also available as an app.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jen&Khaleb]

Agree with Leggott on the holiday stuff.

When Khaleb was younger I was encouraged to keep him above 5mmol. It isn't easy as he did fall below at times or be running too high. We still go through patches of our range being off but that's just diabetes. When he was first diagnosed (8 months) I was told to keep him more in the 6mmol to 12mmol range. It is always easier said than done but we managed a good percentage of the time once we found our routine.

 

[CaitlinGibbons]

My 3 year old (diagnosed last Oct when 2 and a half) rarely shows any symptoms of a hypo and quite often can drop into the 2's and just complain of feeling a bit tired - although she sometimes says her tummy is hurting and this is a sure sign that she is low. We try and keep her around 5 - 7 but it is so hard when they are this small. I find our daily BG readings can fluctuate quite a lot but then her 3 month HBAc has still remained really good, around 6.5 - 7 so the hospital are really pleased. I agree with leggott that they seem to feel tired if their blood drops really quickly, for instance I've noticed that Sylvie's BG drops quite suddenly late morning and even if it only drops to 6 or 7 then she will feel the effect.

We recently went on holiday and found she had more hypos than usual, despite trying to keep to the usual routine as much as possible. I think it was due to more activity and excitement than usual...we also had quite a few highs which could be put down to the rebound after the hypos plus a few extra treats such as ice creams etc, very hard to avoid while on holiday and they must have some fun! We tried carb counting for the first time while on holiday but it was a disaster due to all of this so we are starting on that now and hoping that it will improve control.