Daycare :/

[Moddey]

Eli and his sister are going into part-time care at the end of the month.

I am finding it extremely difficult to let go of the responsibility of his levels, injections, meals. Essentially, his life.

I'm worried no one really understands the severity of T1 and how it can be more than just a discomfort and a (literal) pain in the behind.

We're still in Finland so the system is different here (you only start school at 7) but I wonder if anyone can give me any advice how to go about planning his care.

Apparently it is all up to us. We, as parents, do a daily plan of injections, measurements and meals and they follow it. If anything goes wrong, they ring us. The responsibility is technically ours but we're not actually there.

What worries me about this is that, in the worst case scenario, none of the daycare staff has any experience or knowlegde concerning T1. (Municipal daycare places are hard to find and we had to take the first one, can't afford a private one)

So how do you go about telling a complete novice that they are now responsible for your child's life? How do you make them realise how important it is to measure if there is any chance Eli's levels could be crashing/rocketing?

Help...

 

[Moddey]

Oh, Eli is on MDI, Levemir for basal and NovoRapid with meals.

 

[Catwoman76]

Eli and his sister are going into part-time care at the end of the month.

I am finding it extremely difficult to let go of the responsibility of his levels, injections, meals. Essentially, his life.

I'm worried no one really understands the severity of T1 and how it can be more than just a discomfort and a (literal) pain in the behind.

We're still in Finland so the system is different here (you only start school at 7) but I wonder if anyone can give me any advice how to go about planning his care.

Apparently it is all up to us. We, as parents, do a daily plan of injections, measurements and meals and they follow it. If anything goes wrong, they ring us. The responsibility is technically ours but we're not actually there.

What worries me about this is that, in the worst case scenario, none of the daycare staff has any experience or knowlegde concerning T1. (Municipal daycare places are hard to find and we had to take the first one, can't afford a private one)

So how do you go about telling a complete novice that they are now responsible for your child's life? How do you make them realise how important it is to measure if there is any chance Eli's levels could be crashing/rocketing?

Help...

Hello Moddey, you are in a bit of a predicament aren't you? Well I suppose if it was my child, I would go and speak to the manager/supervisor of the daycare centre and ask them their knowledge of how to treat a child with a health condition. Be it diabetes, or a nut allergy or epilepsy for instance. They must have some experience of these as the daycare centre would have looked after hundred's of children in the past and obviously not all are fit and well, and need extra care. I don't know if this is any help to you. Is there another daycare centre that you could view. Hope you are having a good weekend. best wishes Sheena

 

[Copepod]

Sorry if this is stating the blooming obvious, but how about asking the Finnish Diabetes Association (or whatever it's called)? Finland has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world, and with school not starting until age 7 years, they must have some guidance for the many families affected. Agree with Sheena, they must have had children with allergies, epilepsy, asthma etc, but given the high rates, they have probably had (a) child(ren) with type 1 diabetes, too.

 

[Moddey]

🙂
Actually, it wasn't that obvious, so thanks Copepod. Yes, Finland has one of the highest rates so they must've had some experience and the Finnish Diabetes Association must be able to provide some support.
I just assumed it must be via the hospital and felt very alone in this when the nurse said we had to do it all by ourselves. But you're right, I should contact them and see what they can do for Eli.

I was trying to ask Eli how he feels about the whole thing, as he's only ever had me, his dad or the D nurse take his bg levels and do his insulin. Eli broke my heart when he said he doesn't mind strangers but he was VERY worried they wouldn't remember and he'd hypo all the time So I must've passed my worry to him without realising. Better shut up about it when he's around, the last thing I want is for him to think he has to take the responsibility.

Sheena, thank you for the support 🙂 Unfortunately we can't view any other daycares. As my new job came out of the blue and coincided witht the busiest time of the year at the daycares, we had to take the 1st one. But I will go and speak to the manager A.S.A.P. For all I know, she might be an expert on diabetes.

 

[Copepod]

Hi Moddey

I'm relieved that you didn't take the suggestion as sarcastic, because it was meant to be helpful - which it sounds like it was.

Hopefully, you will be able to reassure Eli that the daycare place has had child(ren) with diabetes before - or at least that they will remember and know how to look after him when he needs a hand.

 

[rspence]

chart to explain numbers and what to do

hi - someone on here told me how they'd done a chart for their childs school explaining what to do according to the BM level at any time.

I adapted it and printed out several for the nursery.

i think you have to be prepared to teach the staff and get them to phone you as much as they need to, thus confidence is built for you, them and the child (hope your job allows this to happen)

hope you find a way that works for you - the staff at my sons nursery had to write a poicy and be trained and it all took along time - maybe you could go into nursery everyday for a week before he starts, to help prepare them all,

what a stress for you,

good luck to you,
rach

 

[Moddey]

Poo

It's been about a week and a half now and it has been hell.
I found out the daycare staff had NO experience of diabetes. It was all new to them. The only one who said anything in the meeting, was the daycare cook, who kept telling everyone how you inject the insulin in the muscle or the vein 😱
The staff are more than willing to learn and god knows I've tried to teach them, but they are finding it difficult to grasp the severity of it.
Also, the child-adult ratio does not change, so now the already over-worked nurse has to keep a constant eye on Eli. Which she can't possibly do.

An example from last week: Eli's afternoon bg had been 4.5. I had made them a chart, explaining what to do in each situation (thanks Rach 🙂 ), so they followed that, giving him glucose tablets and measured again in 10 mins. It had dropped to 2.2... I walked in at this point and realised from Eli's face that he was super low. It seemed to take forever to drag him back up. I had to force him to sit down and rest for a bit, as he was insisting on running around with the other kids.
The next day, I told them to cut the NovoRapid by half a unit, to avoid the lows. When I got to the daycare, he was 15, half an hour later 20. He had the same carbs (type+amount) and (roughly) the same amount of exercise both days. Don't know what to do

I'm so scared of the full days. Now we've divided it so that P, my husband, takes them in at lunchtime and does the insulin + carb counting. Then they have to struggle through the day, countless bg measurements and one insulin injection at snack time, until I get there in the afternoon.
My phone is ringing of its imaginary hook and it seems I might as well as be there, at the daycare.

As far as I can tell my only options are either to grin and bear it or to quit my new job and look after the kids myself. The thing is, they absolutely love being around other kids, plus we desperately need my wage if we are going to survive and live in a flat bigger than a wardrobe.

Sorry for the moan, at my wits' end with the whole thing.

I've had one of those weeks when I can't stop thinking how much easier it'd be if it wasn't for the big D...

Thanks for listening 😉

 

[grahams mum]

hi do you know if there is any kind of childminding association i think the personal approach is better graham childminder was fantastic she even extra insured herself in case of accicdent (medical mistake with insuline)