Need advice - no flaming please!

[Livie's Mom]

:confused:

Ok - My daughter's doctor informed to let her eat whatever she wants and just cover for it. That's what we've been doing since July with no real problems. Well this morning she wanted the little Dolly Madison Choc. Donuts so she ate 5 of them which was 38 carbs so we gave her 2.5units of insulin. The school nurse calls me at noon and tells me she is 437 and my daughter informed her she had donuts this morning. The nurse then informs me to not feed my child this because it spikes her to high. Well Saturday morning she had the same thing with a yahoo drink and we covered for it and at lunch she was 133. I told her to give a correction shot and dose her for what she ate for lunch. She informed me that was 9 units. I told her I know but it had to be done. I called her back at 2:30 which is snack time and she said she was down to 178. She also informed me that I need to start feeding her bacon & eggs for breakfast or peanut butter and toast. No more donuts protein only!!!! I told her she doesn't eat donuts every morning but I try to give her a choice - we have grits, oatmeal, bacon & eggs or sausage & eggs, cereal, waffles, biscuts & SF jelly, etc. Well she said just don't feed her donuts on school days then. ugggh! I bit my tongue and said ok, thank you and hung up. What do you all think? I'm I wrong here or should I just give in and feed her protein only on school days? I'm confused!

[WestinsMom]

I say it is still your call. How do you feel about these phone calls? I feed Westin pancakes a lot of mornings, but we homeschool so I don't deal with anyone butting into my business. If it would make it easier on the school, which I don't know if it really will if it is only once in a while, consider making the change. If you don't mind the calls from the nurse, then do as you please. Or add some protein to the donuts?! :)

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

I want to know when your school nurse became the food police? :mad:
Did you ask her what she had for breakfast?
I'm sorry:(, it makes me so angry. It is none of their darn business what our kids eat.
You keep giving her choices, keep letting her eat her donuts, and keep saying "Ah Huh" on the phone to the nurse.
I understand no one wants the nurse mad at them, or to have words between the two of you, but this is your child NOT hers.

[momofphoenix]

Phoenix's CDE said that donuts are a problem food, BUT if Phoenix wants donuts I am NOT going to tell him NO!!!! He doesnt get them everyday maybe once every month to month and a half. I would tell the nurse that if she wants donuts she is going to have donuts. It isnt that huge of a deal. Let her know that when she had them at home she was good at lunch, maybe something else was going on today to make her so high.....

I hate how nurses will say something and it makes you want to strangle them ;)

[Mama2H]

Grrrr, I hate the food police :( You feed her what she wants to eat and poo on anyone else. If she continues, ask your endo to write a note on not limiting ANY foods and that a carb is a carb.

[Charmed7]

I'm assuming your giving shots? I would say, you decide what you give her for breakfast. My only suggestion is to take the (insert bad word here) nurse's response out of the equation. If you daughter's sugar is going really high after that type of breakfast, then either learn how to treat it or come up with a comprimise (sp) such as donuts on weekends (so you can give the insulin at a better time).

But honestly, the nurse needs to learn her manners. Is she concerned about your daughter, or frustrated at the inconvienence of doing her job? Boo hoo if it's the latter.

Charmed

[momtojess]

I dont think i would have been able to bit my tongue.

We are still working on how to cover Jessi for oatmeal becuase it always causes her to stay high, so I try not to give it to her on school days, just until we get it figured out.. But since the donuts didnt do this to your daughter on saturday, then I would say there was something else causing it this morning.

Ask the nursehow many other parents she are telling what to feed their kids?

[Lee]

I think I would have to schedule a meeting with the Nurse and the Principal, maybe even have the Diabetes Educator phone in. I would explain to the nurse that you ar the parent, therefore, you are the one that makes the choices, not her. She does not have the right to dictate to you what you feed your child. Obviously, something else was going on with your daughter if this was a breakfast she has had before.

I would call my endo's office and talk to the Educator and get his/her advice on how to address the nurse. The nurse just crossed the line and you did well to bite your tongue. I would not have. She is there to help you daughter, not judge you for giving donuts and not saying what you can feed your kid. Just go ahead and feed her bacon and eggs every school day for the rest of her life so she can battle high cholesterol to boot...I am pissed off for you.

