Tips For Monitoring Your Diabetic Child's Blood Sugar Levels
It can be very scary when your child is first diagnosed with diabetes. Once your child is diagnosed then you must begin to test their blood sugar levels regularly in order to make sure that it does not elevate or drop to dangerous levels. This testing can prove burdensome to both you and your child in the beginning. However, if you know how to properly do testing from the start, coping with the disease will be less stressful. Here are some tips to help you do just that.
Keep A Record Book
When you start checking your child's blood sugar levels you should keep a record of the results. In this book you should also record what your child has eaten and record how active they were. Keeping a log like this will help you to see how foods and activity affect your child's blood sugar levels.
Best Time To Test
When you are new to blood sugar testing one of the things you will want to know is when is the best time to test your child's blood sugar levels. The fact is, the right time to test glucose levels is highly subjective and it is based on the types of medications your child is taking and their diet. It may be trial and error at first but with the guidance of your child's pediatrician you should be able to settle on correct times for testing.
Consider A Sensor
Technology had advanced to the point where there is now a small sensor called a continuous glucose monitor that can be implanted under your child's skin. It is connected to a transmitter which triggers an alarm if blood glucose levels get too high or too low. What this sensor does is prevent you from having to get up several times during the night to check your child's blood glucose levels. If you are interested you should check to see if your health insurance company covers it, since many of them now do.
It can be difficult to adjust to having a child with diabetes. However, with all the changes that will take place it is important that you try to maintain as much normalcy as possible. Your child deserves to be able to have a normal a childhood, so make sure that friends, family members, teachers and everyone in your child's life is aware of their condition but do not use it as an excuse to exclude them from certain activities. For more information, contact establishments like Better Family Care.