School dinners

[ElleB]

I just wondered what other people do about getting carbs for school dinners.

When my daughter, now 9, was diagnosed a year ago the hospital dietician went into school and worked out the carbs for all the meals daughter chose from the menu.

But since going back after October half term the menu as completely changed meaning we no longer knew the carbs for the majority of meals.

The hospital dietician did not have the capacity to go into school again to redo the carbs and after speaking with school the catering company they agreed that they would work the carbs out which the did and gave to me Friday.

However I don't think I can trust their carb counting as the foods we already had are all higher now. Even on the sheet given to us they have custard as 12 on some days and 14 on the others, where as on the old menu custard was 9.

More worrying though, to me spaghetti bolognese is the equivalent or very similar carbs to spaghetti and meatballs. They have put 55 carbs for spaghetti and meatballs when on the old menu spaghetti bolognese was only 10.

I am getting really stressed with it now and feel like I am going to have to go into school and redo the carbs. The thing is though if I have to do them it is going to take three weeks and I will have to leave work because I have had so much time off already since diagnosis.

 

[Sally71]

School dinners can be a bit of a minefield! However things like pasta and potatoes will be the same as before, so you can just copy those over and see what you've got left, then hopefully there won't be much to do!

We had a right palaver getting my daughter set up for school dinners, the school weren't allowed to treat her any differently from any other child until we had filled all the relevant forms in, this had to be done by a DSN or dietician instead of me and then sent off to the county council. 3 times they lost it or claimed they hadn't received it, and I felt really bad having to keep asking the dietician to fill it all in again! Then eventually I found out from a parent governor that the school headmaster had a contact in that department at the council and he kindly phoned them up and gave them a bit of a telling off, and then hey presto it was dealt with, forms were signed, and two ladies met me at school to give me the carb counts. Except that for some reason they had missed out the last four days, and had given me calories instead of carbs - luckily I had been dealing with diabetes long enough by then to know that the numbers they gave me couldn't possibly be correct (roast chicken should have a carb count of 0 but they were giving me numbers for it - if I hadn't been on the ball and had just blindly put their info into my daughter's pump I think it would have been blue lights to hospital!). I wrote a letter of complaint explaining why giving me the wrong information could be so dangerous, and that diabetes is on the increase and this is how it is dealt with now so you might as well get used to being asked for carb info and not calories or anything else. But I don't think much has changed, there is another child lower down the school who is also T1 and I think her mum has been having similar problems

So I had to do all the carb counting based on my own knowledge initially, then found out that the council do have a complete nutritional breakdown of the food, so for a while they were sending me that by email. It was a 20 page pdf document and I only needed one column but at least I was getting the info I needed. Then all of a sudden they stopped sending me it any more, but by then I had amassed enough information to just copy it across and take an educated guess at the odd few things which were new.

Could you ask whether the catering company have the full nutritional breakdown? If not, we used to find that after you've copied the data for all the similar stuff like pasta, potatoes, custard etc, there isn't really much that's different, so even if you are stuck going into school to check it out, hopefully you won't have to do it every day. If you are happy with the carb counts that you had before then they won't have changed.

 

[ElleB]

Thanks for replying. I had already worked out from old menu what I could and managed to work out one meal per week from it and she still has a choice of a sandwich or jacket potato everyday but she prefers the main meal.

It's the pudding that's the main problem has they have changed completely so she has had to have Yogurt every day which she's not happy about. And I'm not sure I can trust the carbs we've been given.

We've had loads of problems with school it feels like they just don't get it. Her teacher counted 99 instead 9.9 for a bun resulting in 3 hypos that morning which luckily she felt them all and managed to treat before dropping too low. But teacher didn't even realise why they happened until I went in and told her.

 

[Sally71]

😱😱😱 Oh that's terrible, it sounds like you need to get the DSN into the school to do some serious training!

Have you got a copy of Carbs and Cals? I don't know whether that would help people to work out carb counts for you, nice pictures of all manner of food that they can compare with the real thing. Although that won't stop them getting decimal points in the wrong place (that's pretty poor for a school that is supposed to be teaching your child how to do basic sums without getting them wrong)

Other than that I am completely at a loss what to suggest, sorry
Unfortunately you do find that the general population don't have any clue about diabetes unless they have it themselves or are caring for someone who does, and some people will pick it up a lot quicker than others. I used to arrange a meeting with the new teacher each school year and I wouldn't move until I thought that they had at least understood the basics well enough. And we still had a few problems when other staff members who weren't my daughter's main teacher started sticking their noses in and thinking they knew better that we do how to manage it!

 

[ElleB]

Yes we've already given school the carbs and Cals book and I've lost count of the number of times DSN been in and done training.

They are slowly getting better I just need to sort these school dinners out. I know it is lot to take in but it's just a worry when you leave your child in someone else's care that they're not going to get the same care we give at home.

 

[HOBIE]

Its exactly the same in hospital. No standard. 🙂.Good luck EB

 

[Bronco Billy]

Hi ElleB, sorry to hear about the problems you’re having.

I understand why you find it difficult to trust the new carb count, but have you tried going along with it to see what happens? I know it’s a hassle, but perhaps it would be helpful to contact the caterers again to discuss your concerns. It may be that the quantities or recipes have changed. As Sally71 has already suggested, if you could get hold of the nutritional breakdown, that would be a big help, as you could then check the calculations.

