Diabetes in children: Dealing with low blood sugar
How do you deal with low blood sugar?
Here are some ways you can manage a low blood sugar emergency.
Be prepared
- Keep some quick-sugar food with your child at all times. It can raise your child's blood sugar level 30 mg/dL in 15 minutes.
- Know the symptoms of low blood sugar. Post a list of these symptoms where you and your child will see it often. Have your child carry a copy at all times. Add any symptoms you have noticed in your child that are not on the list. The child may not always have the same symptoms.
- Have your child wear medical identification, such as a medical alert bracelet
. People will know that your child has diabetes and can get help in case your child's blood sugar drops very low. See the Where to Go From Here section below to learn where to purchase medical identification.
- Teach your child's caregivers how to check blood sugar. Have instructions with the blood sugar meter.
- Post the emergency care for low blood sugar instructions in a convenient place at home and at school.
Treat low blood sugar early
Check your child's blood sugar if you think it may be low, even if you don't see any symptoms. If your child's blood sugar level is below 70 mg/dL:
- If your child is alert, give him or her some quick-sugar food. Liquids will raise your child's blood sugar faster than solid foods.
- Check your child's blood sugar after 5 minutes. It will take about 5 minutes for the sugar in the food to get into your child's bloodstream.
- Wait another 5 to 10 minutes and check your child's blood sugar level again. If his or her blood sugar is still below 70 mg/dL, have your child eat or drink something that contains sugar, such as milk.
- If your child is not alert, follow the appropriate guidelines:
- If your child does not take insulin injections, see emergency care for a child with low blood sugar who takes only oral diabetes medicine.
- If your child takes insulin, see emergency care for a child with low blood sugar who takes insulin.
After the episode
- When your child's blood sugar has returned to above 70 mg/dL, feed him or her a regular meal or a snack, such as a turkey sandwich. This will help keep his or her blood sugar from dropping again.
- Write down your child's symptoms and what you did. Use the low blood sugar level record
(What is a PDF document?).
- Let your child's doctor know if your child is having frequent low blood sugar problems. His or her medicine may need to be adjusted or changed.
Test Your Knowledge
To be prepared for a low blood sugar emergency, your child needs to carry:
To treat low blood sugar before it becomes an emergency, your child needs to:
Continue to
Where to go from here
Return to
| Author: | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS | Last Updated: April 16, 2008 |
| Medical Review: | Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology & Metabolism | |
 | ||