Ps...we have donuts sometimes to...even on a school day

[LJS118]

whether or not donuts are the best breakfast isn't the issue here.
the nurse should mind her own business and not tell you what your child should or should not eat. the nerve of her. i'd be furious:mad:

[momofsingingdiabetic]

Sounds like what we went through with the nurse at Danielle's school the year she was diagnosed. Dr. made sure to tell us that she could still enjoy the snacks/treats etc. as long as she gave shot for it. She had to go to nurse to do this, but the teachers were great about keeping packaging, etc. but the nurse gave her a hard time. She calmly looked at the nurse and said... "Well the Dr. said I could have it, the nutritionist said I could, and my parents said I could...who would you like to talk to first?".

It didn't happen anymore.

[Tori's Mom]

I agree with everyone else. YOU know your child, YOU decide best what to let your child eat, let the chips fall where they may.
If that means the dumb nurse needs to give 9 units then so be it!!! She needs to do it and NOT make you listen to he opinions.
Hmmm...next time maybe say.
"Obviously you have mistaken me for someone who is interested in your personal opinion".
Sorry but this stuff makes me very mad.

[Livie's Mom]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I really appreciate it. My feeling is feed her what she wants because she's the type that if you fix something for breakfast say (bacon & Eggs) and you didn't ask her what she wanted and she didn't want that she will not eat it. Same with lunch. She knows that Breakfast & lunch for the most part is her decision and she eats whatever mom cooks for dinner. I really don't think it was the donuts that caused her to spike because she had the same thing Saturday but who knows. Well since her and her brother ate them all this morning I won't have to worry about it anymore this week. I will be careful about giving her donuts during school though only because I don't like the calls from the nurse asking why I feeding her what I am. I think she was frustrated with me also that she had a cosmic brownie in her lunch for her desert so I guess she's thinking all I feed her is junk which isn't true. Her point on that was she will eat that before she eats her sandwich and then there again it's just pure sugar for lunch and breakfast. yada yada yada!! I think I will call her CDE and just ask for her input. I really do appreciate you all for helping me..

Thanks a bunch!
Karee

[Livie's Mom]

I could see my daughter saying that - she will say anything to anyone!!

[momofsingingdiabetic]

I could see my daughter saying that - she will say anything to anyone!!

Danielle pretty much tells it like it is. She's hilarious.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

your her mom.. you do what you want to do.. the nurse doesn't have a right to tell you what to feed your daughter.. you are right.. she is wrong.. :)

[jules12]

You are right - the nurse shouldn't be commenting on it. Our nurse also likes to push protein - must be in their manual somewhere????

I finally told the nurse that I addressed her concerns with the nutritionist at the endo clinic, and the nutritionist said it wasn't an issue and my son could eat whatever he wanted so I am going to follow what the doctor's group tells me and that if she needs it in writing, I would be happen to provide that. -- she hasn't commented on anything since then - in fact we good relationship now so I can say - he had a doughnut today...just wanted to let you know!!! She appreciates knowing when he has something that could be spikey. This works for us - doesn't sound like your nurse may be as open.

Again, you have the right to do with your child as you see fit!!!! Don't let anyone make you feel bad or tell you differently! Hang in there!

[spamid]

MMMM... cosmic brownies 45g!! My daughter LOVES THOSE THINGS! I agree with everyone else, you are the mom, you decide what your daughter eats. I think going to the CDE is a good idea, you don't want the nurse taking out her frustrations on your daughter! Hang in there!!!

[SamsMom]

Oh my gosh, that is unreal! :mad: It would have been hard for me to bite my tongue. So, what now? Can your kid not participate in school parties where sweets may be served? With the holidays coming up and the potential for Christmas goodies being offered in the classroom, I would have a talk with the nurse and an administrator at the same time. She needs to worry about other things not what a D child had for breakfast, unless, of course, she plans to police all of the kids and not just the diabetics.

Food Police. I like that one! :D

[wendyc]

Ahh Donuts...the breakfast of champions:D

The nurse was totally out of line commenting on what you feed your child. Does she comment to the parents who bring in the huge sicky sweet icing laden cupcakes for birthdays at 10am? In my experience, they usually keep their mouths shut. To me there is no difference.

I wonder does the nurse worry about what your child had for breakfast because she worried about the spike? Or is it that she's got to test her more often and doesn't want to?

I had to feed Abby two bags of fruit chews for breakfast the other day because I pre-bolused and then she refused to eat anything I offered her (one of those days:eek:). Finally, two bags later I was able to balance her insulin to carbs. Lets just say that was a lovely number morning!

