I have a 9 year old diabetic (type 1) autistic child who gets into cubards and refridgerater late at night between 3-5 am when she sees her blood sugar is low 80-90's range and snacks until she winds up in the emergency room needing a iv in her arm from a very high blood sugar. She thinks 80-90 range is too low even though it's a little low, but it's still ok range. I'm wondering if there is an alarm I could get or a magnetic lock I could get that will alert my husband and I she's awake. Or a magnetic lock to prevent her from being able to get into the cubards or refriderater. She's been a diabetic since she was 2 1/2 years old. She does have other problems with mental health that are also being treated with medicine. Jocelyn is 5 feet 2 inches and weighs 140's +/- 10 pounds. More like 130's but just guessing. She has never been a little girl. She has always been tall. I've grounded her from all toys tv, computer. With no luck and very concerned. The last time this happened she ate 3 juices 1 glucerna shake (made for people with diabetes) milk, cereal bar. She spent 8 hours in the emergency room with an iv in her arm flushing her system out. We are now at the point where we are afraid we will wake up and she will be dead. Any advice will be apreciated.
Hi everyone thanks for all the advice. Update is below so keep reading. I want to clarify a few things before I give you the update. Jocelyn and I have never been bitten by fleas or ticks and never had lime disease. Jocelyn's anxiety, ptsd, bipolar came on after she got diabetes. She had a prolonged high blood sugar which caused the hospital to put iv's in places you wouldn't want them to be in as a last result to flush her system out. The bipolar was a result of brain damage associated by a high blood sugar over 1150. You would be traumatized to if you had 300 needle sticks over your body and a foot injury as a result from being tied to a bed for 4 days before you were freed the day she went home. She had been to a doctor + emergency room multiple times for a week and a half before she had gone into a coma and then they finally checked her for diabetes.
Now for the update.......
We are buying a alarm today from lowes by our apartment. WE also made a kitchen safety contract that Jocelyn helped us create that says she will be safe in the kitchen and if she wakes up before 7am she is to awake mom or dad to supervise her in the kitchen. By following her contract she earns $1.00 per day per beanie baby. The beanie baby gets bought if she completes 14 days of safety in the kitchen. If she breaks the contract she looses the beanie baby and dollar + computer privlages. So far 5 days of no self injury in the kitchen or early morning snacking. The contract is placed on the fridge and cabinets, and on her door. WE never shut our door so she knows she can always come in if she has a problem. We also told her if she keeps up the good work we would get her 1 special thing on our 2 trips coming up. One is to Las Vegas in April we leave April 12-17 around her diabetes birthday which is April 20th. Then if she does really well we would get her 1 special item from our trip in June to Walt Disney World we leave 3 days after school gets out. So thanks for all the wonderful advice. WE also are buying a alarm for our fridge that a handy man found at the dollar store of all places that does the same trick. When she wakes up she comes right into our room and lets us know shes awake and before she didnt and tells us right away if she was in line with her contract. Thanks for all the wonderful advice my family really appreciates it. Thanks again M. Petersen
M.,
I know a mom who has a boy with autism plus diabetes. She told me about a list for such parents. You can join by sneding a message to:
____@____.com
Hi M.,
My parents have a cupboard with a magnet lock. The doors cannot be opened unless you "swish" the magic magnet on the front of the cabinet. I've seen them in the child/baby safety section of stores.
I'm unsure of how to secure the refrigerator.
There are alarms you could put on her door (or another door) that would alert the household if it is opened. Try the pool section or a pool store. The idea is that the alarm sounds when a child opens a patio door with access to the pool.
You might try looking online for Prader-Willi information. People with Prader-Willi are always hungry and binge eat constantly. While not related to diabetes, a prader-willi website might have the best solutions for controlling access to food.
Good luck and much strength to you!
My elderly grandmother gets up 3 to 8 times a night to visit the bathroom, and a couple of months ago we got a sensor system to alert us so we could help her (she fell a couple of times before this.) You can find this system at Home Depot, or online from various places. Basically you set up the battery operated sensor where the person will set it off when they get up, in your case it could be at her bedroom door, and there's a remote alarm wherever you want it (in your bedroom, for instance) which can deliver a sort of a trilling sound, and if you plug it into a lamp it will light that up as well, making it easier for you to get up and get oriented quickly.
