What do diabetic kids do on Halloween?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired (somewhat) by this thread.

First, a little background, so bear with me: I can’t have sugar. Ok, I CAN, but I simply have no control over it and I’ve learned that my life (and health) is better without it. I’m not diabetic, and that’s part of the reason why I avoid sugar – I’m at very high risk for getting diabetes, and I’ve seen what it can do to people.

I work with a particularly close-knit group of awesome people. It’s common knowledge at the office that Panda can’t have sugar … aaaand it’s ignored. When we have parties, for example, nobody ever brings anything sugar-free. I had to stop them this year from getting me a birthday cake. When there’s a candy-related holiday, I get stuff I can’t have. Don’t get me wrong - of course I appreciate the gesture, but it’d be nice for people to show a little consideration.

I know this sounds silly but when people do remember, it gives me a warm fuzzy. Weird, I know. I also go out of my way to make sure I don’t offer food to people they can’t have, and when we have parties at work I try to bring a dish almost anyone can eat (no nuts, no pork, no sugar, etc.).

So last night while PandaKid was out trick or treating I started thinking about how it must SUCK to be a diabetic kid on Halloween night …

… or does it?

What do kids with diabetes do on Halloween? I’d think most kids with diabetes are type 1 and therefore would simply have to adjust their insulin to accommodate all the sugar they’re eating – or do some of them have to just stay away from it altogether?

If you’re the parent of a diabetic child – would you (or your child) welcome the option of getting sugar-free candy (or something non-candy yet completely kickass) on Halloween night? Or is it simply not necessary, or would it make them feel singled out, or what?

I’m asking this because I’m about to buy a house and next year will be the first year in a looooooong time that I’ll have trick-or-treaters to spoil. :slight_smile:

2

I don’t know what diabetic kid’s parental units do, but my kid was very allergic to milk (chocolate haahahahah) and peanuts. We let her trick or treat with the absolute rule that she not eat anything til we vetted it when she got home. Then we traded one for one the bad stuff for stuff that she could eat. No problems.

I assume that parental units of diabetic kids do something similar. YMMV.:cool:

3

I asked a co-worker whose 8 year old daughter is Type I. He said that they go ToTing but when they get home, Mom and Dad swap out candy in her bag for a pre-arranged treat, usually non-food.

I did the Trunk-or-Treat thing this year. I had Halloween themed pencils and erasers, some rubber balls and stickers along with candy and (at the suggestion of another Doper) some string cheese. As a Type II myself, I know that the low-fat protein of the string cheese is an acceptable snack for someone who has to watch carbs. Not sure if any of the kids who I passed out treats to were diabetic, but if any were, they got something they could eat* or play with.

*I had stuff set out on my tailgate and told the kids to pick two. The funky erasers were extremely popular. Only one stick of string cheese was left.

4

NETA: We also had a variety of treats for the kiddies including Happy Meal toys and crayons for those that didn’t want or couldn’t have candy.

5

I think most parents just arrange a swap, though I saw a mom of a gluten-intolerant kid just figure out something else fun to do (apparently the kid couldn’t have any of the candy).

My own kid is highly allergic to nuts, so when we go trick-or-treating, she can’t have anything until I check it (though now she’s quite old enough to know that she can have Nerds and Starburst). We take out almost all the chocolate. She and her sister both give up all nutty candy, and then they trade for the iffy things that Sis can have that she cannot (for example Milky Ways–not nutty, but contaminated).

6

A type I diabetic kid can count carbs and check their glucose levels and dose insulin appropriately, and eat their treats and keep their blood sugar within reasonable levels.

They just shouldn’t do such pigging out real often.

Neither should non-diabetic kids.

7

My niece is gluten, soy, and dairy free, so there’s very little candy she can have. My sister takes her trick-or-treating, and then when they get home, swaps out everything for skittles and little toys. My niece would rather eat skittles than anything, and she likes toys, so it seems to work out fine.

I suppose for a diabetic kid, the parents just need to be more vigilant about rationing (my other niece, who is not allergic to anything, is allowed one piece of Halloween a night for dessert until it’s gone – she doesn’t know that after she goes to bed her parents tend to raid the bowl so the candy’s gone much sooner than it otherwise would be). I imagine if planned well, many diabetic kids could manage a regimen like that.

8

I have a friend who has a daughter who is allergic to corn. And thus to corn syrup, and thus to candy.

She goes trick or treating, and her parents buy the candy from her. (And eat it).

All have fun that way.

9

I know you’re a doc, Qadgop, and I respect your opinion a lot, but I gotta question whether it’s really that easy. I’ve never been a diabetic kid, and I don’t know any diabetic kids, but I do know that dosing insulin isn’t this cut & dry. The more carbs you eat, the harder it gets. Eating stuff you’re not used to eating is also hard. Through experience, you can figure out how much to dose for just about any food, but I’m guessing most diabetic kids don’t get to pig out on candy a whole lot of the time, and I’d be scared shitless if I was left in charge of a diabetic kid with a sackful of Halloween candy.

One or two pieces? Sure, no problem. Pigging out the way I (and most kids, I’m guessing) used to pig out on Halloween? Really incredibly hard to dose correctly for. At the very least, I’d expect potentially 4-6 (or more) hours of checking blood sugar every 15-30 minutes making sure you didn’t make a mistake.

10

I gave out treat bags, and this year one side of the bags was clear, with a halloween print overlay, so the kids could see what they were getting.

