Infant Blood Glucose Levels: What's Normal & When to Worry

To be healthy, an infant must have a normal blood glucose level. A blood glucose level that is too high or too low is treatable to bring it back to normal.

Importance

• Blood glucose is a measurement of the sugar glucose in the blood. Everyone, including infants, needs the right amount of blood glucose to provide energy and to keep the body functioning properly.

Normal level

• Blood glucose may be tested in newborns and in babies with health problems.

  The normal blood glucose level in full-term babies is 40 mg/dL to 150 mg/dL. In premature infants, it is 30 mg/dL to 150 mg/dL.

Hypoglycemia

• Hypoglycemia is a blood glucose level lower than the normal range. Hypoglycemia in infants may be transient (short-term) or persistent (long-term).

Hyperglycemia

• Hyperglycemia is a blood glucose level higher than the normal range. This condition is sometimes caused by certain rare disorders, but it is usually a temporary problem resulting from too much glucose in the IV line of low-birth-weight infants.

Management

• An abnormal infant blood glucose level is usually brought back to normal with treatment. For hypoglycemia, infants may receive tube feeding or glucose via an IV; for hyperglycemia not caused by too much IV glucose, they may receive fast-acting insulin.