My Mother could not get the "panel pins"needles into my arm because in the old days they where not the fine things of today. Glass syringes so my dad had to do it & the needles used to bend. It must be very hard to inject your child BUT u know its for there own good pls keep going 🙂
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Screening for type 1 diabetes: We now have a new forum section which is for parents who, after having their child screened for type 1, have received a positive result that at some stage their child will be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Where possible, please do offer your support and experiences of having a child diagnosed. https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/forums/screening-for-type-1-community-chat.59/
3 year OLD T1
- Thread starter Type 1 toddler
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Type 1 toddler
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Thank you @Bronco Billy I haven't replied in a while the diagnosis doesn't seem to be sinking in I don't want my daughter to feel any different with regards to food and what she can eat because everyone is constantly eating TV is about food everywhere u go is all about food I mean this world isn't really diabetic friendly.
I'm not sure if being pregnant is causing me to have these extra fears and sudden anxiety attacks but I don't feel so good I feel so miserable still and constantly getting upset about it which I don't want to do that this is a lifestyle change but I feel so alone I can't even leave the house at the moment in fear of omg what will she eat where will I feed her where will I give her injections. @SB2015 I do think the lantus stings quite a bit but it's keeping her stable at night I'm just worried if I change it will Affect night stability?
Do young children go low during the night should. I be checking at night I check when I wake up but being pregnant I don't even realise when I fall asleep or don't hear my alarm at times but when I do and when I'm. Awake I do check.
I'm not sure if being pregnant is causing me to have these extra fears and sudden anxiety attacks but I don't feel so good I feel so miserable still and constantly getting upset about it which I don't want to do that this is a lifestyle change but I feel so alone I can't even leave the house at the moment in fear of omg what will she eat where will I feed her where will I give her injections. @SB2015 I do think the lantus stings quite a bit but it's keeping her stable at night I'm just worried if I change it will Affect night stability?
Do young children go low during the night should. I be checking at night I check when I wake up but being pregnant I don't even realise when I fall asleep or don't hear my alarm at times but when I do and when I'm. Awake I do check.
Sally71
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
I check my daughter in the night, usually only once though! When she was diagnosed aged 6 all the nurses, doctors, and even my mum (who has been type 1 for 50 years now) said it's not necessary to check at night, the hypo will probably wake her up. I find it doesn't though, when basal testing and since we've had the Libre (you can scan and see what's been going on with the blood sugars for the last few hours) it shows that sometimes she has been low at night for several hours and she doesn't wake up! So I've now fallen into the habit of checking her anywhere between midnight and 3 am, whenever I am awake, and if she's ok then I leave her alone for the rest of the night. Obviously if she's low I have to deal with it and then check again later, and occasionally I find her to be very high and have to give her a correction dose (not so hard as she is on a pump so I only need to push a few buttons). I want to keep her safe of course, but at the same time I don't want to get obsessive about it! It's easier now we've got the Libre and can just scan her, unless she's lying on the sensor and I have to roll her over to get at it, but even in the days of finger pricks I found that I could do it all without her waking up! She's 12 now, I guess there might come a point soon when she doesn't want me barging into her room in the middle of the night any more, and then we'll just have to hope she's ok, my mum has lasted 50 years with T1 without anyone doing night checks on her! (She was 22 at diagnosis though, didn't go through childhood with it)
I used to get really stressed about every low and high and why had they happened, sometimes you can see a reason for it and can perhaps learn a different ways of dealing with different situations, or occasionally you'll realise you might have made a mistake with the dose or the timing or something, but then other times there's no logic to it at all! Diabetes does have a habit of throwing curve balls at you, usually right out of the blue just when you think you're getting the hang of it! You could send yourself completely batty trying to get perfect numbers all the time though, and you have to enjoy life, so you do have to learn to relax a bit once you've learnt the basics. Finding the right balance can be hard though, obviously you want to do your best for them, especially when they are so young and have their whole lives ahead of them, naturally you want to give them the best possible chance of having a long and happy life, but without blood sugar numbers being the first thing you think about all the time! I found it very hard not to try to micromanage it all the time, but I think we are all a lot happier since I've learnt to relax a bit and not quiz my daughter about what her blood sugars have been doing the instant she gets home from school!