[caspi]

Ugh..... Breakfast has always been a mystery to us!! One day we can get great #'s and the next day with the same exact meal it can be sky-high. We just never know. We have found, however, that a protein and a fat at breakfast have worked well for us. We were never big on sweets pre-D, so when we do have them, it's usually on the weekend anyway when I can keep an eye on his #'s. YDMV........

All of this said, I think the nurse had good intentions on suggesting you feed a protein and a fat, but it really wasn't her place to do so. It's such a tough call in these situations -- at least you have someone that seems concerned about your child. But I agree she was out of line.

And as for flaming --- I don't think you ever have to worry about that here! We're all here to help each other as best as we can!!! I know I have learned more here than I could have ever imagined!!! :) There is no such thing as a stupid question here!!!!

{{HUGS****

[Abuchanan]

Where exactly does the school nurse have any right to tell you what to do with your child? That makes me angry! Her job is just to take care of her when she is at school. Shes not your doctor!

[Treysmom]

I know exactly what the nurse is saying here.

BUT its not her business to tell you what to feed YOUR child. If my school nurse said this to me I would just say. I feed Trey what I and he wants that morning. YES it would be better to feed protien with that meal. But we did'nt want to do that so we did'nt. We deal with the meal high and move on.

[deafmack]

I really think the nurse stepped out of line. Who knew she was going to hit 478. I would have had her retest to make sure it wasn't a false high. My take is carbs are fine anytime, but you may want to add some protein to help keep the blood sugars from spiking so high. It is just a thought but not saying it will work. If your daughter gets a desire for donuts once in a while then like you did just cover for them. Another thing is you could look at the ingredients. I have found that some things spike me higher than usual especially if it has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it.
By the way, I hate it when someone questions what I eat, so I can understand your concerns.

[wilf]

:confused:

Ok - My daughter's doctor informed to let her eat whatever she wants and just cover for it. That's what we've been doing since July with no real problems. Well this morning she wanted the little Dolly Madison Choc. Donuts so she ate 5 of them which was 38 carbs so we gave her 2.5units of insulin. The school nurse calls me at noon and tells me she is 437 and my daughter informed her she had donuts this morning. The nurse then informs me to not feed my child this because it spikes her to high. Well Saturday morning she had the same thing with a yahoo drink and we covered for it and at lunch she was 133. I told her to give a correction shot and dose her for what she ate for lunch. She informed me that was 9 units. I told her I know but it had to be done. I called her back at 2:30 which is snack time and she said she was down to 178. She also informed me that I need to start feeding her bacon & eggs for breakfast or peanut butter and toast. No more donuts protein only!!!! I told her she doesn't eat donuts every morning but I try to give her a choice - we have grits, oatmeal, bacon & eggs or sausage & eggs, cereal, waffles, biscuts & SF jelly, etc. Well she said just don't feed her donuts on school days then. ugggh! I bit my tongue and said ok, thank you and hung up. What do you all think? I'm I wrong here or should I just give in and feed her protein only on school days? I'm confused!

I think this was a bad call on all counts:
- your doctor, for saying let your daughter "eat what she wants"
- you for letting her do just that, and have donuts for breakfast not once but twice in a week
- the nurse for prescribing what you have to feed your daughter

[Mom2Will]

My Dr. said the same thing "let him eat what he wants" Actually 2 doctors have said that (we just changed endos)

I let him eat what he wants

We don't have a school nurse yet but if we did I believe I would let them know that I appreciate their input but he is my normal child that happens to have diabetes.

[Gwyn]

I have to say I agree with Wendy--unless the nurse is also calling the parents who bring 100+ carb "snacks" and birthday treats, she probably shouldn't be calling you about this.

That said, if donuts sent my daughter over the moon on school days, I'd certainly cut them out. We had to stop eating our favorite Kashi cereal (which I'm sure your nurse would have no problem with;)) for the very same reason.

[georgia]

We've always been told that our daughter can eat what she wants. Yes some things do send her sky high, and yes we do try to deal with that the best we can. But my daughter still eats pizza and cake sometimes. I don't think you did anything wrong. the nurse shouldn't be telling you what to feed your child. I am sorry you have to go through this. goodluck.

[Momof4gr8kids]

First, I think some people are just jerks, and cannot be helped. There is always some know-it-all that is going to tell you what bad choices you are making and try to over ride what your doctor tells you. Shame on her, or anyone else that does that.

