{"id":6756,"date":"2019-11-07T10:05:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T15:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=6756"},"modified":"2020-07-13T14:46:15","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T18:46:15","slug":"sleepover-tips-juvenile-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/sleepover-tips-juvenile-diabetes\/","title":{"rendered":"How to handle overnight stays for children with diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

When her 9-year-old daughter Addison came home from her first slumber party, \u201cshe was so excited,\u201d explains Sarah Paul, of Germantown, Wisconsin. \u201cShe finally got to be with her friends at someone else\u2019s house. She knew it was a big step.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Addison has lived with type 1 diabetes (T1D) since age 2 and a half. She has worn life-saving technology to give her insulin and monitor fluctuating blood glucose levels since age 3. But she had never been to a sleepover.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Children with type 1 diabetes don\u2019t produce insulin, a hormone that converts food into energy. Without insulin\u2014or enough insulin\u2014food is converted into glucose (or sugar), but the body can\u2019t use it. Excess glucose can cause diabetic ketoacidosis. Low blood glucose can cause confusion, sweating, shakiness, loss of consciousness, and seizures. Both ends of the spectrum can be dangerous, even fatal,\u00a0 and need immediate treatment\u2014sometimes even a trip to the hospital for regulation.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a safe slumber party, the child <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> the hosting parents need to know how to monitor blood sugar levels and how to treat high or lows accordingly. It can be scary for parents of kids with childhood diabetes. But, there is always a way to make things work so kids with juvenile diabetes can participate in sleepovers, camps, or other activities that involve staying elsewhere overnight independently.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>Your child was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. What’s next?<\/a><\/p>\n

How to prepare for a sleepover with juvenile diabetes<\/b><\/h2>\n

Just like every other aspect of living with childhood diabetes, preparation for an overnight stay is key. \u201cEvery family is different, but if you would have said yes to a sleepover without diabetes, then you work to say yes to it with diabetes,\u201d says Diane Herbert, a certified diabetes educator and principal of <\/span>E1c Matters<\/span><\/a>, a diabetes consulting and advocacy firm based in Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best way to prepare? Diabetes experts\u2014and parents who have been through it\u2014shared these steps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Host a slumber party, or start with a \u201csleep-under.\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cSome parents do sleep-unders,\u201d Herbert recommends. This is where the child stays at the friend\u2019s house late, changes into pajamas, but goes home before actually going to bed. \u201cDoing a sleepover largely depends on the age of the child,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before her first stay at a friend\u2019s house, Sarah\u2019s daughter Addison had been allowed to have friends sleep at her house\u2014but she couldn\u2019t stay at their houses until she knew how to test her own blood sugar levels and how to treat high or low levels accordingly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do a test run to build independence before the overnight stay.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

If your kid manages his or her own juvenile diabetes, by self-testing blood glucose levels, making insulin dosing decisions based on what is eaten, and\/or changing out the insulin pump components independently, it\u2019s time to test it at home at night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPick the day of the event, back off by a month or so, and get everybody ready and comfortable,\u201d Herbert says. \u201cBuild the skills over time. The time to learn it is not the day of the sleepover.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Talk to the host parents about T1D responsibilities.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Addison\u2019s mother wanted to feel comfortable about the hosting parents\u2019 understanding of the responsibility involved with juvenile diabetes. \u201cHer friend\u2019s mother contacted me and asked if Addison could come over and we had a discussion from there,\u201d Sarah says. \u201cShe knew nothing about diabetes, and I went to her house and showed her the devices Addison uses. The mother got a quick lowdown of how they worked, had extra juice on hand, and said she would keep her phone on all night in case I needed to contact her.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt a minimum, the parents of the children with diabetes should write out an emergency plan for the host parents,\u201d says Anastasia Albanese-O\u2019Neil, a certified diabetes educator and a clinical assistant professor and the director of diabetes education and clinic operations at the University of Florida.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Write a list of what to do in certain scenarios.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cIt should include how to check for and treat severe low blood glucose, symptoms of ketones [which appear in urine or blood when levels are high] and the names and phone numbers of who to contact for help,\u201d says Albanese-O\u2019Neil.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pack everything your child will need to successfully self-manage their condition.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

This can include:<\/span><\/p>\n