This is just an informal poll; how many of you regularly get up in the night to check your child's BG?
We only do it if Elise is below 150 when we put her to bed, if she had a lot of activity before bed that might cause her to go low, or we've recently upped her bedtime insulin. Or, of course, when "Mommy intuition" tells me to.
We don't regularly get up because #1, we don't correct for highs except at meal times, and #2, Elise has been pretty good at feeling her lows at night. She'll usually wake up and cry if her BG is below 70.
I'm just wondering what other parents do, and if I should be more vigilant.
We check every night…not only cause she’s newly diagnosed but because I’m a bit over protective
ReplyDeleteAfter doing this for about 7 years (my son was dx as a baby also) the one thing that I have learned is that there is no right or wrong answer to that question. Obviously what you are doing at the moment is working for you and your daughter. If circumstances change and you are getting wacky morning numbers then maybe throw in a night check.
ReplyDeleteWe go in spurts. Right now we have not been checking in the middle of the night, and right now that is working for us.
Keep up the good work!
Normally I check Maddison twice a night. But, we are also on a pump and able to micro manage. Maddison doesn't wake up for lows either which is another big reason. Night time hasn't been predictable lately, but sometimes when we are on a predictable streak we might only check once between 3-5am.
ReplyDeleteI stay up until about 11:30 or 12:00 to check Jada- typically I can tell by that point which way she's going to go. We're still doing shots, too, so we don't correct for highs until meal time. She needs to be right around 200 in order to wake up at a "safe" number. If she's not, then I will give her a juice box (15) and that will get her through the night. If she's been very active or we've been chasing lows- I might check her at some other point. Just depends on how she's doing! Mommy instincts are the best and they haven't failed me yet! :)
ReplyDeleteWe check Cara's BG every night around 12:00ish. That is when her NPH is peeking. It also allows me to sleep better knowing where her BG # is in the night.
ReplyDeleteAddy gets checked at least twice a night and we do correct for anything over 150.
ReplyDeleteShe's also on a pump and there's a little fear inside that, if I don't check, we'll miss a site problem (or overheated insulin, or an air bubble, or whatever...) -- since she doesn't get a long acting shot, she could be in DKA by morning.
Anyway, when she was on shots, we got pretty comfortable with not checking at night all the time. Pretty much like what your describing.
I have a 12 year old, so life is a little different for me....but I don't test EVERY night. I do, however, test around 11, and if all is well I let her ride until her dad gets up at 4 and tests. (He's an early bird). If it's not good at 11, then I'm up testing every couple of hours. In the beginning, we didn't test at night; then I started to test at 12 and 3. After going onto the pump, I did a LOT of night testing for another year, and as things have "settled" (ha ha) and I got more comfortable with knowing how various things affect her, I backed off. I needed to save my own sanity and health a bit.
ReplyDeleteWe also invested in a continuous glucose monitor to help with overnights; our first try with CGM was abysmal, but now using the Navigator has allowed me to sleep through quite a few nights without worry. Great for helping fine-tune puberty-enhanced BG craziness as well!
All that being said, YOU need to do what YOU are comfortable with - no matter what anyone else tells you. ;)
I get up every night pretty much every 2-3 hours, sometimes I'll go 4 hours (depending on what Riley's sugar is at the time). I've been doing this since day one (3 1/2 years ago).
ReplyDeleteI do this because a) Riley has never woken up from a low and he's had plenty of lows that strike in the middle of the night. b) We do correct at night. I don't like thinking that if I don't wake up and check and he's high, he'll run high all night long because he didn't get a correction.
I think it is a personal decesion for every parent. Personally, I've caught too many lows in the middle of the night to go all night without checking. One of my biggest fears is that Riley will go low in the middle of the night and I don't catch it and his liver doesn't help out and.... I can't even think about it. So, I guess that's what keeps me testing: fear.