The halloween pencils were INCREDIBLY popular, along with the oddball erasers. The little toys were also greatly appreciated by both kids and parents. I got a bag of pinata filling, a bag of medium quality chocolate, the pencils, and self-inking stamps. Next year, we’re going to pick up at least three bags of pinata filling, and probably some pencils and erasers and some medium quality candy. The pinata filling is about half cheap candy and half cheap toys. Making up treat bags lets me divvy up the goodies so that my husband doesn’t grab a handful from this bag, and a handful from that bag, and drop in a pencil. Several parents thought this was a good idea. And my husband was able to admire the kids’ costumes and talk to them, which he enjoys.

I was sort of worried that nobody would show up. I think that we ran out of goodies in about 75 minutes…we would have had about half of the stuff left over at 10 PM in the old house.

11

That’s the thing, though…if you’re diabetic, you don’t get to pig out. You don’t get to gorge yourself at Halloween and Easter. You eat a small serving of sugar, and adjust for it, and put the rest away for tomorrow. I would imagine that parents of diabetic kids have to stash the candy somewhere and dole it out.

My husband usually gives me several boxes of Godiva chocolates for my birthday, Xmas, Mother’s Day, etc. I keep one box out, and the others stay in the freezer. I eat one or two pieces of chocolate a day. I get my treat without screwing up my blood sugar. Many people think that diabetics can’t have any sugar. We can, but we have to have small servings, and we can’t be constantly nibbling on sugary or carby substances.

12

Anecdotal, but when I was pregnant and on insulin, once I tried to dose for a huge carb overload because I wanted to gorge myself on chocolate chip cookies at my little brother’s birthday party. I took the right amount of insulin based on the ratio I used for all of my other meals. An hour after eating, my blood sugar was like 300 or some crazy thing. But that’s not the bad part; I woke up at 2 AM that night feeling disoriented, and after my husband helped me check my blood sugar (I couldn’t figure out which end of my testing kit was up) it turned out that my blood glucose was at 28. Yes, you read that correctly.

Some OJ and a little time later, I was OK, but it was scary, and I’m pretty sure it had something to do with that massive insulin load I injected earlier in the evening. My experience was definitely that once you reach a certain threshold level of carbohydrate intake, your insulin:carb ratio gets all screwed up and it’s hard to be accurate beyond that point. YMMV, IANAD, etc.

13

There’s also a bunch to do with fats slowing down rates of carbohydrate digestion (which makes stuff like pizza notoriously difficult to dose for), and can lead to highs and subsequent lows like the one you describe.

Keeping my blood sugar stable on a good day is enough of a challenge, adding in pigging out on chocolate, and its really not going to be as easy as just taking the insulin.

14

Yeah, just to add my voice- a diabetic kid goes trick or treating and then doesn’t pig out. Gnat got about three little chocolate bars, which corrected his slight low at dinner, and gets a couple of pieces a day until he forgets or I eat it all.

I agree with [a]Athena** and Mrs.Whatsit- insulin dosing isn’t anything like as predictable as ‘count carbs, adjust dosage’. I wish to hell it was. So far the best we can do is ballpark, with a lot of ‘How the hell did we get that number?’

15

The principle is to avoid gorging, which is unfortunately common at Halloween. But enjoying the goodies in a sane manner is possible.

I’ve been through this with my own kid, who has CFR-diabetes, complete with an insulin pump in the past. Eating ‘treats’ in a controlled fashion while sticking to her basic care plan for exercising, carb counting and dosing and checking and adjusting accordingly didn’t make her glucose skyrocket. The numbers remained acceptable. Ignoring the above practices surely did cause high readings.

If the diabetic is not in good control in the first place, then they’re unlikely to be able to follow that plan.

But it has, in my experience, been counterproductive to forbid kids from enjoying candy in some fashion at times. Giving them a workable program where they can partake to a significant extent is far superior than forbidding it entirely, and have them gorge, cover it up, falsify their numbers, go all ketoacidotic on you, and so forth.

Been there, done that.

16

Type 1 diabetic here! I was diagnosed 3 weeks before Halloween (when I was 10). (BOO!) My dad always sent me out trick or treating, and then when I returned, he gave me a quarter for every piece of candy I collected.

Side note: Dad’s a type 2 diabetic now, so may have not been the best idea.

I think it’s awesome that some folks are giving out toys and other non-sugar treats on Halloween. The diabetics/food allergy sufferers/sugar-haters out there appreciate it.

And yeah, I totally give myself extra insulin now and then and sneak a piece of candy. Or I save up candy and when my blood sugar is low, I go to TOWN on it. But as a little kid, before my parents or I knew how to really control the diabetes, there was a strict no-candy rule for me. But now that I’m an adult, in good control and on the pump, I risk it every now and then.

17

After trick or treating my friend sits down with her (non diabetic) kids and lets them choose a predetermined number of pieces of candy. All of the excess candy Mom buys from them for a requested toy or book.

18

My friends have a son on a restricted diet (many foods cause him various problems), so pretty much all candy is off-limits to him. They take him trick-or-treating, and when they get home he counts his candy and they buy it from him for something like 25 cents a piece. He’s then allowed to spend the money on whatever he’d like to buy (usually Legos). It helps with his math and money skills, but still lets him have the fun of dressing up and going out.

19

There’s a lot of sugar-free candy out there too. Really good too. I’ve heard some diabetics have some trouble with maltitol but there are better brands made with sucralose and erythritol that are so good I can’t tell the difference and my diabetic grandfather loved.
Again of course you can’t gorge, especially when sugar alcohols are involved.

20

They taste great, but the carb count is pretty much the same (or sometimes higher!) than standard candy. So for me, at least, I go with the sugary stuff, seeing as I’m going to have to take Insulin to cover for it anyway.