Tips for Sleepovers

The following section was taken from posts on the Place for Parents Message Board on diabetes.org. These tips should not replace advice and/or recommendations from a health care provider but reflect issues that parents deal with day-to-day.

“I know my 7–year old daughter who has diabetes will start to be invited to sleepovers soon. Do you let your kids go on sleepovers? How do you deal with it??”

Parent to Parent -

• We have a policy. If our daughter is going through a wacky BG numbers time period the sleepover has to be at our house. No exceptions. We tell her yes, we know it’s unfair, but it is what it is and we have to do what’s best for her.
• If my daughter’s numbers are OK at night, she can sleepover at someone else’s house, but she has to call me at 11:00pm with her BG number.
• We start with only allowing her to spend the night at close friend’s homes. Between her being able to do the BG tests on her own and a parent who is willing to learn what to do in various situations( make a cheat sheet), we feel one’s safe.
• We actually do what we call 1/2 sleepovers for our eight year-old daughter and friend. We do the dinner, get on the jammies, make the snack, watch the movie and then her parents pick her up when it’s bedtime. Maybe that can be a compromise for your daughter, if it works out that she’s just not able to spend the night, for whatever reason
• You can plan to have most of the sleepovers at your house. Set it up so your house is the coolest!

Expert to Parent:

When your child is ready for sleepovers, the thought of a night away from home may make you nervous. But with a little planning and preparation your child can have fun and be safe at sleepovers.

Be sure that the parent of your child’s friend knows your child has type 1 diabetes and is comfortable with a sleepover.

You can help the parent be prepared to care for your child overnight by:

• Providing your contact information so the parent can reach you with questions.
• Making parents aware of your child’s diabetes regimen including food requirements. (A short written summary may be helpful.)
• Making the parent and your child’s friend aware of your child’s signs and symptoms of low blood glucose as well as how to respond to lows.
• Agreeing on an emergency care plan both you and the parent are comfortable with.

Along with their toothbrush and pajamas, be sure your child packs their diabetes supplies. Don’t forget to remind your child to always wear their medical ID bracelet or necklace!

Include:

• Insulin
• Syringes or Pens (and pen needles)
• Blood glucose (BG) testing supplies
• Pump/CGM supplies
• Glucose tablets or other fast acting sugar to treat low BG
• Snacks

Harold Starkman, MD is Director of the BD Diabetes Center for Children and Adolescents at the Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown, NJ.

Not only were we still shell-shocked with the diagnosis and not really understanding of how to manage our son’s condition (turns out what we learned in Thailand was pretty lacking), but we had certainly never had to carry needles onto a plane.

We survived all 17 hours of the flight however and here’s how we did it:

1) Organized: We were very organized with all of our gear and snacks. We separated out all of our needles and insulin (pens and syringes) and we separated out a couple cartons of juice and some snacks. We had all of this in an individual bag.

2) Prepared with Documentation: We had 2 copies of a note from our physician there in Thailand, both in Thai and in English. The note clearly explained that our son had diabetes and that it was necessary for him to take insulin via injection at regular intervals. This note was absolutely necessary getting through security and on-board.

3) Open: We were very open at each stage of boarding our plane. Before getting to the airport we called the airline and alerted them. When we checked in, they saw the note in our file and we once again reminded them of our need to carry needles onto the plane. At security, before getting in line, we alerted the officials and they worked with us to move through the line and the bag checks. When we arrived at the gate we told them once again of our situation.

4) Persistent: When we got to the gate, the cabin crew required us to surrender our insulin and syringes, explaining to us that they would hold the medication with the head crew member. We accepted this, but before the doors of the plane closed, we sought out the cabin crew manager and had her physically show us that she had possession of our insulin. Soon after takeoff, she actually came by our seats and gave us all the medication to hold onto.

Once we were in possession of everything we needed, we simply managed as normal, giving our son his injections right in his seat. And with all long flights, we made a point of getting up and walking around in order to keep our legs and minds fresh.

There were a lot of steps to go through to get our insulin on a plane, explain our situation to the airline, and ensure we could manage our son’s diabetes in a normal fashion. But with a little forethought and persistence, we found that traveling with diabetes on a plane was not that difficult.

This will be our first year celebrating Halloween since our son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  We hope we do it right.

Our primary philosophy is to allow him to experience as normal a Halloween as possible.  He’s got his school costume party, a separate one that he is heading to at the local hospital just for kids with diabetes and on Halloween night he’ll wander around with all his friends just like years past.

We’ve already discussed with him the need to not gorge on candy that night and he actually volunteered the idea to give his candy away to his friends (as he does at school when rewarded by his teacher).  We’ll let him keep a few of his favorites however and will simply integrate them into his meals over the following days.

All along we’ve maintained our principal that this disease will not fundamentally interfere with his life as a child.  We’re going to manage.  He is going to sacrifice some things but he’s also becoming much more aware of his body, his diet and his mind.  He and we are learning everyday.

So far, so good.

For those of you looking for more information on how to manage Halloween while also managing your child’s diabetes, check out this great set of Halloween tips.

Also, here is a document that outlines the carbohydrates associated with a wide range of typical Halloween treats.

Boo!