I think that doctors that say "feed your child what she wants" means, feed her as you fed her before, or how you feed your other children.
They do this for so many reasons, and they DO know what they are talking about more so then school nurses or other "experts". Listen to your doctor, and diabetes team. They have the over all best interest of your child at heart.

It sounds like you've got a handle on spikey foods most of the time. Today it either didn't work, or something else made her spike. You probably will never know which, so don't worry about it. It truely isn't worth beating yourself up over.

FYI sometimes feeding your child eggs and breakfast meat (even the low fat kind) will cause spikes hours later because of the protein. Fat will slow absorbsion though, so some may not be a bad idea if you think you need it, but that is your call as your child's mother. You know her trends and patterns best.
Take care, Jamie

[wilf]

I think it is worth thinking about what our doctors/endocrinologists really mean when they tell us to let our children "eat what they want, and then cover it with insulin".

I think it is possible that they aren't meaning their words to be taken literally in this case.

[Boo]

Maybe next time she wants the donuts, you could limit it to 2 or 3 (instead of 5), and round off the meal with some eggs or yogurt. I try to encourage the BALANCED meal with my son, though he continues to choose the carb-heavy breakfasts. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to a wall...I only hope that the message is sinking in and that maybe someday he'll make good choices on his own.

I think it is fine to do this on occasion. Unfortunately, at least in our house, it seems these "occasions" arise far too often! :rolleyes:

[Amy C.]

There are foods that send my son's blood sugar sky high. I can choose to deal with it by giving the correct amount of insulin 30 minutes before eating or wait until the sugar comes down later.

Since my son has developed microalbuminuria, I decided to limit the excursions going up. This means I don't allow him to eat whatever he wants. I do have to consider the glycemic value of his foods.

Donuts are not particularly healthy for anyone. A child should be encouraged to eat more healthy food, diabetes or not.

If you are not concerned with the sugars going way up after a meal of donuts or other high sugar foods, then the school nurse's advice is not for you.

You ought to have your daughter put on a continuous glucose monitor to see what the sugars do after a high sugar meal. It doesn't look pretty and could inspire you to encourage your daughter to eat different foods.

[Mary Lou]

>sigh<

The nurse shouldn't have behaved that way towards you.

It's possible it was the donuts that made her high. Activity levels tend to be pretty different on the weekends than the weekdays.

I would question whether the endo's remark to "feed her what she wants" was carte blanche to allow her to dictate her diet or just to caution you against going the other way and restricting her diet unnecessarily.

I sort of understand the nurse's position, but she could've handled it much better. I know the nurses at my younger son's school cringe at what parents send in, diabetic or not.

[Heather(CA)]

:confused:

Ok - My daughter's doctor informed to let her eat whatever she wants and just cover for it. That's what we've been doing since July with no real problems. Well this morning she wanted the little Dolly Madison Choc. Donuts so she ate 5 of them which was 38 carbs so we gave her 2.5units of insulin. The school nurse calls me at noon and tells me she is 437 and my daughter informed her she had donuts this morning. The nurse then informs me to not feed my child this because it spikes her to high. Well Saturday morning she had the same thing with a yahoo drink and we covered for it and at lunch she was 133. I told her to give a correction shot and dose her for what she ate for lunch. She informed me that was 9 units. I told her I know but it had to be done. I called her back at 2:30 which is snack time and she said she was down to 178. She also informed me that I need to start feeding her bacon & eggs for breakfast or peanut butter and toast. No more donuts protein only!!!! I told her she doesn't eat donuts every morning but I try to give her a choice - we have grits, oatmeal, bacon & eggs or sausage & eggs, cereal, waffles, biscuts & SF jelly, etc. Well she said just don't feed her donuts on school days then. ugggh! I bit my tongue and said ok, thank you and hung up. What do you all think? I'm I wrong here or should I just give in and feed her protein only on school days? I'm confused!

I think the nurse is OUT OF LINE! I seem to remember something like that happening (The high) Are you sure the carbs were right? I think 5 donuts might be more that 32 grams...

If you fed he donuts everyday, that would be different, an occasional treat is fine. I don't check the glycemic index and Seth's A1c's are good.

IMHO, the carbs were wrong. Even if that's what it says on the package. Some cereals and fruit cups are wrong too...

BTW, Seth had a sleepover last night, he doesn't get donuts very often (Not because of D though) He had three of them, about 3 inches across each, this morning and was low just before lunch....

