Newly diagnosed four year old

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Katharine Smith

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Hi all, my little boy was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Monday and we are now back home after a few days in hospital. Luckily we seem to have got there fairly early on, before he got poorly, and we are now faced with a future of blood testing and insulin injections. He is being a bit of a hero about this now, and my most pressing concern is what do I give him for low-carb, free snacks? We are vegetarian and he is quite fussy, not contemplating anything which is obviously a vegetable.
Any advice would be very gratefully received!
 
Hi Katherarine, Just a welcome from me I'm afraid.
People with far more experience than me will be along shortly.
 
Welcome to the forum. I was diagnosed when I was two and have had a great life so your son should be able to do almost do anything that he wants as he grows up. I'm not sure about low carb free snacks because if I have a snack I tend to inject for it but understand that may not be the advice that you've been given. As you're vegetarian I'm not sure if any of the following suggestions will help - sugar free jelly, chunks of cheese, boiled eggs. How low were you advised as low carb? If it's 10g carb then most small packets of crisps/savoury snacks are around 10g eg Wotsits, crispy onion rings, Walkers crisps etc.
 
Katharine Smith said:
Hi all, my little boy was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Monday and we are now back home after a few days in hospital. Luckily we seem to have got there fairly early on, before he got poorly, and we are now faced with a future of blood testing and insulin injections. He is being a bit of a hero about this now, and my most pressing concern is what do I give him for low-carb, free snacks? We are vegetarian and he is quite fussy, not contemplating anything which is obviously a vegetable.
Any advice would be very gratefully received!
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Hi Katherine, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis :( How old is he, and what insulin is he on? Howdid his diagnosis come about?

I would highly recommend getting a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - considered to be the 'bible' for children and young people on insulin regimes, and covering all aspects of living with Type 1 🙂 Depending on his age, her might also like to get a JDRF KIDSAC which contains lots of useful information and a free Rufus Bear 🙂

You might also like to look at the Children with Diabetes website, which has lot of useful information provided by UK parents 🙂 For yourself, I would recommend reading Adrienne's essential guide for parents of newly-diagnosed children - you are all going through a bit of a whirlwind at the moment, and it can help to know that the things you are experiencing are perfectly normal. There is a very steep learning curve with Type 1, but it does become clearer and easier as time progresses. Never be afraid to ask questions, either here or of your healthcare team - no question is considered 'silly', and there is a wealth of knowledge and experience from the members of the forum, who will be happy to help 🙂

Regarding diet, the main thing to be aware of is carbohydrates - some of these will raise levels faster than others, so it's useful to know how your son is affected by the various things so that you can avoid big swings in blood sugar levels. I'd recommend having a look at The GL Diet for Dummies - it's not a weight loss diet, but an approach to selecting and combining foods so that they have a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels.

Another thing - this is a tricky business, so don't berate yourself if you don't understand everything, or get things wrong - you will learn a great deal from experience, and also from reading the experiences of others. Let us know if we can help in any way 🙂
 
AJLang said:
Welcome to the forum. I was diagnosed when I was two and have had a great life so your son should be able to do almost do anything that he wants as he grows up. I'm not sure about low carb free snacks because if I have a snack I tend to inject for it but understand that may not be the advice that you've been given. As you're vegetarian I'm not sure if any of the following suggestions will help - sugar free jelly, chunks of cheese, boiled eggs. How low were you advised as low carb? If it's 10g carb then most small packets of crisps/savoury snacks are around 10g eg Wotsits, crispy onion rings, Walkers crisps etc.
Click to expand...
Hi, thank you very much - it definitely helps to hear from someone who's gone through childhood with diabetes, and I suspect things are a bit easier now than when you and I were little. I'm on the crips, etc. no problem, being a bit of a crisp addict myself, but I'm trying to think of some healthier alternatives. Maybe I need to chill out and just get through this bit with crisps and things that he'll definitely enjoy. Everything else is enough stress at the moment...
 
Welcome to the forum. If you grow it yourself you know whats in it. This time of year pea pods tomatoes etc have little carbs & good for you. Good luck 🙂.
 
Northerner said:
Hi Katherine, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis :( How old is he, and what insulin is he on? Howdid his diagnosis come about?

I would highly recommend getting a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - considered to be the 'bible' for children and young people on insulin regimes, and covering all aspects of living with Type 1 🙂 Depending on his age, her might also like to get a JDRF KIDSAC which contains lots of useful information and a free Rufus Bear 🙂

You might also like to look at the Children with Diabetes website, which has lot of useful information provided by UK parents 🙂 For yourself, I would recommend reading Adrienne's essential guide for parents of newly-diagnosed children - you are all going through a bit of a whirlwind at the moment, and it can help to know that the things you are experiencing are perfectly normal. There is a very steep learning curve with Type 1, but it does become clearer and easier as time progresses. Never be afraid to ask questions, either here or of your healthcare team - no question is considered 'silly', and there is a wealth of knowledge and experience from the members of the forum, who will be happy to help 🙂

Regarding diet, the main thing to be aware of is carbohydrates - some of these will raise levels faster than others, so it's useful to know how your son is affected by the various things so that you can avoid big swings in blood sugar levels. I'd recommend having a look at The GL Diet for Dummies - it's not a weight loss diet, but an approach to selecting and combining foods so that they have a slow, steady impact on blood glucose levels.

