Do you test EVERY night?

This is definitely a helpful thread... we had mixed feelings about whether to check/not check and how frequently... she's on a very low dose of Lantus right now (2 units) and typically her 2am check # is frequently between 120-160 if she goes to bed under 180. She usually wakes (I say 'usually' but by that I mean 'lately' lol it sometimes changes week to week you know how it is) between 80-120. If that stays consistent along with our meals I do take a night off.. but I might just reconsider. Right now we have a relatively controlled environment since she's in honeymoon and on lantus and is 3 - so she eats like 6 different foods ever (yep, I've got that child). But I know as she grows and changes her diabetes will too... hard to hear but helpful info here.

 

My son used to wake up and freak with the testing now he sleeps through anything. We have tested every night for the last 3 years. His endo says we can stop but like others have said I have caught many highs and lows during my night lurking

I am really tired and not sure you ever get used to the 24/7 demands of this disease but we do what we need to to keep our kids healthy.

 

You will find a solution that works best for you and your family. I test every night, multiple times a night and have done so the last 5 years since she was dx. I do it because I can prevent her from being high all night and also can catch potentially dangerous lows. Is it hard? Yes. Am I tired a lot of the time? Yes. But it is worth it to me to have the knowledge that I am doing all I can to keep her safe and healthy.

The first month or so she would wake up every night screaming and crying about getting tested. As time went on that stopped and now she never wakes up and barely stirs.

Time is a great healer. You are in the early days and they are tough. As time goes on you will become much more comfortable doing the things you need to do. .

 

We test every night. As I've said many times, you wouldn't go that long during the day without testing, so why would you at night? Diabetes doesn't go to bed when you do, unfortunately.

That being said, testing at night is one of the biggest challenges, because it does really wreck havoc with our sleep patterns. There have been nights when I've slept right through the alarm, and my husband too. As for your child waking, that's a tough one. My daughter would wake up and fight some nights, then she started sleeping on her hands. Now, she will hear me come in, when the lancet clicks in place, she juts her hand out from under the blankets Rarely will she wake up now. In the beginning, I would go in and softly say, "I'm going to test now." I would take her hand and just gently rub it first and then do the test. I guess it kind of prepared her for what would come next and she accepted it much easier.

You're early in on this journey. You will find what works best for you all.
Hang in there.

 

We test EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT.:cwds:, at least once and sometimes twice. Initially we were told we didn't need to by the endo, and that my son would wake up if he was low. Well, he doesn't...I have caught lows in the 60's and he is peacefully sleeping away. So if it's been a relatively stable day I may check once, but if he's been having quirky numbers I'll check twice.

It makes it worth it when I catch a low and can treat him. I've just gotten used to the sleep deprivation. I do most (if not all the checks) so I've just adapted to being tired. Maybe one day we'll get a CGM and I'll sleep a little better...

As far as waking my DS up, I never wake him up. On the off chance he pulls his hand away from me, I tell him "I need to check you" and he relaxes. Like another poster says, I think his brain hears me in his sleep. Also, I treat his lows and sit him up to eat/drink and then put him back to bed and most times he doesn't even remember anything in the morning.

Good Luck!

 

We check every night as well, but usually around 12-1 (before I go to bed). With the CGM now, I find that if the trending is matching up nicely and I am able to see her not dropping low I will check her around 12, if she is fluctuating I will check her later or a few times that night.

It has gotten to the point now that based on the day and what her number was when she went to bed, I can usually tell what she will be when I check her.

 

I check my ds every night at 12am. In the beginning I didn't. When he started needing insulin to cover his bed time snack (no more freebie for being under 150 at bed time) I started checking. All was good for a while. Then we had several nights when I checked him and he was at 50 for no good reason. He had dosed what he was supposed to and had not had exercise. That was when I decided that I would check him no matter what. He doesn't really wake up when I check him. He just kinda flops his hand over the side of the bed. If he is low and needs to drink a juice box, he is barely awake and then rolls over and returns to sleep. Whether or not I check him again depends on how low he was. If he is below 100 I will stay up and check him again around 1:30ish. If he is over 100 and I feel that the juice box will keep him higher the rest of the night, I wont check him again. Also depends on his activities for the day. Everyone will find what works for their situation.

 

Hi,
Our son was dx a little over 4 years ago, and our endo at the time told us overnight testing was not needed.

After several scary lows, that he woke from we understood, that while the endo may not think it is necessary .. For us it was and still is. We later learned he was not waking for most of the lows, and that is very dangerous.
His insulin needs change and the day is not a good indicator of his needs at night.