[BRANDYB]

You are mom-not the nurse!!!:mad: It is not her business on how you deal with your child. You probably have more experience with d than she does:mad:

[wilf]

BTW, Seth had a sleepover last night, he doesn't get donuts very often (Not because of D though) He had three of them, about 3 inches across each, this morning and was low just before lunch....

... so are you saying the three 3" donuts made him go low? LOLOL

I think it's worth thinking about the fact that donuts and other high white flour, high fat, high sugar, high carb, high glycemic index foods are HARD to get exactly right when bolusing - and that maybe the time to have them is as a treat on weekends, rather than leaving it to the school nurse to deal with the fall out from having them as breakfast on a school day..

[Heather(CA)]

... so are you saying the three 3" donuts made him go low? LOLOL

I think it's worth thinking about the fact that donuts and other high white flour, high fat, high sugar, high carb, high glycemic index foods are HARD to get exactly right when bolusing - and that maybe the time to have them is as a treat on weekends, rather than leaving it to the school nurse to deal with the fall out from having them as breakfast on a school day..

I hear you, BUT, once in a while wont hurt anything...I really think the carbs were wrong, maybe it only worked out on Sat. because there was more exercise involved? The school year is half over, it obviously isn't a habit for Livie to eat donuts before school...The nurse should just be quiet, I would help her understand that if it was me...Gently, the first time;)

[funnygrl]

Maybe it's just me, but I can't figure out how to properly cover donuts for breakfast. I need some sort of protein or I go high or low. But then again, some days I skip breakfast all together, and I'm fine with that.

I'm a big fan of treats once in awhile, but I need to be careful with things like this.

I see where the nurse was out of line, but with a bs nearing 500, I can see where she was concerned.

[wilf]

I hear you, BUT, once in a while wont hurt anything...I really think the carbs were wrong, maybe it only worked out on Sat. because there was more exercise involved? The school year is half over, it obviously isn't a habit for Livie to eat donuts before school...The nurse should just be quiet, I would help her understand that if it was me...Gently, the first time;)

Gently is always good the first time. But I'm not sure the nurse is doing her job if she stays quiet, though for sure she needs to be more diplomatic. This is a complex question, and I'm not sure the appropriate response is as straightforward as some have indicated.

[Heather(CA)]

Gently is always good the first time. But I'm not sure the nurse is doing her job if she stays quiet, though for sure she needs to be more diplomatic. This is a complex question, and I'm not sure the appropriate response is as straightforward as some have indicated.

We will have to agree to disagree on this one....:cwds:

[momofsingingdiabetic]

I hear you, BUT, once in a while wont hurt anything...I really think the carbs were wrong, maybe it only worked out on Sat. because there was more exercise involved? The school year is half over, it obviously isn't a habit for Livie to eat donuts before school...The nurse should just be quiet, I would help her understand that if it was me...Gently, the first time;)

I'm with you Heather. My observance would be too: How often does Livie have that high of sugar readings at school. If it were an everyday occurrance, then I can see a need for concern on the nurse's part. We went through half a school year with the N**i nurse from H***. A good part of these school nurses are book trained only in diabetic care and haven't a clue how diabetes may vary from one child to the next. I think it probably could have been handled much different...maybe the nurse was just having a bad day.

[Livie's Mom]

I didn't think you all would flame me and I'm grateful to have this site for info. I just know that with the nurse coming down on me I wasn't ready to hear anymore "don't feed that" to your kid. I know she has diabetes and I should watch more closely what she eats but she's a kid and I don't want to take that away from her. I want her to feel like any other kid - if she wants it - fine - we just compensate for it. I'm not one to say NO you have diabetes you shouldn't eat that. It's not fair. Thank you so much for your reply

[Livie's Mom]

This was only her 2nd high reading. The first one was around September and it was around 300. Don't remember what she had that day but otherwise her BS is around 90-120 around lunch time. After lunch is a different story. At least twice a week her BS drops to around 60 for snack time which is 3 hours after lunch.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

the point of her post wasn't the donut thing anyway. The nurse doesn't belong telling her what to eat for any meal.. There are definitely kids that end their lunch, every single day, with a brownie, a cupcake, some sort of 'treat'. does the nurse call these parents? NO.. the only difference is, is a child with diabetes need to get insulin for it, that the other kids body is producing naturally.. we all know that kids shouldn't eat donuts every day.. we all know to balance out our kids meals. Kaylee's dr. cde and nurse have all said, feed her what she wants, don't treat her different. Well, if Jaylin's having a donut, Kaylee's having a donut.. we cover it and move on.. does this mean she's getting a donut every day, nope..

it doesn't matter what every one's interpretation of 'feed her whatever she wants' is.. the point is the nurse crossed the line.