Are you carb counting yet? This means adding up how much carbohydrate is in your daughter's meals and adjusting her insulin dose accordingly, which gives her much more freedom to eat what she wants. If she hasn't long been diagnosed then maybe you haven't got that far yet, there is so much to learn that they try not to overload you with too much at once. But when you feel ready please do ask about it as it is a much better way of managing the diabetes, although it does mean that you can no longer just sit down to eat anything without doing sums first!
Pumps are brilliant, you can do a lot of things with them that you couldn't possibly do with injections, so you can fine tune the insulin doses much better and it makes it easier to deal with things like illness and exercise and so on. So do ask about them; they involve a LOT of work though, I sometimes feel like I'm constantly fiddling with my daughter's pump trying to keep her blood sugars as even as possible, and then I never quite get there
We got a pump 8 days after diagnosis, only because a trial was starting up comparing diabetes control with pumps and injections in newly diagnosed children. We had only 10 days to decide if we wanted to join the trial, so had hardly got over the shock of the diagnosis and were still just trying to get to grips with the basics of testing and injecting and how our lives had changed. Pumps were a completely alien thing to me, I at least vaguely knew what to expect with injections because of my mum. So I was not keen initially, but hubby persuaded me to go for it and we were lucky and got picked for the pump part of the trial, so then had to learn a whole new load of things such as how to "inject" with a pump, changing cannulas, refilling the pump, carb counting etc etc. OMG talk about brain overload, I think I barely knew what day of the week it was for a while and my brain definitely hit a wall and couldn't take any more in at one point. BUT it took me less than a day to see that the pump would make some things loads easier, so we stuck with it, got through the hard patch and have never looked back.
It's early days for you and it's all still a big shock, just hang in there, keep doing what you have to do, take as much help as you can get from the hospital and if you can get your mum and partner involved then it's probably a lot less scary than having to do it all on your own. It does get easier in time, honest! And keep asking questions, we are all very friendly here and were all beginners with the diabetes once, no question is too silly!
I used to get really stressed about every low and high and why had they happened, sometimes you can see a reason for it and can perhaps learn a different ways of dealing with different situations, or occasionally you'll realise you might have made a mistake with the dose or the timing or something, but then other times there's no logic to it at all! Diabetes does have a habit of throwing curve balls at you, usually right out of the blue just when you think you're getting the hang of it! You could send yourself completely batty trying to get perfect numbers all the time though, and you have to enjoy life, so you do have to learn to relax a bit once you've learnt the basics. Finding the right balance can be hard though, obviously you want to do your best for them, especially when they are so young and have their whole lives ahead of them, naturally you want to give them the best possible chance of having a long and happy life, but without blood sugar numbers being the first thing you think about all the time! I found it very hard not to try to micromanage it all the time, but I think we are all a lot happier since I've learnt to relax a bit and not quiz my daughter about what her blood sugars have been doing the instant she gets home from school!
Are you carb counting yet? This means adding up how much carbohydrate is in your daughter's meals and adjusting her insulin dose accordingly, which gives her much more freedom to eat what she wants. If she hasn't long been diagnosed then maybe you haven't got that far yet, there is so much to learn that they try not to overload you with too much at once. But when you feel ready please do ask about it as it is a much better way of managing the diabetes, although it does mean that you can no longer just sit down to eat anything without doing sums first!
Pumps are brilliant, you can do a lot of things with them that you couldn't possibly do with injections, so you can fine tune the insulin doses much better and it makes it easier to deal with things like illness and exercise and so on. So do ask about them; they involve a LOT of work though, I sometimes feel like I'm constantly fiddling with my daughter's pump trying to keep her blood sugars as even as possible, and then I never quite get there
We got a pump 8 days after diagnosis, only because a trial was starting up comparing diabetes control with pumps and injections in newly diagnosed children. We had only 10 days to decide if we wanted to join the trial, so had hardly got over the shock of the diagnosis and were still just trying to get to grips with the basics of testing and injecting and how our lives had changed. Pumps were a completely alien thing to me, I at least vaguely knew what to expect with injections because of my mum. So I was not keen initially, but hubby persuaded me to go for it and we were lucky and got picked for the pump part of the trial, so then had to learn a whole new load of things such as how to "inject" with a pump, changing cannulas, refilling the pump, carb counting etc etc. OMG talk about brain overload, I think I barely knew what day of the week it was for a while and my brain definitely hit a wall and couldn't take any more in at one point. BUT it took me less than a day to see that the pump would make some things loads easier, so we stuck with it, got through the hard patch and have never looked back.It's early days for you and it's all still a big shock, just hang in there, keep doing what you have to do, take as much help as you can get from the hospital and if you can get your mum and partner involved then it's probably a lot less scary than having to do it all on your own. It does get easier in time, honest! And keep asking questions, we are all very friendly here and were all beginners with the diabetes once, no question is too silly!
