stepson has diabetes advice needed..

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willowglimmer

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HI, im new on here, my partner has an 11 year old son who has been diabetic since around the age of 6 so he manages his blood tests, readings and injections himself.

Between us we have 7 children with another on the way due in March only the 11year old is diabetic.

Over the past few months i have noticed that he claims to be feeling low a lot (without testing)and in return is given sugary drinks and chocolate bars by his dad, i know this helps but my concern is that he isnt always telling the truth. Theother children don't get the extra drinks/chocolate.

He refuses to eat 'healthy' foods (the same as the rest of us are eating)
when he comes to stay which is only usually at the weekend so im asking for any advice about what we can give him that will help keep his sugars where they should be but without giving him the foods he sees as treats.

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance
 
Hiya, it sounds as if your step son is pulling a fast one :D
You need to tell him that chocolate is not good for treating hypo's.(It isn't)
Have some glucose tablets at the ready for when he says he is hypo. Ask that he tests so you can see how many he needs.(3 is enough) No test no tablets.
So there are no problems do not keep chocolate in the house when he is staying with you. Fizzy drinks rot teeth so not good anyway hypo or not.
The simple solution regarding the food is put it in front of him. There is that or go hugary. Basically call his bluff.
Both you and your partner must agree to the same treatment so your Step son doesn't play one off against the other though.
I suspect as he is 11 he is starting his stroppy teenage years so they wont be fun.
Best wishes
Sue
 
Deffo pulling a fast one - coming from someone who had diabetes as a child! I think Sue's tactic is great - that and scare the s***t out of him with what can happen if he continues to do this!
 
agree with Sue, get him to test, shouldn't be treating lows until confirmed with a test.

I wonder if he is being denied chocolate at other times? would it help to allow him to eat it covered with insulin?
 
thank you, my partner only sees his children at the weekend so tends to give in to them, my four see this and are becoming resentful, i want to get it sorted before the baby is born as we will have enough problems from all the children then! - the glucose tablets sounds like a good idea ill get some in for the weekend and play him at his own game :O)

Cheers
 
This could also be a cry for attention. It sounds like all the children may be a little unsettled with the 'new' family arrangements, so i would go easy with him as you dont want to become the 'nasty stepmum' who wont even treat a 'hypo'.
Perhaps you could play the 'i dont understand diabetes' card and go through some booklets etc with him - that way it will be obvious to both him and you that giving chocolate for a hypo is not a good idea.
You could then have a shopping trip with him to buy the glucose tabs or jelly babies (my son hates the glucose tabs so has jelly babies instead) and it may make him feel special enough for him to want to 'talk' over any worries he may have with you. I know 11 seems a lot older than the other children, but deep down he is still a baby really and needs as much attention as the younger ones - if not more- as hormones are probably kicking in!Good luck. Bev
 
He is possibly sometimes claiming that he has a low sugar when that isn't necessarily the case. However, please, please do not assume that he is always pretending - there is the possibility that he is having a low sugar and doesn't want to test - if this is the case and you ignore him the effects could lead to him being in hospital or worse. Being 11 and diabetic is no fun - he may well be having (some) low sugars where his body suggests that he needs a sugary drink plus something more substantial i.e. chocolate. I sometimes genuinely have low sugars like that now and I'm 40 - trouble is that I have to get the lucozade and chocolate myself. Being 11, diabetic and part of a large family where everyone else is "normal" i.e. non-diabetic must be incredibly difficult so please do understand how difficult this must be for him and why he may be trying to get extra attention. Having grown up with diabets I know how isolating that it can feel and times and he may well feel that nobody understands what he is going through - I know that it is difficult for you when you are expecting another child but for your step son it is also difficult. Please accept my apologies if I sound patronising or critical I don't mean to - but as a child with diabetes you are growing up with most people close to you not really understanding what it is like to experience hypos etc plus all of the scare stories about the effects of diabetes (and these scare stories are nothing new - when I grew up the information suggested that blindness/kidney disease etc would definitely happen at some stage). Have you considered contacting your local diabetes support group to find other parents who are experiencing similar situations?
 
My son is a 10 year old diabetic, he goes to stay with his father every 3rd weekend, he is the only child in both situations, It's very hard for everyone involved, but if he is feeling low he must test, otherwise if he just wants something sugary he is risking sending his levels sky high. He probably knows how low he is from how he feels, but he needs to check, especially if it is happening all the time, his insulin dose may be wrong. Chocolate isn't the best thing to streat hypos with, glucose tabs followrd by a biscuit or sandwich are good. As for the heathy eating it think that is typical of a lot of children his age, mine included, it recently cost his Grandad ?10 to eat broccoli, it worked and now he has also tried baby sweetcorn and mange tout. Fthat's just perseverance, however if he refuses to eat it could be dangerous so it's a difficult one, have you tried a small reward for trying something new (NOT A TENNER THOUGH, THATS WAY OTT and not my idea at all!), maybe a pack of football cards or similar.

Good luck with everything🙄
 
thank you, i wouldnt dream of not giving him anything if he said he was low, i was looking for alternatives to chocolate as in our house when you give one you give all and it could end up expensive.
He is a very active boy on Saturday he played a full game of footie then came here and spent an hour on the trampoline and i understand that exercise can affect sugar levels.
I'm not the one who deals with him when he gets low/jab times etc so no worries about becoming the nasty step mum i would just hate him to get ill whilst we are looking after him. And his dad just sort of follows what his boy says. (my step sons mum is also diabetic and we know he doesnt eat 'crap' when he is at home but i think my partner got in to the habit of over compensating for not being there, if that makes sense)
Im going to pass this info on to my partner and let him decide how to go on from here.
Thanks again
🙂
 
My adopted little boy who is 4 and a bit would live on chocolate if we allowed him. He has lived with us nearly 2 years, and wont touch fruit of any kind unless he is strapped down.

Our tactic is chocolate as a treat or after a sensible dinner, which is when the tears begin...

Perhaps the is a health care worker or health visitor or teacher at school who can give support?
 
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