# Night blood checks



## Shivles (Sep 2, 2016)

What times do you do them? Most nights I do DDs 2/3 times a night, at 9pm 12am and 3am. .. I feel like I'm doing it loads more than I need to but I'm also paranoid she will go low and not wake up


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## Northerner (Sep 2, 2016)

Hi Shivles, I'm not a parent, so can't comment directly on this from any experience. I think it's natural to be a bit paranoid at first, when so much is new and unknown. Hopefully, in time, you will begin to understand if there are any patterns and if there are particular times when you might need to check and others when things are going to be fine. It's thought that the 3am test is one of the most important since that is the time in our wake/sleep cycle when the liver's activity of trickling out glucose is at its lowest - it then builds again towards dawn. This certainly used to be my personal experience, although I also had to be careful that my bedtime reading was not too soon after injecting my fast-acting insulin, otherwise there might have still been 'active' insulin dropping my levels after I'd gone to bed.

Hopefully, someone with more practical experience than me will be along to help!


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## Sally71 (Sep 2, 2016)

My daughter is 10 now so bed time test is around 8-9pm, then I do another somewhere between midnight and 2am, if she's ok then I know from experience that she will almost certainly be ok for the rest of the night, it's extremely rare for her to go low between 2am and getting up time.  If we're having problems I might test more often than that!
Have to say it's so much easier since we got the Libre and we can just scan rather than finger pricking...
Unless she's lying on the sensor and I have to roll her over!


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## Shivles (Sep 2, 2016)

Sally71 said:


> My daughter is 10 now so bed time test is around 8-9pm, then I do another somewhere between midnight and 2am, if she's ok then I know from experience that she will almost certainly be ok for the rest of the night, it's extremely rare for her to go low between 2am and getting up time.  If we're having problems I might test more often than that!
> Have to say it's so much easier since we got the Libre and we can just scan rather than finger pricking...
> Unless she's lying on the sensor and I have to roll her over!


I was looking at the libre yesterday but I think you can only use it from 4 years old? Got a long way to go yet as LO is only 16 month


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## HOBIE (Sep 2, 2016)

I love my Libre. You are right, they are not for use for young kids. I don't know why because I have found it very accurate. I have just climbed Scar Fell & could not have done it with finger pricking (in the rain, & know fingers left). Can you imagine what it was like in 1966 (3) when I was diagnosed ? Life has changed for the better with tech.  Good luck & ask away.


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## Diabeticliberty (Sep 2, 2016)

I have a sneaking suspicion that there might be concern about little children pulling the sensor off their arm and maybe swallowing it and this would present a very real choking hazard. They have promised to call me regarding the reason for failure of a couple of dodgy sensors.  If and when they do I will ask them about sensors and kids and report back,on what they tell me


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## Shivles (Sep 2, 2016)

Diabeticliberty said:


> I have a sneaking suspicion that there might be concern about little children pulling the sensor off their arm and maybe swallowing it and this would present a very real choking hazard. They have promised to call me regarding the reason for failure of a couple of dodgy sensors.  If and when they do I will ask them about sensors and kids and report back,on what they tell me


I'd be really interested to hear what the reason is! The swallow hazard makes sense though


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## Sally71 (Sep 2, 2016)

My daughter was part of the official trial to test it on children, she was not quite 9 at the time.  I think there were questions over whether the sensors would work on children's arms, which are obviously much thinner than adults'. With a child the age of yours there might be problems with them staying stuck on (although quite a few grown ups have that problem too!).  I hadn't thought about the choking hazard.
I don't know whether we have been exceptionally lucky, but we love the system and have had very few problems with it.


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