How to keep child away from my sweets

I

Instajam

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I have type 1 diabetes. I also have a 7 year old daughter who has not got great teeth. I was tidying her room recently and found quite a stash of my sweets and empty sweet wrappers. She knows that I need my sweets and she hasn't taken enough to leave me short. But at the same time, she needs to have a tooth out because it's not a good tooth. The dentist said it was a genetic thing, which it may well be, but I'm fairly sure that sneaking my sweets is not going to help them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for boxes to stash my sweets in - or for any other way to stash my sweets so daughter can't get at them. Yes I could talk to her about it, but it seems a bit harsh that I have sweets but she can't. I want to remove the temptation basically. Ideal solution needs to be easy for me to get into if my blood sugar goes low, but off-putting enough for her not to go rifling through them.

I think I may have persuaded myself that just a box might work, but wondering if anyone else has come across this problem and how you solved it.

Thanks all
 
Use dextrotabs or glucotabs instead of sweets?
 
I would have thought she was old enough to understand that the 'sweets' you have are medicine and really sweets should not be something she should just be helping herself to but regarded as treats. She could have a special box for her treat sweets but as suggested you could use something else less tempting for her.
 
Instajam said:
I think I may have persuaded myself that just a box might work,
Click to expand...
I'm not sure a box is the right thing. Better (if you can) to come to an agreement, I think, but you know your child. If you want to try something lockable there are cash boxes, ~£10 or so. Or maybe use some bag with a little padlock (much as one might use when travelling, though my travel bags tend to be rather large just for storing sweets so maybe smaller bags aren't so easy to lock with a padlock).
 
I’d worry that anything that makes it hard for her to get them will also make it hard for you to get them.

What we do with my diabetic kid is to give him free access to sweets etc at meal times so they’re not a novelty. He then also obviously has them available for hypos but when he has access to them with meals he doesn’t feel the need to snack at other times. From what our dentist says it’s snacking that is more damaging to teeth than sweets per se.
 
One of my children used to steal my sweets too. She was a bit younger than your daughter though. At 7yrs old, your daughter should understand an explanation - both about your diabetes and about tooth decay. Having said that, I’d just use Dextro tablets for now.
 
You describe these are "my sweets". So, your daughter stole from you. Now, you are asking for ways to make it harder for her to steal which could make it harder for you to treat your medical condition.
If you generally allow your family to eat your sweets without asking, maybe that rule needs to change. Could you have a pack of "family sweets" which anyone can have (and when they are gone, they are gone) and a separate pack of "diabetes sweets"? Make it clear that no one (not even your partner) is allowed diabetes sweets apart from you.
The diabetes sweets do not need to be inaccessible. The family rule and consequences should stop your daughter from eating them.
 
We have “my sweets” and even “my biscuits” and then we have the family stuff, I don’t like sweets actually (or the ones I do like drumsticks or hard boiled wouldn’t be eaten quick enough for hypos) and they know not to touch these and I won’t even let them have any of them at all. Defined boundaries.

The sneaky eating of food is a whole different behavioural and possibly mental issue.

As others have said her own box of allowed stuff would be a good approach. The restriction on sweets I kind of understand, but it’s very rare for a Dentist to say that it is related to genetics so it is very likely it is related to genetics.
Part of it might be the fact it is restricted and not allowed what she wants, it helps to give them control back. Also are these her small teeth or adult teeth?
I would focus on other fun things to get her into better hygiene habits. My daughter has always loved mouthwash. We had a bad spell with her not brushih last year at 12 and now she’s needed a tooth out. I can’t force her into the right habits but losing one seems to been enough to change her habits. And she loves using mouthwash and gum / smints etc so they now replace sweets sometimes, and I pretend I hate gum (I do on my furnishings, so that’s easy) but they don’t harm her teeth so she can do as she likes.

Another solution is just not to buy the stuff, I don’t buy stuff that I know I struggle not to eat, for example I won’t have pastries in because I love them but they aren’t good for my cholesterol. If I haven’t got it I can’t eat it.
 
I found it hard whrn she was much smaller (age 2-4) she would know it was a nice thing I was eating but even then I wouldn’t share it. Once she understood the way I needed it, to keep me alive we never had any issues.
We even joke now about me not sharing.
 
@Instajam I used to make up jellies for the children, sugar free ones, and put them into disposable cups for lunches, making them about 2/3rds full, but they were available in the fridge if they ever wanted one.
I used to put some bits of fruit in the top of the lunchbox ones, and then a layer of cling film on the top. Maybe something like that would be suitable for your daughter if she likes them,
 
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