How did your daughter’s BGs react to the carb count on the old menu? Ten carbs for spaghetti bolognese sees very low, even for a child’s portion.

I don’t know whereabouts in the country you are, but in the West Midlands, there is a project to improve the school meal/carb count situation across the region.

On the more general point of the care the school give your daughter, is she the only type 1 child in the school? While the school clearly hasn’t been perfect it their actions, what has their attitude been like? Please don’t think I’m on the side of the school, but diagnosis is a huge change for us as parents to get to grips with, along with everything that results from it. With the best will in the world, it will also take time for the staff to adapt as well. Hopefully, their heart is in the right place. If it is, I’m sure you can work together to improve life in school for your daughter. If not and there is something you need help with, please feel free to post about it here. There is bound to be someone who can help.

 

[SB2015]

Yes we've already given school the carbs and Cals book and I've lost count of the number of times DSN been in and done training.

They are slowly getting better I just need to sort these school dinners out. I know it is lot to take in but it's just a worry when you leave your child in someone else's care that they're not going to get the same care we give at home.

I visited a school to do some lessons about Diabetes, and was amazed to find that when I went for lunch with the pupil I was also given the carb count for whatever I chose. That was a first, and on my own reckoning very accurate. That school was big enough to have their own kitchen rather than buying in food from other sources.

Each Week the parents were sent the menu for the following week, the child made their selection, the carbs were calculated for her at school, sent to the parents who did a check. Before lunch her BG test was supervised by the class teacher, they entered the carbs and then she went to eat. A successful procedure, so it can be done.

In another school the child took in a packed lunch with the carb count included. The teacher supervised the blood test and delivery of insulin before lunch.

Nothing is ideal but I hope that these ideas are of some use

 

[Dylans mom]

Hi I've been in for a school meeting today as my son is supposed to start back tomorrow hes only been diagnosed 3 weeks. They said they would work carbs out and get back in touch but havent would u send your child in

 

[trophywench]

Er, no unless you can send him in with a pack up that you have carb counted !

 

[Dylans mom]

My son has broken down again tonight saying he doesnt feel ready to go back and hes scared of being bullied. Like I say it's been 3 weeks of being diagnosed. My hubby says I should send him in to get used to it but I believe hes not ready help please

 

[Bexlee]

Hi @Dylans mom sorry to hear how your son is feeling.

It will be all ok, although overwhelming for both Mum and Son I expect. I think I’d “side” with your hubby and say give it a go. He can always come home.

Maybe try 1/2 a day up to lunch? If he’s worrying about testing / injecting / lunch. Or maybe a packed lunch so he already knows what he’s having - my husband writes a post it note with carbs on it and sticks it in my lunch box if he’s done lunch (I always check🙄) which always makes me smile.

He maybe well be ok once he gets in to school and back into routine and catches up with friends and may even forget it for a while.

Make sure he has a “safe place” to go should he need 5 minutes out....pastoral office, tutor, reception office, CLS (curriculum support room where TAs may be).

Is there another child with diabetes ? Or a teacher/ staff member ? He could get a little support from?

I’m sure all staff who have contact with him/ will have contact with him will have been told and will be aware he’s recently diagnosed and reminded of what to look for etc.

I know in my school we don’t make it obvious to others but we know the kids we need to be aware of and what we should do if there’s a problem.

Really hope it goes ok - I guess a bit of worry will make levels go a bit crazy...... I was 12.5 by the time I got to my desk, switched the computer on and checked over 1st lesson this morning!!! Soon plummeted down to 6.0 in time for break.

 

[Dylans mom]

Hi @Dylans mom sorry to hear how your son is feeling.

It will be all ok, although overwhelming for both Mum and Son I expect. I think I’d “side” with your hubby and say give it a go. He can always come home.

Maybe try 1/2 a day up to lunch? If he’s worrying about testing / injecting / lunch. Or maybe a packed lunch so he already knows what he’s having - my husband writes a post it note with carbs on it and sticks it in my lunch box if he’s done lunch (I always check🙄) which always makes me smile.

He maybe well be ok once he gets in to school and back into routine and catches up with friends and may even forget it for a while.

Make sure he has a “safe place” to go should he need 5 minutes out....pastoral office, tutor, reception office, CLS (curriculum support room where TAs may be).

Is there another child with diabetes ? Or a teacher/ staff member ? He could get a little support from?

I’m sure all staff who have contact with him/ will have contact with him will have been told and will be aware he’s recently diagnosed and reminded of what to look for etc.

I know in my school we don’t make it obvious to others but we know the kids we need to be aware of and what we should do if there’s a problem.

Really hope it goes ok - I guess a bit of worry will make levels go a bit crazy...... I was 12.5 by the time I got to my desk, switched the computer on and checked over 1st lesson this morning!!! Soon plummeted down to 6.0 in time for break.

I kept him at home today as we are seeing the child physiologist this afternoon so I'm going to see how that goes first the school have mentioned a phased return if he needs it. He doesnt want the other children to know as he doesnt really get on with anyone. Teachers will hopefully be informed but he says he doesn't feel safe working things out, hes a timid boy just hope I can sort this

 

[Dylans mom]

Er, no unless you can send him in with a pack up that you have carb counted !

Kept him at home today as wasnt ready to go back so I'm hoping they sort the carbs out for me later