[Rachel]

Gently is always good the first time. But I'm not sure the nurse is doing her job if she stays quiet, though for sure she needs to be more diplomatic. This is a complex question, and I'm not sure the appropriate response is as straightforward as some have indicated.

I am with Wilf on this one. Granted, I have no experience with a school nurse, yet ... but, back to the original request for advice: I would try to think this through from the perspective of the nurse. As a school nurse, her job is to help make sure that the kids in her care have the best shot at learning each day. Perhaps she was stressed by seeing such a high number (I would be), knew that it would be hard for your daughter to learn at that level, was worried about giving so much insulin (I would be), was genuinely caring about your child, and just wishing for one less variable in the crazy Diabetes equation. I can see her thinking: so many other things can go wrong and impact the numbers ... why add in a wild card at the start of the day and leave me to deal with it?

Her communication skills were clearly lacking, but perhaps her heart was in the right place. I'd assume so, unless this became a clear pattern.

I am all for giving kids food choices, but within limits. I try my best to not throw wild card foods before passing my child into someone else's care. And this is particularly true for breakfast, which sets the tone for the day, in terms of bg. So I'd have done the donuts - but after school or on a weekend - when I can be the one to follow up on it.

[Lee]

Livie's Mom - if this is only the second time your child has been high - then you are doing an amazing job.

Donuts are not evil...you probably read the carbs right since it was the 2nd time she had them...can you say fluke?

As for not giving donuts on a school day to avoid highs, that is BS (not blood sugar this time!)...you DID NOT do anything wrong. It upsets me that some comments feel judgmental about what you fed your daughter...you did not expect her to go high, she hasn't before, so why would you avoid it? The nurse WAS out of place. It is her job to be concerned and to take care of your daughter. My question is, what would she have blamed it on if Livie would not have told her about the donuts...

ALL OF OUR KIDS have unexplained highs. It does not mean that we did anything wrong, counted anything wrong, or dosed anything wrong. It means that our kids have Type 1 Diabetes and that is life. If you would have said she goes high alot on donuts, then maybe you could have avoided them for school, but she has never had this BS reaction before.

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

Karee~
You are the parent. You feed your child what you want, when you want. No need to explain to us or anyone else what she ate, how many, or how many times she was high after breakfast.
Her job as a school nurse is to physically care for your child. If she needs 20 units, she needs to give your daughter twenty units. This nurse wouldn't be telling the doctors in the ER what to do, what instrument to use, so why is she telling you?
My daughter has the high sugary cereal almost every morning. Most of the time she's back in range, we have an occasional high, we have an occasional low. Keep doing what your doing! Your a wonderful mother!!!

[frizzyrazzy]

the point of her post wasn't the donut thing anyway. The nurse doesn't belong telling her what to eat for any meal.. There are definitely kids that end their lunch, every single day, with a brownie, a cupcake, some sort of 'treat'. does the nurse call these parents? NO.. the only difference is, is a child with diabetes need to get insulin for it, that the other kids body is producing naturally.. we all know that kids shouldn't eat donuts every day.. we all know to balance out our kids meals. Kaylee's dr. cde and nurse have all said, feed her what she wants, don't treat her different. Well, if Jaylin's having a donut, Kaylee's having a donut.. we cover it and move on.. does this mean she's getting a donut every day, nope..

it doesn't matter what every one's interpretation of 'feed her whatever she wants' is.. the point is the nurse crossed the line.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

The issue is not the donuts - and the OP said "no flaming" she wasn't asking for justification for feeding her child what she did. She thinks those occasional treats are fine - others disagree - but that's not the point. She was asking for advice on the nurse. Simple. The nurse has no business telling her what to feed her child.

[xnt578]

actually the nurse to a certain point does have the right, lets remember it is the nurse that has to clean up the mess when things like this happen.

If the nurse has multiple kids to watch all do react differently and the nurse will never have the insight we as parents do when it comes do treating both highs and lows. Even CDE's leave much to be desired when it comes to real life daily treatment, they understand the mechanics and can teach the techniques but it is always different in the field.

Also I have to agree with carb counts for donuts, could be anywhere from 20-45 carbs per donut depending on size and type

[allisa]

Wow...I gotta admit I did NOT read all five pages of responses....but I'll just throw mine in for the heck of it.

