Looking For Advice

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hallies mum

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Hi My 5yr Old Girl Was Diagnosed In Dec 11 Her Bg Levels Are Still All Over The Place And Shes On 4 Injections A Day.
Since She Was Diagnosed I Stopped Her Eating Chocolate And Sweets And Gave Her The Odd Packet Of Crisps A Day Was At Hosp The Other Day And They Are Telling Me Shes Only To Get 1 Packet Of Crisps A Day.
Im Looking For Advice On What She Can Eat Between Meals That Isnt Counted With Carbs!!!!
 
Hi hallies mum, welcome to the forum. I cant advise as type 2, but some of our experienced guys will be along I,m sure, to offer advise and help🙂
 
Cheese, cold meat, nuts....[maybe not for a 4 year old].......................

It must seem overwhelming at this point, but the as time goes on, you will get to know her body and how it reacts to different foods, enabling you to fine tune her eating habits to a more enjoyable one for her and for you.........😉
 
Hi Hallies Mum. Welcome 🙂

If you can find something that's 'sugar free' it will often mean that there's zero carbs in it.

Anything that has below about 5g of carbs is generally considered ok as a snack but you have to be careful not to give too often.

Basically, any carbs will raise her blood glucose, which is only brought down with insulin. If you were to give her more than one pack of crisps, each could be about 15g of carbs and it could add up to the equivalent of a meal.

If you can find something very low carb, by checking nutritional details on packets, she can have it more often. 🙂

Rob
 
Also, many fruit and veg are relatively low carbohydrate, particularly in the portion size that a child would eat as a snack eg carrot sticks, pepper strips, celery etc, perhaps with houmous dip, sugar free jelly (either ready made pots or make your own from blocks) etc - assuming she likes that sort of thing?

As well as crisps, there are a wide range of crunchy snacks in crisp-like packets - portion size is the key to establish the total carbohydrate content of a snack (ie a whole packet), rather than carbohydrate in g per 100g product. Things like fat and salt content are also important in longer term heart & blood pressure health - it's a balance between having some treats as a child, with not developing a taste only for salty / fatty snacks. In case of snacks with more than 10g carbohydrate, it is possible to give insulin to cover, depending on time since / until next meal / short acting insulin injection.
 
Just on the crisp front, Wotsits and Skips are much lower in carbs than 'proper' crisps - 9g for each bag out of a multipack, whereas the McCoys we have are 17g.

I too would suggest carrot and pepper sticks, and cucumber too, most children eat those readily especially if mixed and colourful. Add a few cubes of cheese in and the variety can look quite appealing.
 
Hi

It's all very complicated at the beginning - never thought I'd get my head round it but nearly have now, I hope.

To add to comments others have made - in the early days my daughter ate cheese til it came out of her ears and if fancied something sweeter one of those pots of ready made sugar free jelly ( ready made because you can just have when you fancy it - no making ahead required!)

The tiny ready cooked cocktail sausages you can get are good to keep handy - they do have carbs but usually less than 1 carb per sausage so your little one could have a
handful as a snack if she fancied.

Bit naughty of clinic to tell you what couldn't have without telling you what to replace
it with:(

Oo just thought of Frubes if you daughter likes that sort of thing? I keep some in the
freezer - you can eat them from frozen 🙂 They have around 6 carbs each 'frube' so not 'free' but something to replace the crisps with?
 
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snacks

MeanMom said:
Hi

It's all very complicated at the beginning - never thought I'd get my head round it but nearly have now, I hope.

To add to comments others have made - in the early days my daughter ate cheese til it came out of her ears and if fancied something sweeter one of those pots of ready made sugar free jelly ( ready made because you can just have when you fancy it - no making ahead required!)

The tiny ready cooked cocktail sausages you can get are good to keep handy - they do have carbs but usually less than 1 carb per sausage so your little one could have a
handful as a snack if she fancied.

Bit naughty of clinic to tell you what couldn't have without telling you what to replace
it with:(

Oo just thought of Frubes if you daughter likes that sort of thing? I keep some in the
freezer - you can eat them from frozen 🙂 They have around 6 carbs each 'frube' so not 'free' but something to replace the crisps with?
Click to expand...

well we were told no snacks except carrots and cucumber -oh and 8-10 grapes but we have not bothered with those as advice given on here said they were loaded with secret sugar -have asked our nurses again and they still say the same-so now just feed a hungry teenager -a larger breakfast etc
 
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Good God delb - have they ever met a flaming teenager? - Silkworm caterpillars would lose the race every time in comparison to a human teen's capacity for grub!
 
trophywench said:
Good God delb - have they ever met a flaming teenager? - Silkworm caterpillars would lose the race every time in comparison to a human teen's capacity for grub!
Click to expand...

well hes goin with it at the moment-he does have 140g carbs for breakfast-what would you suggest for snacks?
 
thanks

thanks everybody for your advice she is a really fussy eater ive just started getting her to eat fruit she wont eat any vegetables :( im just getting used to counting the carbs in everything now ive to watch fat and calorie intake im sure ill get there x
 
Hi there

Just read your post and it took me back to a year ago when my then four year old was diagnosed. I saw all food as an enemy and was at my wits end when he came to me saying 'I'm hungry' and I didn't know what to give him. Everyone else has given great suggestions and we also ate a lot of mini sausages and sugar free jellies at the beginning. He quickly went off of these, though. We were told that he could have a snack of anything that had less than ten grams of carbs. He has quite a sweet tooth, so when he comes home from school, I generally give him a sweet treat. I have spent a lot of time studying biscuits in the supermarket and have found that 'Time Out' bars are just under 10 grams. Small Milky Bars are also good, as they are about 7 grams. Frubes are also a godsend. Tesco has value choc ices that are about 8 grams. Cheese biscuits are also good. Small plain Tuc biscuits are about 2 grams each, so he can have a small stack of these. I remember that at the beginning he was super-hungry, but this did calm down and his appetite went back to normal. Then snacks became less of an issue. I hope you are coping OK with the diagnosis. Things will become less painful in time and you will get into a new routine, where diabetes is part of your normality. Good luck.
 
What about adding treats to the end of a meal then you can cover the carbs with insulin. I cant go a day without some chocolate. Snacks can be a bit more healthy without your daughter feeling deprived or different.
 
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