Insulin Dependent Childminder?

flix1

Would you allow your children to be minded by someone who is insulin dependent?

Am just trying to gauge what people feel on this. Ive a 2 and 4 year old minded by their granny who from yesterday is insulin dependent...she does'nt care for herself..and I'm terrifed she will have a hypo

Gmaximum

flix1 wrote: »

Would you allow your children to be minded by someone who is insulin dependent?

Am just trying to gauge what people feel on this. Ive a 2 and 4 year old minded by their granny who from yesterday is insulin dependent...she does'nt care for herself..and I'm terrifed she will have a hypo

She doesn't care for herself, don't leave the kids with her

January

If she's not caring for herself there's no way I'd leave her care for my children.

The Nutty M

If i am reading that post right,you trusted her up to this point to mind the little terrors even though you say she doesn't mind herself.
Great life lesson for them to be taught the signs and what to do in case of an emergency.

flix1

The Nutty M wrote: »

If i am reading that post right,you trusted her up to this point to mind the little terrors even though you say she doesn't mind herself.
Great life lesson for them to be taught the signs and what to do in case of an emergency.

Sorry I don't understand what you mean? Great life lesson??

Yes up to this point she wasn't insulin dependent, but she didn't adhere to the health and diet advice from her GP and diabetes clinic. And yes she has been a great childminder, she has minded the kids since they were born

The Nutty M

A life lesson as in educate them as to their grandmothers condition and the signs of an oncoming hypo or hyper.
Also on the remedial action to take for either.
If you take your children away from being minded by their grandmother because she has diabetes,you will leave them with the belief that diabetes is a somewhat bad disease. They'll have to wait until they are older to educate themselves that it is not.

Dravokivich

They are 4 and 2 years old man. They'd be able to do very little.

Neyite

She might surprise you now she's on her meds.

But if she doesn't, then you do need to get someone else who is not running the risk of collapsing while in the care of two small kids. The diabetes isn't the issue, it's her taking it properly and managing her condition properly as per doctors orders.

C3PO

Can you not talk to her and discuss your concerns?

pwurple

She may manage this. Some people find it extremely difficult to maintain weight or change eating habits, but insulin they can do.

Is it something you can monitor, or have you any way of knowing how she is doing?

The Nutty M

Dravokivich wrote: »

They are 4 and 2 years old man. They'd be able to do very little.

Do ya think its CPR they'll be performing or what for a hypo or hyper?
Too much to ask a child to get something sugary or carbs?

I'll bow out of this thread. Its lovely to see mountains being made out of molehills.

shesty

But what could they do?Granny collapses or passes out or whatever while they are alone in the house with her.....terrifying for small kids.And really it's the four year old you wpuld be relying on.I'm all for teaching them responsibility but teaching them so they are the last line of defence (so to speak) on a daily basis....that doesn't seem right.And that's not a mountain,it's just being practical.The diabetes is not the issue, it's how she manages it that is.If she can manage it ok OP, I wouldn't have an issue but if she's not managing it then yes, I would.And given that she seems to only have found out yesterday about her insulin requirements, that's going to take time.Perhaps an interim solution or reduced childcare could be considered while she gets herself into a routine???

Neyite

The Nutty M wrote: »

Do ya think its CPR they'll be performing or what for a hypo or hyper?
Too much to ask a child to get something sugary or carbs?

I'll bow out of this thread. Its lovely to see mountains being made out of molehills.

Children that age can't be expected to treat a hypo, or even recognise it. At that age anything with eyes open is 'awake' and eyes shut is 'asleep' and that's pretty much the extent of their medical knowledge.

In most cases houses have child locks on cabinets especially the ones containing sugary stuff. You do hear of some exceptional children who have the maturity to get their mum or dad's medication or know what to do but that's because it's something they have known all their lives and those families have certain plans in place in the event of a collapse so the child often knows what she/he needs to do.

If it happened in a locked house people might have difficulty getting in to help. If it happens in an unlocked house children might go out into the street or road to try to get help. The most that they could manage at that age is to telephone for help to the emergency services but could they direct them to a specific house?

There are a lot of what-if's and chances are none will ever happen but you pick a child minder to look after your child, not the other way around. Either way, its unfair to expect kids to manage an adults medical condition and it's unfair on the adult too.

flix1

Thanks everyone for your input here...really appreciate it. I think I've drawn my own conclusions. You are right, the issue isn't the diabetes, it's the mismanagment of it that causes my concern. I really do appreciate your help.

I'm going to minimise the amount of childminding she is doing for the next 2 weeks and then have a look at how we can address the long term solution. I'm thinking that a joint conversation and explain my fears and see if that will have an impact, and if my expectations about health managment can't be met, then we will need to look for a new minder.

thanks everyone.

shrapnel222

aren't there alarms for hypoglycaemia nowadays that you can wear? force her to wear one when childminding, just in case.

seamus

flix1 wrote: »

I'm going to minimise the amount of childminding she is doing for the next 2 weeks and then have a look at how we can address the long term solution. I'm thinking that a joint conversation and explain my fears and see if that will have an impact, and if my expectations about health managment can't be met, then we will need to look for a new minder.

Yeah, this is what I'd suggest.

Even in the short-term you could say that you want to give her time to get to grips with the insulin dependency without also trying to mind 2 kids at the same time.

Then you can see if she gets to grips with it or if she continues to be reckless.

flix1

shrapnel222 wrote: »

aren't there alarms for hypoglycaemia nowadays that you can wear? force her to wear one when childminding, just in case.

Great idea!!