Dear Ginger,

My daughter is barely eight years old and has had Type 1 since she was five. We used to check her blood sugar half-way through the night most nights, but started backing off after the year and just make sure to always check before bedtime. She’s getting to the age where she wants to have sleepovers with her friends, a lot of them do this already, but I’m so hesitant because of her diabetes and worried she won’t remember to take care of herself when she’s not at home. It’s causing a lot of stress in the house, because she wants to do the same things her friends do. Is she old enough to be responsible during a sleepover?

-Melody


Hi Melody,

Will she ever be able to prove how responsible she is if she isn’t given the opportunity to show you? And most importantly, will she be able to develop responsible habits for her diabetes if her parents always step in first to make sure everything is done correctly?

Unless your daughter has been difficult to work together with on her diabetes management, she is ready to start learning how to take care of herself and ready for the independence to be with her friends without someone taking care of her medical life. If she is someone who continually fights the fact that she has to take care of this disease every day, that is a different issue altogether (which I'd be happy to address in a second post!).

I think the hardest part for a lot of parents of a child who was diagnosed at a really young age is figuring out when to let go and let them learn how to take care of themselves. And I say “learn” because even though you’ve been taking care of it together for so long, they’re going to take care of it differently. Their blood sugars aren’t always perfect when they take care of it with your help, so they won’t be perfect without you, either – and that’s hard for a parent to see, but you cannot take care of their diabetes for them for their whole life.

So how do you prepare your daughter for sleepovers?

Definitely talk to the parents of her closest friends and even give them a sheet explaining what to do if your daughter needs help:

Low blood sugar (under 80mg/dl): eat fifteen grams of carbs from a glass of milk, 1/2 cup of orange juice, an apple or orange, or four glucose tabs. If she doesn't feel well after 15 minutes, she should check again and eat more if she's still low. Let the parents know it takes patience and at least 15 minutes to feel better after a real low.

High blood sugar (over 180 mg/dl): give a bolus or injection using her correction factor (1 unit brings her blood sugar down how many mg?), help her remember to check again an hour later. If her blood sugar is over 250 mg/dl, ask her to check her ketones (she should have a pack of these with you). If her ketones are positive, she should check her pump infusion site, give a bolus with a syringe and drink lots of water. If she is concerned, she can always call her mother for support.