The author of this article is correct that too little insulin is bad, but the margin of error for acute distress in that direction is much more forgiving for high blood sugar than low blood sugar (at least in the short term dying-on-the-floor time frame)
Target level is around 90. A little too much insulin can easily push that down to 25/35, which gets you into passing out territory. Conversely, you can get up to 300-400 by not having enough insulin and simply feel very crappy. (Caveat: an 18MO's system may be much more sensitive to highs at that age)
So yes, the acute dangers skew more towards too much insulin & low blood sugar, which is quickly fixed by a high glycemic index food. A small tube of icing is a good emergency supply here, especially for a loved one to carry. If the person with T1D is unable to help themselves then you can gently smear the icing in their mouth and it will begin getting absorbed pretty quickly. Not quickly enough to avoid a terrifying experience, but it works.
We have small stashes of shelf-stable snacks and juice boxes all over our home, multiple layers of redundancy when outside the house... It probably seems strange from the outside, but after so long it just feels normal and there's no feeling of cognitive overhead thinking about it.
We already had nappies, wipes and bags hidden everywhere as emergency supplies. We just added the hypo packs of juice and shelf stable baby treats to them :)
Hah, yes-- since exiting your home with a young child is already an exercise in micro logistics, adding one more item to the list is pretty straightforward.
I'm sure you're already aware of the advantages of pumps, so I'll just chime in with a complete endorsement of them: Switching to a pump for my wife certainly made things easier-- less planning, more freedom. It was also a significant health benefit: Not needing to make educated guesses with long/short acting insulin means things stay in range on a much more regular basis, which keeps your A1C significantly more in control, limiting the long term consequences of lifelong diabetes.
The author of this article is correct that too little insulin is bad, but the margin of error for acute distress in that direction is much more forgiving for high blood sugar than low blood sugar (at least in the short term dying-on-the-floor time frame)
Target level is around 90. A little too much insulin can easily push that down to 25/35, which gets you into passing out territory. Conversely, you can get up to 300-400 by not having enough insulin and simply feel very crappy. (Caveat: an 18MO's system may be much more sensitive to highs at that age)
So yes, the acute dangers skew more towards too much insulin & low blood sugar, which is quickly fixed by a high glycemic index food. A small tube of icing is a good emergency supply here, especially for a loved one to carry. If the person with T1D is unable to help themselves then you can gently smear the icing in their mouth and it will begin getting absorbed pretty quickly. Not quickly enough to avoid a terrifying experience, but it works.
We have small stashes of shelf-stable snacks and juice boxes all over our home, multiple layers of redundancy when outside the house... It probably seems strange from the outside, but after so long it just feels normal and there's no feeling of cognitive overhead thinking about it.