Publisher's Synopsis
Type 1 Diabetes and Babysitting: A Parent's Toolkit gives you the ability to fill in specific information about your child and thoroughly train your caregiver. Information such as: - How to give shots - What to do with a high or low blood sugar - Troubleshooting pumps - Meal and insulin planning Along with step-by-step instructions covering all aspects of your child's care, we've included pull-out pages for a babysitter and sleepovers. Overwhelmed. That's the feeling of a parent whose child has just been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The days that follow are a blur of handouts, booklets, phone calls, notes scribbled after conversations with doctors and nurses. We stuff these papers into some sort of homemade binder or folder, hoping they will cover all the bases of emergencies and critical situations. The worst possible scenarios are always in the back of our minds. We quickly become experts at diabetes care for our kid, and things like "diabetic ketoacidosis" and "basal rates" and "rapid acting insulin" don't give us pause. It hits us: how can we possibly feel comfortable leaving our child with anyone else besides a doctor, a nurse ... anyone medically trained? We're afraid to ask someone to watch our child because of the complex care involved. In reality, we are asking a lot. We are asking someone to be levelheaded enough to make decisions about a disease that is completely unpredictable. On the other hand, we want our kid to be "normal" and stay at a friend's house. As parents, we need and want to take a break, but when you're afraid of leaving your child in someone else's care, Date Night goes by the wayside. How do we navigate sleepovers, day care, play dates, and trips to Grandma's house? What if there was something geared toward a teen-aged sitter? Or a grandparent? Something in layman's terms that a person not immersed in the world of diabetes could understand? Type 1 Diabetes and Babysitting: A Parent's Toolkit is the only comprehensive guide available that is user friendly and completely adaptable to a child's specific needs. Julie Marmon, M.D. says, "This book provides parents a method to convey crucial data and not worry that important details have been glossed over. The step-by-step instructions and flow charts with areas to personalize, streamline care and remove fear from a situation which may be scary for sitters and family members. Great work!"