Bronco Billy
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
Hello @Type 1 toddler. It’s very positive that you don’t want your daughter to feel differently about food. She needs to know that food isn’t an issue, she just needs to think more carefully about it. She can eat anything she wants, nothing is out of bounds, although there may be times in her life when she has to be ‘different’, e.g. if her sugars are high while she’s out with friends and they buy some sweets. It wouldn’t be a good idea for her to eat sweets at that moment.
You’re right, the world isn’t very diabetic friendly, but I promise you will learn to adapt. The early days can be quite stressful, but what seems stressful now will soon become routine and something you don’t have to think about.
In my first reply to you, I suggested going for short walks at first, just to get over the fear of being out with your daughter. If you think that she will need to eat while you are out, take something with you if it makes it easier. You and she can eat anywhere anybody else does. Give her the injection wherever you happen to be. If, for example, you are in a café, do the blood test and injection at the table. Please don’t go to the toilets as it’s important for your daughter to learn that diabetes is part of her and she shouldn’t hide it or be embarrassed about it. I hope you don’t mind, but I showed your last post to my wife as she is more of an expert at being pregnant than I am. 😉 She said that being pregnant does heighten certain senses and emotions, so what you are going through is normal. If you haven’t already done so, I think you should consider going to the doctor about your anxieties so that you can receive proper one on one help with this. I’ve found a couple of articles which may help in the meantime.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/overcoming-fears/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/...9/overcoming-fear-the-only-way-out-is-through
Do you feel you know more now than when your daughter was diagnosed? Has your daughter had a hypo yet? If she has, you coped, right?
Night testing is one of the great debates among parents of diabetic children. There is no wrong or right, it’s about what works for you. Yes, lows can happen at night, but if this happens, the kidneys will usually pump out glucose reserves to deal with it. If your daughter’s night numbers are causing concern, by all means test, but don’t do it every hour. We test at 10:00pm, midnight and 3:00am. If one of our children is low at 3:00am, my wife will usually test again an hour or so later, but I do it differently. I will usually give them enough glucose to raise their numbers to a safe level and/or I’ll adjust the background insulin rate on their pump. It might help if you keep a record of all tests so you can see patterns. This will help you make the right decision for you.
Please consider joining the West Midlands Children and Young People’s Diabetes Network on Facebook. It’s part of a national network created about 10 years ago to improve short term care and long-term outcomes for children with diabetes. I’m a parent rep for the region and we have regular meetings with the medical professionals at which we put across the families’ views on certain issues. As part of its work, the network organises family’s days. It is a chance for parents to listen to guest speakers and mix with other parents. The children go off on organised activities. If you want to join, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/westmidlandsnetwork/
Take care
You’re right, the world isn’t very diabetic friendly, but I promise you will learn to adapt. The early days can be quite stressful, but what seems stressful now will soon become routine and something you don’t have to think about.
In my first reply to you, I suggested going for short walks at first, just to get over the fear of being out with your daughter. If you think that she will need to eat while you are out, take something with you if it makes it easier. You and she can eat anywhere anybody else does. Give her the injection wherever you happen to be. If, for example, you are in a café, do the blood test and injection at the table. Please don’t go to the toilets as it’s important for your daughter to learn that diabetes is part of her and she shouldn’t hide it or be embarrassed about it. I hope you don’t mind, but I showed your last post to my wife as she is more of an expert at being pregnant than I am. 😉 She said that being pregnant does heighten certain senses and emotions, so what you are going through is normal. If you haven’t already done so, I think you should consider going to the doctor about your anxieties so that you can receive proper one on one help with this. I’ve found a couple of articles which may help in the meantime.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/overcoming-fears/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/...9/overcoming-fear-the-only-way-out-is-through
Do you feel you know more now than when your daughter was diagnosed? Has your daughter had a hypo yet? If she has, you coped, right?