I wouldn't BLAST the nurse or even be angry.....what's the point ?

In a way you agree with her, that is why you don't give her donuts every day.....I'd say your better response is to AGREE with her that donuts are a doozy, then say "that is why we don't do it often. If I do it again, I'll be sure to give you a heads up"

Clearly she's not correct to tell you what to feed your child.....but by your saying that, you validate her feelings while letting her know that all decisions are yours and you'll just clue her in to what decision you have made.

You don't need to battle with her over your menu choices....it'll just cause hurt feelings all the way around. And really, it's almost the same as US PARENTS feeling frustrated when the kids are eating cupcakes and hi sugar drinks at a school party....we just appreciate and want some advance notice and a "heads up"

Sounds like you handled it well.....

[SLevesque]

The clearest advice someone gave us when our son went on the pump was that he could eat anything he wanted, we just had to cover for it. However, they further said just because you could does not mean you should and good nutrition habits are a lifelong process for all of us. If Will wants a treat, he gets it and he corrects, but if he keep asking for treats, he gets a standard lecture about eating well, and nine times out of 10, he agrees. This works because he is 12 and a smart kid. I understand it may not work for younger children or someone not as self-motivated. And none of this has stopped Will from sneaking Halloween candy from his brothers, which we find out about later when his sugars are high, "for no reason Mom and Dad," candy wrappers around the house notwithstanding.

Having said all this, it is not the nurse's business to criticize what you did on a particular day. They don't know the totality of dealing with this. On the one hand you want to invite them over one night and let them do the 2:30 blood sugar check and then argue about pancakes the next morning at 6 when you can't see straight. On the other hand, and I am not an eve-handed person, some people will never understand and it's not worth effort to try and make them do so.

[Lee]

[QUOTE=allisa;88516]I'd say your better response is to AGREE with her that donuts are a doozy, then say "that is why we don't do it often. If I do it again, I'll be sure to give you a heads up"


Sounds like a great response!

[Heather(CA)]

Livie's Mom - if this is only the second time your child has been high - then you are doing an amazing job.

Donuts are not evil...you probably read the carbs right since it was the 2nd time she had them...can you say fluke?

As for not giving donuts on a school day to avoid highs, that is BS (not blood sugar this time!)...you DID NOT do anything wrong. It upsets me that some comments feel judgmental about what you fed your daughter...you did not expect her to go high, she hasn't before, so why would you avoid it? The nurse WAS out of place. It is her job to be concerned and to take care of your daughter. My question is, what would she have blamed it on if Livie would not have told her about the donuts...

ALL OF OUR KIDS have unexplained highs. It does not mean that we did anything wrong, counted anything wrong, or dosed anything wrong. It means that our kids have Type 1 Diabetes and that is life. If you would have said she goes high alot on donuts, then maybe you could have avoided them for school, but she has never had this BS reaction before.

If your refering to my post about the carbs being wrong...I meant on the package, not that mom did it wrong. I think I remember having a simular experience....:cwds:

[Lee]

Oh - I wasn't referring to any particular post at all...I said I didn't think she counted them wrong since she had done it earlier in the week with no problem. I just wrote that becuase after reading what everyone said, I was kinda suprised. It just goes to show, not only does YDMV fit here, but your ideas may vary also. It always surprises me when people don't think Like I do! Isn't that awful...:o

[3js]

I think the nurse was way out of line. The nurse`s job is to treat the high or low, not discern bg trends and advise on menuplanning.

Sometimes our kids will be high from food, and sometimes they will be high (or low) and we won`t know why. It is part- a BIG part- of having diabetes.

I personally would be terribly annoyed at this. We micromanage our kids diets: weighing, counting carbs, planning for exercise, getting up in the middle of the night to test. And then someone comes along and says basically, "no highs on my watch" ???? Life with d is just NOT that black and white.

[Heather(CA)]

This was only her 2nd high reading. The first one was around September and it was around 300. Don't remember what she had that day but otherwise her BS is around 90-120 around lunch time. After lunch is a different story. At least twice a week her BS drops to around 60 for snack time which is 3 hours after lunch.