Your kids are very lucky to have such a loving and concerned mom. All the best to you.
I have a 16 year old autistic and diabetic son. We haven't had any of these issues (so far) but we've just started him on the pump and are having to make some adjustments to our routines around that. I have a few questions and would love to connect with you. Is she waking up at 3 in the morning for routine checks, or are you dealing with sleep issues. with diabetes it's not so much what or how much you eat that is the problem but making sure eyou match it up with the insulin. If she ate and got a shot, then it wouldn't be a problem, but eating and not dosing will lead to trouble. Anyway, if you want to contact mee directly you can at ____@____.com Good luck to you.
We have magnetic locks on our cupboards. You can find them in the child-proofing section of Home Depot. Not sure those would work for the refrigerator though. You could always put a latch type lock on the fridge, that requires a lock and key. Good luck!
So, I'm assuming she think her blood sugar is low at this un-Godly hour cuz she's tested herself or does she just feel that it's low? You've gotten a lot of other good suggestions, especially about the recommendation to look at the Prader Willy web site for ideas to secure things. One Step Ahead has a great selection of child-proof items. They have a catalog as well as a web site. My younger son used to get into our fridge w/o permission & I found some good fridge locks as well as other locking devices that can be secured out of the child's reach. Look into an alarm sysytem for her doorway as well as the doorway to the kitchen that can be tripped just by stepping over the threshold. You might also want to come at this from the perspective of having a sleeping disorder & try to find ways to help her stay asleep. Best of luck!
I am so sorry your daughter has these problems, It looks like you can't trust her around food so you will have to take some extreme mesures, You can problaby have a pad lock installed on the refrigator. have a handyman or your husband do it, you could keep the keys or combo, you can do the same to cupboards and pantry. At least that will deal with the night eating. Have you worked with a nurse or an diabetic expert to teach your daughter the right response to low blood sugar? If she was given a small glass of Orange juice when her sugar dips that would bring things to a normal level and she would not feel the need to eat so much. Could she get you when she thinks her sugar is low and take a small amout of food or drink to help? I think her Dr could refer you to an educator who could help her learn more about her illness and how to control it. Good luck
J.
Dear M.,
I suggest you put a monitor in her room so you can hear if she gets up. If you can't put a lock on the kitchen door, put one on the frige, cabinets and/or pantry. Rearrange the contents of your cabinets and/or eliminate the things, so your daughter will not have access to things that can hurt her. You might also put a little cooler in her room with things she CAN have on her own if her blood suger goes up and some bottled water. I don't think taking the toys and computer etc. away is the answer to a sick child's problems.
Blessings.....
Do you have an alarm in your home? Our home alarm tells us when an outside door is opened....I would think it is possible to put an alert on her bedroom door also. If you have an alarm panel put in your bedroom you will hear a charm when she opens her door. There is also the motion sensor...you could have a sensor set to catch the area just inside the kitchen entry...any motion will set off the alarm.
Most alarm companies will put the sensor's in for free, you just pay a monthly service. I think ours is about $35.
I hope this helps. L.
Babies R Us has a really good range of child safety locks - the magnetic kind too. I found the less expensive latches are less expensive because they are crappy quality so ask for advice from a staff member. I know you can find locks for 'fridge doors too - a kid I babysat back in the day had one.
Is it possible to install a door on the kitchen that can be locked? Or maybe somewhere else between her room and the kitchen? You might have to think out of the box - perhaps a pocket or bifold door.
We have tot locks in our house (magnetic lock system) works great, but was a nightmare to install. If you go that route, google the subject first or hire a handyman who has experience with installing it.
I understand there is an alarm that is used for alzheimer patients that wander during the night. It was recommended for my Dad last year, but circumstances being as they were for him, it was never obtained. Your doctor should be able to advise you where to get one. I understand there are two types: one attaches to the body, the other end , by way of a cord, to the wall. When the connection is broken an alarm sounds. The other, which seems easier to use, involves a pressure pad that is placed on the floor. An alarm sounds when pressure is placed on it, in this case, your daughter's feet as she is getting out of bed. Assisted living facilities use them, which may be a good source for the information.
Beyond that, if you have an alarm system in your home, your could have a sensor placed on your duaghter's door, or one in the hall so an alarm will sound when she heads out of her room in the middle of the night.