Night testing is one of the great debates among parents of diabetic children. There is no wrong or right, it’s about what works for you. Yes, lows can happen at night, but if this happens, the kidneys will usually pump out glucose reserves to deal with it. If your daughter’s night numbers are causing concern, by all means test, but don’t do it every hour. We test at 10:00pm, midnight and 3:00am. If one of our children is low at 3:00am, my wife will usually test again an hour or so later, but I do it differently. I will usually give them enough glucose to raise their numbers to a safe level and/or I’ll adjust the background insulin rate on their pump. It might help if you keep a record of all tests so you can see patterns. This will help you make the right decision for you.
Please consider joining the West Midlands Children and Young People’s Diabetes Network on Facebook. It’s part of a national network created about 10 years ago to improve short term care and long-term outcomes for children with diabetes. I’m a parent rep for the region and we have regular meetings with the medical professionals at which we put across the families’ views on certain issues. As part of its work, the network organises family’s days. It is a chance for parents to listen to guest speakers and mix with other parents. The children go off on organised activities. If you want to join, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/westmidlandsnetwork/
Take care
Type 1 toddler
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I had a baby girl on the 19th of March she's absolutely beautiful and she breaks my heart everytime I look at her knowing I won't be able to give her the same love and attention she deserves. I'm still a mess and I would have thought so many months in (dx since Dec) I would have grasped the idea of putting a meal together. Thank you for asking it means alot. I still cry so much and can't get a grip of myself x
SamJ
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
Congratulations on the birth of your girl!
My three-year-old girl was diagnosed with T1 this January when my wife was 7 months pregnant, and she gave birth to our second girl on 26th March, so we have had a very similar few months. I had to double check the dates to make sure you weren't my wife!
I'm still emotional about it. Obviously you don't want to break down at the checkout when you're buying your milk, but I'd be more concerned if I wasn't feeling it. It's hard, but just keep going. Take the little victories and build on them.
About your concerns with your second born, I have a little anecdote. My sister's first born is autistic and he demands a lot of extra attention and care. There have been times when the limelight has been taken away from his little sister, and she's missed out. She's only eleven, and I honestly think she's one of the most amazing, understanding, caring people I know. If anything, it's helped make her who she is.
My three-year-old girl was diagnosed with T1 this January when my wife was 7 months pregnant, and she gave birth to our second girl on 26th March, so we have had a very similar few months. I had to double check the dates to make sure you weren't my wife!
I'm still emotional about it. Obviously you don't want to break down at the checkout when you're buying your milk, but I'd be more concerned if I wasn't feeling it. It's hard, but just keep going. Take the little victories and build on them.
About your concerns with your second born, I have a little anecdote. My sister's first born is autistic and he demands a lot of extra attention and care. There have been times when the limelight has been taken away from his little sister, and she's missed out. She's only eleven, and I honestly think she's one of the most amazing, understanding, caring people I know. If anything, it's helped make her who she is.
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Type 1 toddler
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Congratulations to you and your missus from me and welldone to her as its so tough how. Is she coping with it all?
I'm absolutely broken and have so many obstacles to Tackle yet and my stupid anxiety don't help I feel like my heart is broken into so many pieces I won't ever be able to put it together. I haven't left home since being pregnant I'm too scared to leave and too scared to speak to anyone incase I sound like a absolute nutcase which I do i think at times I think my partner has had it upto his ears of me crying each time I see a memory associated with pre diagnoses life.
Everyone keeps saying crying won't change anything but how do we just switch it off?
U are doing amazing remember that and it's not wrong to cry but stay strong for Yourself it's because u have such a big heart full of love it hurts so much..what part are u most worried about BTW just curious.. Always here if u need to relate and let ur other half know too. This site is amazing life gets manic with diabetes but I love everyone's support here and try replying as soon as I can
Bronco Billy
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
Hello again, Type 1 toddler. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. Try to relax, you will be able to give her the love and attention she needs. I’m sorry you are still feeling so down. Have you spoken to your team about how you are feeling? Have you tried to join the local support groups I gave the details of earlier in this thread? Have you considered going to the doctor about how you are feeling? I think it would help if you did one or two of these things.
Take care.
Take care.
