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When is your Type 1 child old enough to stay home alone???

J

Justyb

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Hi...my name is Justine and my daughter Meila has been diagnosed with type 1 since April 2009. I would say we are in a good place at the moment controlling blood sugar levels (after having recently gone through the CHOICE programme with our local health trust). Meila is a responsible kid and good at checking her blood sugars etc but i am interested in hearing others thoughts with children the same age when is an appropriate time to let your kid stay home alone (more than 30/45mins)??

Thanks
Justine:))
 
Re: When is your Type 1 child old enough to stay home alone?

I guess it depends on the child. I have left my daughter for about 10 mins when I drove down to my local shop - she is age 9 nearly 10. I tested her before I left to make sure her bg was in a good place. I also made sure I let my husband know I was popping out and called him again on my return. My daughter is very good at picking up when she is low and knows how to treat her hypo. She is also pumping which makes control easier and she also has the option of suspending insulin if she wanted to.

I try and treat her as if she did not have diabetes. I just make sure I take it into account rather than it stopping her from doing things a child of her age and maturity would be allowed to do.
 
Re: When is your Type 1 child old enough to stay home alone?

Thanks for your reply...I take a very simliar outlook on diabetes and try as much as possible not to let it define who and what Meila is/does:). Just helpful to have a forum like this to share thoughts with one another.
 
Re: When is your Type 1 child old enough to stay home alone?

Hello Justine
I find this quite difficult. My son was diagnosed aged 13 when he was just getting some independence, and it felt like we were really going backwards. I didn't want him to be on his own at all. 18 months down the line and it's much easier. He is now 15, and has his independence back but with some safeguards. Today, my daughter was away at a friend's, and my husband & I went to a wedding. My son stayed at home, in fact we left before he got up. We were in touch by text, then I put in a call to check he was fine, and he went round to his granny's for lunch. We got back mid afternoon. His levels are nice and predictable at the moment which makes a lot of difference to how I feel about leaving him. By the time he's 18, he'll need to be able to manage on his own so I guess it's good to start giving him some rope to prepare for that, as long as we're confident that he's well and likely to be safe (feels apron strings stretching :oops: ).
 
Re: When is your Type 1 child old enough to stay home alone?

My son has always been independent, he is now 12, diagnosed 2 years ago and has generally good glucose levels. We are quite a young family and I'm known at times to be over protective to my son. We always check his insulin before we head out and call to check if he is okay. I'm in the same mind set that I try not to let it control my child but let him control it instead and still do the things he loves, like sports whether skiing in the mountains or swimming in the ocean!
 
Re: When is your Type 1 child old enough to stay home alone?

Hi Justine, I'm 56 and I still shouldn't be home alone!!!!!!
 
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