September 27, 1999
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
Two months ago my sixteen month old nephew contracted Type 1 diabetes. The problem is that when he is sick or just doesn’t feel like eating. What can you suggest? My sister has tried force feeding him Monoject gel. As such a youngster, they find it very difficult to get him to eat and he is not yet old enough to say what’s wrong. Consequently, they find that they are having to wake him up at midnight to test his blood sugar when he is low throughout the day, and the last thing the little guy wants to do after being waken up is to eat or drink. Any suggestions or alternatives that they can try?
Answer:
They definitely need to contact their diabetes team for suggestions in insulin adjustments as well as food suggestions. Infants can be very difficult to control and I can tell she could use someone to discuss theses issues with. I would also recommend the book Sweet Kids: How to Balance Diabetes Control & Good Nutrition with Family Peace.
JM
