PSA: Yes, my child can eat sugar

I'm a pretty trusting person. I also give most people the benefit of the doubt. So, I don't get as spun up as others do when "well meaning" people make assumptions about their children because they have Type 1 Diabetes.

A common one is this: Your child has diabetes; they can't have sugar.

Well, that USED to be true. Kinda. The older regimens of diabetic care (NPH and NNR) had insulins that "peaked" at certain times. So, you had to eat at certain times to avoid a low. And you had to eat just a certain amount to avoid a high. And you avoided sugary things because, well, they just weren't well managed with the older regimens.

Take the old regimens, old ways of thinking, and combine it with a media blitz talking about childhood obesity and diabetes (that would be Type TWO), and many "well meaning" people will assume your child should not or cannot have sugar

Not true.

Now, I don't stuff Emma full of sugar. But, then again, I don't stuff my other two children full of sugar either. Emma probably gets the same amount of "Refined sugar treats" as my other two children did at this age - not much. This was our first Halloween since diagnosis and its been the same for her as the other two - a couple of pieces after trick-or-treating and then one piece a day as dessert with a meal since then. It hasn't been every day that she's had a piece of candy after lunch or dinner, but we've had it when she asked (and when she ate the rest of her regular food, which is always a requirement).

I have stayed away from the "pure sugar" candy, such as sweet tarts. They will do nothing but spike her and then drop her. We'll save those to treat lows! But, she's had chocolate and has quite enjoyed it. We just add the carbs from the candy into her meal and give her a dose of insulin to cover it all. It works best that way, as the candy has a high glycemic index and putting it with some protein and lower glycemic index foods helps to slow the absorption and avoid the peak.

So, thanks for caring - but she can have sugar. We just regulate it just like we do with our other kids, because we don't want THREE of them bouncing off the walls!