Does anyone have any advice for a carer to a type 1 child of 4 years old with a pump?

[Remoskss]

Hi

I currently look after a boy who is 4 in Reception on a 1:1 basis checking his levels.
Does anyone do this or is their child looked after in school that could give me some advice and tips?

We have a care plan for him and about 6 members of staff trained at the moment but I'm looking for information that people have had in their situations to pass on to me to try and help everything run smoothly for him and his family. The aim being to make it as easy and normal as possible for him.
He joins in with everything going and has school lunches as well.

Many thanks

 

[Redkite]

Glad to hear this little boy is being so well cared for in school 🙂. My son was diagnosed aged 4 and there was no support for him in school whatsoever (I had to go into school daily myself and inject him and supervise at breaks!).

Obviously you have the care plan to stick to, but my main advice would be to keep really good two-way communication with his parents. Do you have a diary/message book that goes home and back? As a parent I've always welcomed being asked if anyone's ever been unsure what to do in a given situation, and advance planning can help ensure he is included fully in all activities. It might sound daft, but my son (now 14) still feels sad about being needlessly excluded from activities in primary school such as making sandwiches in class - the teacher gave him the "important" task of taking photos of the other children doing the activity, but all he wanted was to be part of it, and there was no reason he couldn't have been, had the staff only thought to ask!

If you see things in the routine day which, if handled slightly differently, could help him be better included, don't be afraid to mention it to his parents - for example, doing a BG test fifteen minutes early instead of at the start of breaktime would give time to treat a hypo if necessary and still allow him to play out with the others, instead of sitting on his own recovering while playtime passes him by. You may already have this in the care plan....or there may be a good reason why this wouldn't work for this particular child....so communication is key. The parents will be learning as they go along how their son's diabetes is affected by the school day, so be open to them requesting changes for things that they hadn't anticipated.

I am in danger of rambling on! Hope you enjoy looking after him, I'd love to do a similar job 🙂

 

[Sally71]

I can't add much to that, but would like to reiterate that whatever the class might be doing - cookery, food tasting, Christmas parties etc - this child CAN take part, it just takes a bit of extra planning. Speak to the parents in advance, explain exactly what the class will be doing and what food is involved and they will help you to work out how to deal with it. These children have to cope with so much being "different" anyway with all the blood testing, insulin, hospital check ups etc, please do your utmost to make sure they are not made to feel even worse by not being allowed to join in with things! There is almost nothing that a diabetic child can't do, as long as you are prepared.

Similarly with sports, off-site trips etc, make sure you find out whether anything special needs to be done, what to take with you if you go off site, are there any situations when the pump would have to be removed for a while etc. the parents will be able to help with all of this and will be very pleased that you asked!

 

[HOBIE]

Good luck with your caring from someone who has been T1 from 49yrs(3). My mother gave me a Tobacco tin with fruit pastels in for my teachers desk. 😱 He will want to play etc as a proper kid & I would employ any T1 person with that go ahead attitude. 🙂

 

[Adrasteia]

I have a 4 year old in the school nursery (same as Reception in England I suppose?) and can wholeheartedly agree with Redkite that it's all about communication - the parents are going to feel so much better knowing that there's someone at the school so invested in keeping school 'normal' for them. I honestly can't tell you how much that will mean to them.

We have a diary as Redkite suggests, the teachers know they can phone us anytime if they have any concerns and that they can speak to us about any activities they're unsure about. I'd never be annoyed by being asked any question no matter how silly it may seem; I would be annoyed if my son was left out of something for the lack of asking!

One thing that seemed to help with us was he took all of his kit in one day for show and tell and explained it all to the rest of the class. He 'stuck out' more being tested and getting hypo treatments when none of them knew what was going on - it just made them all more curious. Once the class knew they just accepted it and moved on to the next interesting thing! Love the acceptance of kids at that age!

All the best looking after the wee one.