Another thing - this is a tricky business, so don't berate yourself if you don't understand everything, or get things wrong - you will learn a great deal from experience, and also from reading the experiences of others. Let us know if we can help in any way 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, for all these really helpful links and suggestions. I will definitely take a look at them later (and as a fellow writer, your poetry blog!). It's very early days with the insulin, trying to get the right dose for him. I would definitely like to understand the diet side of things better. My husband is type 2 so we have some understanding and awareness but I also realise this is totally different.
 
HOBIE said:
Welcome to the forum. If you grow it yourself you know whats in it. This time of year pea pods tomatoes etc have little carbs & good for you. Good luck 🙂.
Click to expand...
Thank you! We have a few veg growing in the garden, it's just that - inconveniently for a vegetarian but not unusually for a four year old - he doesn't really like vegetables 🙂 I have to throw them all in a sauce and blend...
 
As a change from crisps and arguably slightly healthier, does he like popcorn? I get the multipacks of sweet and salty branded as "skinny popcorn" that have 10g carbs per pack. Pound land sometimes have them.
Those tiny packets of raisins and sultanas are about 10g carbs too. For a more sustaining snack if he's ok with nuts, Nature Valley salted caramel protein bars are also surprisingly only 10g carbs despite being coated in something that looks and tastes a bit like Caramac, if you remember that.
Nuts are low in carbs but I know a lot of kids can't tolerate or don't like them for some reason!
 
When I was a kid I really enjoyed going to my uncles allotment in the summer. Opening & scoffing pea pods. I was 3 when diagnosed & times have changed a bit. Had a bag of peas in pods this week. Not cooked, nice
 
Radders said:
As a change from crisps and arguably slightly healthier, does he like popcorn? I get the multipacks of sweet and salty branded as "skinny popcorn" that have 10g carbs per pack. Pound land sometimes have them.
Those tiny packets of raisins and sultanas are about 10g carbs too. For a more sustaining snack if he's ok with nuts, Nature Valley salted caramel protein bars are also surprisingly only 10g carbs despite being coated in something that looks and tastes a bit like Caramac, if you remember that.
Nuts are low in carbs but I know a lot of kids can't tolerate or don't like them for some reason!
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Yes! I do remember Caramac, only too well. I will look up those Nature's Valley bars, they sound good. Popcorn's a great idea too. Thank you 🙂 I'm building up a list of foods. Trying to keep positive through being practical...
I really appreciate everybody's help and advice.
 
Hee hee Caramac!! 44 years ago almost - I was overdosing on it when I went home from work - every single evening!! (2 'large' ones during a 30 minute bus or train ride - oddly I was losing weight instead of putting it on ......... 😱)

Never ever fancied it again since ........
 
Hi Katharine, and welcome 🙂

Dark chocolate is good as a treat - best to check the carbs on something he'll eat, but I get Green & Blacks 85% cocoa and a couple of squares of that have very few carbs (obviously sugary milk chocolate is not such a good idea!). Sweets generally are best avoided, but one or two Tic-Tacs are pretty much carb-free. Nuts are good if he is OK with those, and I also eat plain TUC biscuits, which have 3g carbs each. Cheese is fine if you're not vegan, and mini pots of Petits Filous are pretty low in carbs too. I'd avoid dried fruit, as it sends blood sugar up very quickly (I sometimes use it to treat hypos), but if you can eventually get him onto things like tomatoes, I agree with Hobbie, they are a good idea.
 
Welcome to the forum, Katherine Smith. Another vote for Nature Valley protein bars, either salted caramel or chocolate nut variety. So much nicer than the crunchy Nature Valley bars that were given to Games Makers (London 2012 volunteers). Like most GMs, I remember those bars were the only bad things about the experience. I was given some protein bars, both types, when working on UK Challenge in Devon a few weeks ago, and gave this feedback to a Nature Valley representative, who was slightly startled, but pleased, at dramatically improved opinion of their company's products!
 
Remembered after I posted - can you get him to eat fruit, Katharine, or does he view that in the same way as vegetables? Fruit generally is too high in sugar for snacks without insulin, but berries are quite low. If you are able to grow things like strawberries & raspberries, a couple of those would make a good snack.
 
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As a child growing up you might consider a support group where he could find other children with diabetes so that he does not feel he is the only one and later can share experiences with other children.
 
Lilian said:
As a child growing up you might consider a support group where he could find other children with diabetes so that he does not feel he is the only one and later can share experiences with other children.
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Hi Lilian, I definitely want to do this. He is being very good, I'm amazed - it's only one week today since his diagnosis, but I can tell it's making him feel strange. I also suspect he might kick back against it soon. I am sure that the sooner he realises he is not the only one, the better... I am determined to keep things as normal as possible, so took him to a birthday party on Saturday for example, but it's hard to know that he has to do things a bit differently to the other children.
 
bilbie said:
The internet will also be a wealth of ideas, A search of LC snacks brought up a lot of links. Just delete the not suitable items from the sites. Boiled eggs are very good if allowed. As well as nuts and such
http://www.ditchthecarbs.com/2014/08/07/best-low-carb-snacks/

some people still need a bit of insulin with protein and fats and some bolus between 25-50% of the protein.

https://healthonline.washington.edu/document/health_online/pdf/CarbCountingClassALL3_05.pdf
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Thank you very much! I need to spend some time going through the helpful links people have posted. As I'm sure you all understand, at the moment each day seems to consist of planning food, looking up, making and measuring food, doing blood sugars, injections, etc...
 
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