Hi M.,
Wow, your hands are full. I have a doctors appointment today for my 9 year old son because he is showing signs of diabetes. Diabetes is a huge enough struggle let alone your daughters other problems. I truly wish you luck in finding a solution. This site is a great pool of mom's and advice, if my suggestions don't work I'm sure someone else will come up with something brilliant.
Have you considered putting an alarm type device on her bedroom door. I have them on all my doors that lead outside because we have a swimming pool. I would imagine they could work the same way on a bedroom door. They don't need any electrical wiring, they are battery operated. They are affordable and very small so if the bedroom door is not an option maybe they would work in the kitchen. The foods that your daughter goes after could all be put into one or two cupboards with one of these devices perhaps.
Also check with her doctor. I'm sure she can't be the only child who is doing this. My heart goes out to you. Good luck. I hope my suggestions helped a little.
L. A.
I read this at about 3 this morning when I woke up, and have been thinking about it ever since and now that I'm at work, this is what I've come up with. Not much for the amount of time, sorry.
How about putting some loud bells on her door so that when she opens it, she makes a noise? Or I wonder if a security company could rig up some sort of motion sensor in the hallway to the kitchen?? We have monitors on our doors for when our doors open, so I'm sure they could do something like that in the hallway or even on your kitchen cabinets.
Good luck, how scary.
K.
my child is 10 years old also diabetic for 9 years. Who is your doctor? We have Dr. Prakasam. We have a really good support team in Sacramento. It's sac kids diabetes, if you send me your email I can invite you in and you could post your problem. You will get some advice. Talk to you soon?
N. Howell
Mother of 4
Can you keep some snacks by her bed and drinks for her when she wakes during the night? would it help if she had a good snack before she went to bed? I cared for a girl with Prader Willie and at home they had to put a lock on the fridge and the cupboards with food.
F.
Most of the symptoms you are saying she has (saw it in your bio history ), have been implicated in a bacterial infection with the organism Borreilia b. (lyme disease) which incidently they used to say you only caught it from a tic but now they are saying they have found the bacteria in fleas and mosquitos, as well as human fluids and it can also be passed from parent to child in utero.
Especially night terrors. You should be able to help those with vit b complex twice a day.
Anxiety and asmthma can be caused by a worm infection in the intestines. 90% of your serotonin (for mood, sleep, agression,metabolism, pain, etc)is in the gut. There are several parasites of the gut that affect serotonin! Further,90% of your immune system is in your gut also. check out he links below.look for a dewormer.
Samento is an antibacterial that can help fight LYME disease but also other bacterias and fungus. I get mine online. I give 5 drops, 3 or 4 times a day to my kids. I never give it past 5pm, it can keep them from sleeping! it gives energy. When the bacteria start dieing you will get a herx reaction (headaches, aggression) so just be cognizant of it. If you herx, go down to a lower dose and work your way back up to a higher dose over time.
Most people who get tested for lyme get a false negative because the western blot test at most labs is crappy. IGENEX in CA is THE LAB of choice for Lyme testing, and is 95 % accurate. Only the best Lyme doctors use it.
You need to get her body flushed of heavy metals and toxins-
fungus, parasites and bacteria all "hide" behind heavy metal and toxic chemical poisoning- she sounds very sick.
If it were my child, I would put her on Potassium iodine, 20 mg day, and fulvic acid daily (follow bottle), also bentonite clay (follow bottle),3 Oregano drops under her tounge, 2 times a day (to help flush fungus and bacteria)and also Samento, 5 drops 4 times a day... to help do the same. Again vit b complex liquid under the tounge 2 times a day (walmart carries it)to help her central nervous system.
My daughter is slighly autistic and has been getting better at communication with this protocol. also, her aggression has resided alot, and her voice has been less gruff.
Good luck.
Gail
ps...I use Xylitol for sugar replacement. It's a 5 chain sugar so bacteria and fungus can't digest it.
Links: http://appliedozone.com/parasites.html
http://www.anapsid.org/lyme/symptoms/
http://www.personalconsult.com/articles/infectionsandment...
http://curezone.com/clark/ascaris.asp
http://www.curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp/i=967940
http://www.samento.com:ec/scienceLib/sarticles/thegreatim...
