Picking a glucose meter for children: blood drop size

There have been many times on the forum where we discuss and compare glucose meters. The discussions typically focus on (a) cost, (b) accuracy, and © meter size.

For my son, I also look at another criterion: blood drop size. My son doesn’t always have an easy time getting enough blood from his fingers, in particular when he is cold, for instance when he comes out of the pool in practice session, or in winter here in WI.

There is a big difference for us between a 1ml drop requirement and a 0.3ml drop requirement. My son uses a 0.3ml drop meter right meter, and this makes it quite a bit easier for him, with a more reliable read.

FYI, here is a PDF link that lists all the glucose meters with their required drop size:

http://main.diabetes.org/dforg/pdfs/2017/2017-cg-blood-glucose-meters.pdf

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Another consideration is if the meter and strip allow incremental filling.

The Contour Next One will wait quite a while until you get enough blood onto the strip, even if you have to poke your finger again.

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We use the Freestyle Lite for that reason. AccuChek Nano is what we came back from the hospital with but we like how little blood it takes.