Schoolies: Parenting a type 1 child

It’s a chance for our year 12s to relax and regale in being free of obligations in the immediate future. It’s also an opportunity to try new things and meet new people.

For many, Schoolies will be the first time being away without any supervision and with the newfound freedoms of adulthood. For parents this can be terrifying – even more so if your child has type 1 diabetes.

Parenting a type 1 child

As a parent of a child with type 1 diabetes I understand the trepidation that comes with letting your child experience all there is to offer at Schoolies. It can be scary thinking about the likelihood of excessive drinking, a completely altered routine (up all night and sleeping well into the day), the possibility of missed insulin doses and the risk of a severe hypo. It is hard being a parent and trying to balance the need to keep them safe with their diabetes but also wanting them to have more freedom, responsibility and fun.

Let’s face it – unless your child is the exception – they probably won’t look after their diabetes as well as they do at home, and they probably will engage in more risky behaviours.

So, what is the solution to keeping everyone happy?

Think broad

We looked at the broad picture in terms of overall management and decided that a week of higher-than-normal glucose levels is not ideal, but it’s not going to have a significant long-term effect on our child’s diabetes. What we were really trying to avoid was diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) or a severe hypo where they are unable to treat themselves.

The key for us was negotiating safeguards to help reduce the risk of serious events (DKA and severe hypo) while keeping everyone happy. This can be hard to negotiate because sometimes kids really don’t understand how much we love them and stress about them.

The non-negotiables

You can see a detailed checklist at the bottom of this article.

Supplies

We made sure there was an agreed number of spare supplies taken so we knew they were adequately equipped to look after themselves (CGM sensors and meter plus test strips, insulin pump consumables or insulin pens and pen needles).

Insulin

We discussed the importance of continuing to take insulin. We also agreed to ensure there is plenty of insulin, as well as a backup supply long-acting insulin pens if on a pump.

Location

Putting a location finder (FindMy) on everyone’s phones is a minimum requirement purely from safety perspective.

Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM)

Having access to the CGM data on a mobile device through an app and having audible alarms set for both parties. The audible alarms meant that if our child didn’t respond someone else probably would as they are annoyingly loud alarms.

Contacts

We made sure we had the mobile numbers of the other kids going on Schoolies with our child. This meant that if Lucy was not responding to a low or an extended high and she was not picking up her phone, we had alternative ways of contacting her. These friends also had our contact details if needed and they knew to call us no matter the time or situation if they were concerned. We also requested that Lucy and her friends didn’t put their phones into silent mode. Thankfully we knew these kids already so that made it easier.

Hypo-safe foods

Ensuring Lucy had adequate hypo food was important. It was equally as important that we made sure her friends knew that this was not to be eaten by anyone other than Lucy – no matter what. It was very clearly labelled so there was no confusion.

Alcohol intake

Another safeguard was providing our child with education around drinking alcohol and making sure she was eating some longer acting carbohydrates throughout this time to avoid low glucose levels later. We also asked her to have some carbs before bed if she had been drinking.

Our last negotiation points were:

• Lucy was not to head out alone or without someone she could rely on.
• We asked that we had a phone call each day to catch up, see how it was going, and problem solve anything.
• We wanted absolute honesty in exchange for not making judgements.

Lucy’s friends were great in looking after one another and there was generally one person who was looking out for the others each night. It’s a good idea to at least suggest this to the group as some general safety advice.

How did it all go?

In making these plans, it didn’t mean that we didn’t stress – we did. It was hard. Our daughter did get low and didn’t hear her alarms or treat the low and didn’t pick up her phone.

We did need to call her friends, in fact we had to call a few friends before one of them picked up.

Lucy’s glucose levels were all over the place at times with highs and lows, but thankfully we just had the one incident where we had to intervene.

Lucy had a great week, she grew as a person, learnt a bit about responsibility and her diabetes. The kids all had a great time and said it was the best holiday of their life.

As parents we also learnt a lot. I’m not saying we still don’t stress about Lucy when she goes out or away with friends, but it did give us some confidence in her judgement and responsibility when looking after her diabetes and keeping us up to date.

Just a final piece of information I give to all kids/young adults is that if anything goes wrong for anyone, call the emergency services on 000. They are there to help and save lives and do not judge. They do not report drug use to police for investigation.

If in doubt, just call them.

What Lucy had to say

It's important to have a balanced view so, of course, we asked Lucy what she had to say about heading off to a Schoolies celebration without her parents around. You can read her perspective here.

Detailed Checklist

Diabetes Supplies

• Insulin
• Insulin pen/s and needles
• CGM sensors
• BG checking strips and meter, spare battery
• Ketone strips
• Lancet device and spare
• IPCs (insulin pump consumables)
• Extras of everything

Hypo treatments (labelled)

• Juice boxes
• Jelly beans or other lollies
• Glucose gel packs
• Glucagon (maybe, for ambulance use)

Contact details

• FindMy phone App (turned on)
• Of each friend and vice versa
• Of friends’ parents and vice versa

Conversation about agreements

• Daily contact
• Taking insulin every day without fail
• Alcohol
• “Sex, drugs and rock & roll”
• Honesty

Safeguards

• CGM alarm settings (on and set to loud/high)
• CGM share App activated and on
• Condoms
• Ambulance

Additional resources

• NDSS - Partying, alcohol, drugs and relationships
• Red Frogs Australia