Tips for hosting a party with a diabetic child?

[RealHousewivesOfTaunton]

DD's friend is coming over for a sleepover party soon. She has type 1 diabetes and I'd like to make sure the party is fun and safe for her. The girls are all 11.

The serious stuff is in hand. Friend's mum is going to give me a full briefing on apps needed, and what to do to time eating, check blood sugars, make sure she's ok and administer medication if necessary. They live just round the corner in case of emergency.

I'm after tips for making the party fun for her. I'd hate for her to feel like she's missing out in any way. Normally I'd supply a ridiculous amount of sweets and snacks and leave them to it, but obviously won't do that this time. It's in half term so Halloween activities like apple-bobbing would be fun, a film's fine and they can do temporary tattoos, make a mummy etc. Are there any other do's and don'ts I should consider? Things you know from experience that people don't take into account, or that you wish people would do?

We have a little friend with T1, I always make sure there’s a fruit and veg platter available, plus cooked meats. Realistically it’s carbs that are the enemy here, so think low carb.

As it’s only a one off when they eat here the parents just keep an eye on consumption and adjust the insulin appropriately.

When they were toddlers, they all had it drilled into them not to give X food without their Mummy or Daddy knowing about it. It was the unknown that was the problem - the known can be medicated.

That's good to know, thankyou. Friend's diabetes diagnosis is relatively recent so the control is still a bit hit and miss. Big swings are definitely to be avoided!

Be careful with fruit- many fruits have a high sugar content. Berries are good.
Be careful with crisps, high carb.
Cheese is good, veg, salad, cold meats, chicken wings, you can also make your own snacks, there are many low carb recipes online.
Hope they have a great time!

I have a type one Dc - he is now 20 so has been diabetic for more than half of his life. The thing he hated the most was being singled out - he could count his carbs and give himself the correct amount of insulin so could eat what the other children could.

I think it is really lovely you are being so considerate but I personally would just ask what the child liked to eat and make sure you have that as you would for any other child.

Carbs are fine as long as you have the nutrition values so the insulin dose can be calculated correctly

I have a DS with T1 and as @stillavid said he hates being singled out or feeling that he is being treated differently. Management of T1 has moved on dramatically over the last decade or so and most T1 children will eat a normal, unrestricted, typical kids diet. So cake and pizza and treats on birthdays exactly like any other child. They or their parent will adjust insulin accordingly to cover any extra carbs - whether that be refined sugars or starchy carbs - so don't worry about changing what you would normally provide 😊

I’d ask mums of the other girls not to send them with loads of snacks, hopefully they’ll understand.

Why not make the evening entertainment more about pampering than food? You could provide some nail varnish, some of those cheap Superdrug face masks.

If you're going to get treats get them in portioned packets! Easier to carb count and dose insulin for, also easier to keep track of what's eaten. So mini bags of sweets/biscuits/anything else.

Have low carb fun snacks too. Cheeses, meats etc. Avoid diabetic specific foods.

Don't make a big thing of it.

Know how to treat a hypo. T
blood sugar wise too low is worse than too high (in the short term)

Berries, individual portion packets, pampering, not making a big deal of it - great, thankyou!

I want to avoid singling them out so all the girls will have the same thing and shouldn't even notice. I'm just going to make sure she sleeps closest to the door to make the middle of the night monitor check easier.

Fantastic - sounds perfect! I can't tell you how lovely it is to know that your T1 child is in safe hands 😊

Talk to her parents about how excitement/ exercise affects blood sugars. My son used to get very overexcited at sleepovers and would plummet. Although the party host was brilliant at testing bloody and giving hypo treatment I often had to collect him in the small hours so we could get a grip on things.

Thankyou for including her. A lot of “friends” dropped my son from play dates when he was diagnosed.

I'm hoping her parents can get a decent night's sleep and not worry too much. TBH, most of what I know about T1 comes from watching Babysitters Club with DD over the last year or so. I had no idea before then that it was such a huge pain to control, or that people lose friends because of it.

I was going to say this. Having had a couple of sleepovers with early teens - you can guarantee sleep will be minimal or non-existent - which can affect glucose levels.

T1 diabetic here since childhood for over 40 years.

What ever you do, providing nothing but low carb will result in hypos ( low blood glucose) low carb for T1D is a complete no no.

Low carb for T2 is fine.

If the young lady is particularly active, her sugars will keep dropping especially whilst her QA insulin is peaking, so having a choice of low GI and high GI foods will be good for her and everyone, if her sugars drop she will need fast acting glucose such as jelly babies or fruit pastels for hypos. Fruit juices are excellent for raising blood glucose

Ice cream of every flavour is great, crackers, breadsticks, garlic bread, cold meats......ask her DM, I'm sure she'll give you some suggestions.

Definitely make it plain to other parents there should be absolutely no sweets or snacks brought in overnight bags, as doing this is the norm for my 11 yo and her friends.

@minipie why? children type one can eat sweets and snacks as long as they take the correct amount of insulin. Please don't make the child with diabetes feel singled out - that is the worst even if it comes from a place of goodness.

Popcorn is a good snack. Also chocolate as a treat works out well if correct insulin given as the fat content of chocolate slows the sugar release I’ve never had issues with it !

I have a close relative with T1 and I second the posters saying - it doesn't really matter what they eat, carbs and sweets are fine, it's about making sure you/she knows the amount of carbs so she can have the right amount of insulin.

So, for you, as someone not experienced in this, I would avoid food where the carbs are harder to estimate and stick with prepared food which is labelled with carb amounts.

At home where her parents will be better at knowing carb levels in their typical meals, home cooked meals will be fine.

@PriyaPT : "I’d ask mums of the other girls not to send them with loads of snacks, hopefully they’ll understand."

I wouldn't do this. All a T1 wants is to feel normal, like pants and livid say. (T1 my whole life, since aged 1).

You sound so lovely and caring. I'm sure she'll have a blast.