We use a cgm now, but if it was not available for some reason, we would test at midnight and again at 3:30 and at 6 am waking time.
Our son is often the most sensitive to insulin and is most likely to go low around 4 am. We learned that he would go low and then experience the dawn phenomenon. Neither was good for him.
Each child will be different and over time this will change. What works for us, may or may not work for you.
Once we saw those lows at 4 am we started taking turns. Now we rotate nights. Neither of us like it, and it does disrupt your sleep and you are tired, but for us we test. It was harder before the pump( more lows and highs) but it is never easy and there is not a way to make it so there are no highs and lows... It is just part of the disease for us .

 

I check at midnight every night and decide at that point if I need to get up at 2 or 3am and recheck. He was diagnosed 5 years ago.

 

I check at midnight and then decide on the 3am check.

 

We also check every night. And when I say we I guess I really should say I. just last night I caught a low at 35! When her bg was at 118 at 10pm. If I didn't check I wouldn't have found that low. I also check when I go to bed at 11 ish. If I don't check her and I am awake, I can't sleep anyways so the peace if mind is worth the wake up. Usually I fall back to sleep okay...as long as there is not other things on my kind

She also sleeps through checks now and even responds by adjusting when I bed to get to her pump etc. she used to wake up but at 2 years in she is pretty much used to it.

it gets better, you will adjust.

 

Every night at least twice, sometimes more depending on what's going on. And this is WITH a Dexcom .

Your body will get used to it. There have been some nights where my hubby will offer to do it so I can get a full nights rest and do you know I DRAG the next day?

 

My son stays up so late that he is doing the middle of the night test before he goes to bed.

Something to look forward to!

 

Ha! This is true here as well. I will do a morning check when I wake up if he is sleeping in, but generally there is no middle of the night check because he's often awake in the middle of the night!

I only check if there are other factors going on: regimen changes, illness, sports games, etc. He's good about telling me when he needs a check, or he sets an alarm.

 

Yep, test every night... depending on what his number is when he goes to bed, what time he goes to bed, etc. Sometimes I will check twice a night, I set my cell phone alarm... Sometimes he likes to use the punching bag at 9 pm ; and then i know there will be a low coming a few hours later, while he is sleeping... he usually wakes up from the low, but not always. So, if i have to treat, and retest, I will be up again a few hours later to check him again... I use to sleep 8 hours uninterupted at night... but, things changed... sometimes I sleep thru my cell alarm and then I feel mighty guilty.

 

And this too!! On weekends and on some school breaks!

 

Have always checked mine since diagnosis. One was 10 months at diag. and other 3 years old. I never woke them up at night when I checked. They never woke up or completely up. They might roll over that was it. Even when low for my younger one I would give yogurt in his sleep he would swallow.
I have always done all checks because I don't work and my husband does. Well, I work but don't get paid. LOL
I have taken a short nap before if I am tired. Have gotten used to it I guess.

I have caught bad lows and highs in the past.

 

I check Ashleigh usually twice during the night. Most of the time it's around Midnight and 3 or 4am. if she's spending the night at her friend's house. I'll call her on the cell phone and have her check her own blood sugar at those times.

 

i do all of the night testing. Ashleigh doesn't like my husband checking her sugar. She says it hurts more when he does it. At first she would wake up with every test, which is why she hated me testing her at night. But eventually she started sleeping through the testing. It's pretty rare now that's she'll wake up when i test her. And i know what you mean about no sleep. Not only do i test Ashleigh twice at night but my 2 year old is still not sleeping through the night! My kids were all terrible sleepers. ashleigh didn't start sleeping through the night until she was around 4 years old.

 

My daughter was dxd a week after turning 3 yrs old. I have tested/responded to CGMS almost every night since. I can honestly say there is probably only about one night a month when I don't have to do something for her... correct a high, treat a low, use a temp basal, etc. Before our cgms about 3 yrs ago, the only nights I didn't test in two yrs were the nights I slept through an alarm and woke in a panic. Eventually, she will sleep right through it all and you will adjust to the interrupted cycle. Juice boxes are my first choice for overnight lows as I can just slide the straw in her mouth and she sucks it down without even waking up. Lol

Just because my daughter doesn't eat overnight, doesn't mean she will remain stable. Stress from a crummy day, excitement about something upcoming, fatty dinner, oncoming illness etc. All the factors make my head spin.