Type 1 toddler
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi @Bronco Billy thank you so much! Its been a rough ride and so emotional this isn't even the beginning. I joined all the groups you suggested but there isn't much near by Facebook has been great but full Of so much scary stories too, how do u cope as a dad? Do u feel scared and how does ur other half cope?
Bronco Billy
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
It was scary at first, and we both worried that we weren’t doing the right thing. Yes, we made mistakes now and again, but we got through. Now, nine and a half years in, we are much more relaxed about it. How relaxed we’ll be in August when our daughter goes away for the first time without us, who knows? We do know she has the knowledge to cope, but it will still be a worrying time. I promise you will feel better eventually, once you learn to let go of the ‘old life’ and go charging into your ‘new life’.
SamJ
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
@Type 1 toddler Thanks. My other half is coping pretty well. Of course she gets tired and stressed with it all as well. We are sharing the load a bit. She's breast feeding so deals with that side of the sleepiness nights. I deal with any night-time diabetes stuff so at least she doesn't have to worry about that. Our three-year-old is also back in nursery for a couple of days a week so that gives her a bit of a break from that side of things which helps.
The thing that worries me the most is probably long-term complications. I'll also give you what I feel most optimistic about, and that is the medical advancements that are going to happen over the next twenty years that are only going to make diabetes easier to control. We recently got a pump, and I would think about that if you haven't already. We find changing the pump set is really difficult because our little one fights against it, it takes both of us to do it, but there are lots of benefits to it as well.
You should definitely keep talking to your team about how you're feeling. Our team is amazing, and I know if we are struggling with anything they are there to support us through it.
Bronco Billy
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
Hi @Type 1 toddler. I notice you haven't posted anything for a while. I hope you're ok.
Lizzzie
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
My heart sank for you when I read that. I am not surprised you are finding things overwhelming and hard. Just wanted to say: well done for reaching out for help and advice, I hope you find what you're looking for an come here for a moan anytime you want. It's a frustrating disease, but there's always a way and there's never been a better time to be diabetic.
Oooh! Just read Northerner's comments and looked back at the dates. Hope it's going well for you - would love to hear how you're getting on.
Oooh! Just read Northerner's comments and looked back at the dates. Hope it's going well for you - would love to hear how you're getting on.
Type 1 toddler
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Billy thank you for messaging me and I'm so grateful for your support and helping me getting through my worst times and want to say you are such a amazing person! These past few months have been very difficult especially with a now 8 month old baby girl ameerah.. Ive recently had a few issues with nursery and thier lack of support they do not classify my amelia as special needs and failed to give her insulin when she was hyper because 'they are busy with other children and can't do everything at the same time so won't always be able to help' I have requested a meeting with the sen Co ordinator who has said 'as she is not special needs it is not a priority' I was very upset about this and not to mention they will no longer have a nurse on site, if there is any support or advice you can offer me I will highly appreciate it. I am worried sick and feel so horrible everytime I send her in to nursery. I hope you have been well yourself and hope the family is well too, looking forward to your reply Billy. Thank you
Type 1 toddler
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Thank you liz it's support from all of you that has helped me so much we are still learning and just trying to keep my head above water for my two beautiful daughters diagnosis has had a effect on my depression and anxiety and not to mention my relationship also but I will give my right arm for my daughters as we do and will push through, this is the only place I feel comfortable talking because you guys are so genuine and understand. How are you doing hope your well x
Thebearcametoo
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
That nursery aren’t fully supporting her or understanding the seriousness of diabetes is terrifying. If you give the diabetes uk helpline a call they can help you to phrase the legal obligations the nursery has under the equalities act as diabetes comes under a disability category due to the additional input of carers needed. Does your toddler have DLA? That can be one of the easier ways to prove her disability. Disability here isn’t about her capabilities or capacity but about their legal obligations.
Bronco Billy
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Parent of person with diabetes
Hi @Type 1 toddler Lovely to hear from you, I was getting worried.
I don’t have time to fully answer now as I’m at work, but I wanted to let you know that I had seen your message. The nursery isn’t fulfilling its duties and there are things you can do. I’ll reply fully this evening.
Take care.
I don’t have time to fully answer now as I’m at work, but I wanted to let you know that I had seen your message. The nursery isn’t fulfilling its duties and there are things you can do. I’ll reply fully this evening.
Take care.
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