Breakfast is certainly one of those meals that can make or break the day.
In-Range Blood Sugar:
Yay!! You (and your Child) had a wonderful night and they woke up with target BG (or within their target range)! Fantastic news.
- Pair with a protein. Something you can heat quick that doesn't take a lot of time on a school day. Example: sausage links, eggs, or reheat bacon.
- Add a fruit to the plate. It goes without saying that a balanced plate is important, fruit can add some fiber to help slow carb digestion.
- Pre-bolus. The amount of time will vary and depends on your child's body. You will need to test pre-bolus times and know that they can change for the type of food that is being eaten. The objective is to time the insulin and pair the digestion (glucose entering the blood stream) with insulin.
- Add a few carbs to the equation. Some breakfast items may require different ratios. Instead try adding a few empty carbs to the total carb count (to increase the amount of insulin they get), by just a little bit. An extra 3, 4, 5 carbs can do a lot of difference.
If your child is like mine and likes to get up and eat right away, try this tip. On the weekends, he does tend to be a little slower in rushing to eat breakfast. This works well for us during the week since I am up much before him anyway. Pre-bolus while they are still sleeping! During the week, he wakes up at 7:00 am, so about 6:50 or so I will dose him for breakfast. This is a great way to get insulin started before eating higher glycemic foods, like cereal, English Muffins, or cinnamon buns!
Out-Of-Range (Hypo) Blood Sugar:
If your child has woken up with, or has a low blood sugar number, before breakfast. Try some of these
- If they are trending low, or on the lower side, offer fruit as a way to treat the low blood sugar, with their breakfast (uncovered). No need to treat and then offer food that can do the same thing. Do not use if they are dangerously low. If this is the case, treat the low then have them eat the food.
- Reduce bolus or short some of the carbs to equalize blood sugars.
- Do not pre-bolus! Unless you've treated a low and they are on the rebound...but do not add a correction for the rising number!
- They freeze well. Keep some out for snacking, put the rest in the freezer. Pop them frozen in the lunchbox and they're defrosted by lunch.
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Out-Of-Range (Hyper) Blood Sugar:
My son LOVES cereal, and Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins for breakfast. And using the methods above, I am on-board with letting him eat what he loves, even if it’s not low carb…unless his BG is high!
Don’t make the mistake of piling high glycemic foods on top of a high blood sugar. This will result in a rough day and rollercoaster you and your Type 1 all day.
- It's tough to have your Type 1 wait for food, especially when they're hungry, but in-range numbers are essential before eating breakfast. Give a correction dose and let it do it's job prior to eating.
- Pre-bolus according to BG number and food choice. Remember as noted above, this will be totally dependant on your child and their body's absorbtion.
- Make the best choice for your child. On days when my son wakes up Hyperglycemic, we opt for our low carb favorites: Cake Batter Pancakes, Low Carb Waffles, or Zero Carb French Toast. I love these recipes because you can make a batch or two of each and keep them in the freezer for these types of days. It doesn't have to to be something they eat ALL the time.
- Have a discussion with your child, letting them know and giving them the space to start to understand why they "can't" have cereal or a high glycemic breakfast selection. It is not punishment, but explain that sometimes their are better choices depending on their blood sugar and that it isn't because of anything they did wrong.
Pro Tip
Freeze bread and and English Muffins after you purchase them. This helps reduce the Resistant Starch found in these items which leads to a huge blood sugar spike and stubbornly high blood glucose levels after.
Wrapping Up:
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Lemon drops croissant pastry cotton candy. Tart gummi bears tart powder. Jelly-o lollipop cotton candy.
Toffee dragée liquorice tart jelly wafer toffee macaroon gummies. Tootsie roll gummi bears marzipan candy bonbon croissant bonbon lollipop.
Cupcake candy canes bear claw bear claw. Brownie oat cake biscuit fruitcake. Biscuit marzipan lollipop cupcake jujubes soufflé. Gummies cake marzipan.
Liquorice cheesecake icing. Biscuit pudding cheesecake gummi bears. Dessert muffin jelly-o cupcake sweet candy jelly-o cake.
