Bolusing before meals

[Mumlé]

Hi, lola has had diabetes for a year now, but I still bolus maximum 5 mins before she eats. If she is on the higher side of things eg 7 and up then I might do it 10 mins before, but if she was say 5, I'd only do it right before the meal. It's cos I'm worried about making her go low! But would it be better to do it before, like maybe 30 mins before? That makes me nervous but I read stuff on here like bm 9.2 an hour after eating so that food is out - if we got that we'd be amazed, it would more like 18 one hour after eating!

 

[Hanmillmum]

It is a fine line with our little ones and how soon before to bolus, I do err on the side of caution unless a higher reading pre-meal. It is about whether you can guarentee they are going to eat it all plus all the other varibles that challenge us on a daily basis 😱. With the breakfast I do try to hang on as long as we can, anything between 10-20mins as this is the meal we struggle with with spiking after, and it has helped enormously. I usually try 10 mins before lunch and tea if I can but not if in the 4's (just right before then). Are you pumping novorapid ?

 

[Hanmillmum]

Just another thought as I have done this before 🙄, if you are bolussing "x" amount of time beforehand make sure you are in the time frame for your carb ratio, Millie has ended up having her lunch ratio for her tea once or twice and ended up too low!

 

[AlisonF]

I think an adult getting a reading of 9.2 for a meal and doing the same for a child are completely different ball games! I was diagnosed aged 4 and how much of the meal I ate compared to what we'd bolused for was always an issue!

That said, as you have the pump, why not split the bolus? If I don't know how much I'm going to eat, I'll bolus for about half what I think I'll eat 20mins before the meal, then bolus the remainder once I'm sure. That way, there's at least some insulin in my system when the food hits, but I don't risk a hypo if I don't eat the whole meal.