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Managing Your Child's Diabetes
Checking Blood Glucose
Blood glucose checking is one of the best tools for keeping your child's diabetes under control. How often your child checks it could change from day to day. Talk to your doctor or diabetes educator about when and how often to do this on a normal day. Three or four times a day is usually recommended for people who take insulin. Check more often when your child is sick and when her diabetes treatment or daily habits change. For example, if she joins a sports team, she may have to check a little more often during the first weeks of practice. The extra check can tell you if food and insulin need to be adjusted to balance a higher level of exercise.
One of the purposes of blood glucose checking is to determine how often blood glucose levels are in the target range. Your child's target range is probably slightly different than other children with diabetes, and it will likely change as she grows, and might also change if her diabetes treatment is modified. You, your diabetic child, and the doctor should agree on the best target range for your child.
Certain type 2 diabetes medications can cause hypoglycemia, which blood glucose checking can show. And regular blood glucose checking can alert you if your child needs a change in treatment. Talk to your doctor or diabetes educator for more information on blood glucose checking and type 2 diabetes.
Children With Diabetes Need a Healthy Meal Plan
For most children with diabetes (and often their families), diabetes changes what and when they eat. The good news is that the ideal meal plan for your child with diabetes is no different from the healthy meal plan nutrition experts recommend to everyone. There is no need for her to eat special foods or give up her favorite treats. With the help of your dietitian, you and your child can create a healthy and appetizing meal plan.
If your diabetic child is used to eating whatever she wants, whenever she wants, adjusting to a new way of eating may be difficult. You'll probably have to make adjustments, too -- what you cook, how you plan meals, and the kinds of snack foods you keep in the house. Ideally, the types of food your child eats and the timing of her meals and snacks work together with her insulin injection schedule and exercise to keep her blood glucose in her target range for much of the day.
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