Hmmm, after reading this I wonder if the high just freaked her out because she's not used to seeing it...And doesn't want to see it again??? She was still out of line, especially since it's not a habit. She just wasn't thinking:rolleyes:

[mom2kenny]

cosmic brownies, honey buns, swiss rolls, cookies, kenny always has something sweet in his lunch every day! Oh, and he has chips too, but i do give him turkey on wheat, LOL His school nurse told me he needs a healthier diet, all the while she was scarfing down black licorice! I just ignore her advice about his diet

[hughsfan30]

Hello
I feel your pain. I am forever dealing with the school "nurses aide" telling me what I should and shouldnt do. I finally had to have the doctor write it out that what I was doing was correct. About a year after my son was diagnosed his school actually reported me to CPS (child protective services) stating his blood levels were out of control. Nothing came of it as clearly we were doing everything we were supposed to, but you know that people who dont live with it always think they know best!
Hang tough, sounds like you are doing right by your child!

[Mama Belle]

Personally I say "sc**w the nurse" (Sorry, does that count as flaming? :p )

Seriously, it isn't your fault that she spiked, it is the diabetes fault. Does she tell all of the other kids at the school what to eat for breakfast? I highly doubt it. Let's compare apples to apples, shall we? Say she has a kid with asthma at the school, we'll call him Johnny. When he goes out to recess and runs around (like all the other kids) and then experiences an asthma attack, does she call his mommy and say, "Can you please talk to little Johnny about not running around at recess anymore?" I doubt it. All the other kids do it without any issues. He's just trying to be a normal kid, experiencing normal things in a healthy way. Your daughter is doing the exact same thing. Someone said something on here once (Badshoe maybe, I dunno I can't remember) about how sometimes you just have to say "It's the diabetes, stupid!" That's true. The donuts could have been the cause of the high, but so could a million other things. But ultimately, when you boil it all down, she wouldn't have had the high BG if she didn't have diabetes. She needs to get used to the idea of seeing highs. It is going to happen way more often than twice in 3 months. If she thinks otherwise, she's about to have a very rude awakening.

Those little donut gems probably aren't the best thing to give any kid, but I guaranty you that every single kid in Samantha's classroom has had them (or something worse) for breakfast, probably several times since the start of school. That doesn't make it right, but it does mean that letting your kid have donut gems ever so often isn't going to kill her. The more the nurse obsesses about every little number, the more she is teaching Livie that the diabetes controls her, not the other way around. To be honest, many health food cereals spike Samantha way higher than a donut. Yet what do you find in the food pyramid, that's right "whole grains, such as cereal".

Bottom line, you're right, she's wrong. She's your kid and you can feed her whatever you think is the best thing for her overall health and well-being, which sometimes means considering her emotional well-being, not just her physical well-being.

ETA: Personally I think feeding a lower fat diet is of much more importance than avoiding the occasional sugar spike. I've seen first hand the effects that a high fat diet can have on a person with D. I'd rather avoid that if possible. Eggs and bacon aren't exactly low fat.

[czardoust]

I feed Kat eggs, bacon, or eggs and hotdogs (you know scrambled together), but i also let her have the homemade biscuits, just cover for what she eats. that way as she needs insulin thru out the school day, the protein helps her level out, not drop real fast after a dosage. At all costs, i try to not feed her just carby breads (grits, oatmeal, cream of wheat, toast, biscuits with no protein at all)for breakfast because when that happens, she bottoms out after getting insulin when shes treated for anything she eats, or for when her sugar just decides to "rise" because it feels like it. But its up to you. I would be kind of ticked off if my school nurse tried to dictate to me what i should feed my child. That wouldnt fly.

[dnkool]

IMHO? You do what is best for you and your family. You are the Mother and you know what is best. I do not see how the Nurse or School has ANY say in how you treat your childs D. That is between you, your child and the Doctor. NOT a school nurse.

[Lee]

Hello
I feel your pain. I am forever dealing with the school "nurses aide" telling me what I should and shouldnt do. I finally had to have the doctor write it out that what I was doing was correct. About a year after my son was diagnosed his school actually reported me to CPS (child protective services) stating his blood levels were out of control. Nothing came of it as clearly we were doing everything we were supposed to, but you know that people who dont live with it always think they know best!
Hang tough, sounds like you are doing right by your child!


This happened at the school I was in to a friend of ours - the nurse reported her to Child Protective because her blood sugar was not stable...that is why, when my baby was diagnosed, we switched her to the school in her Dad's town instead...I saw upclose (she was my oldests best friend) what was being done to this family by the nurse, I just couldn't deal with it and we had already started talking about the move anyway based on academics...

Oh yeah...add 45 minutes to my commute, but ssssoooo worth it!