New to all this child with type 1

[Lou H]

Hello

I have a nearly 3 year old (3 in August) who was diagnosed with type 1 in Feb 2016. I'm not Gonna lie its been hard we according to the nurses are doing brilliantly and our son has adapted well to the injections. There is talk that he should go on a pump this year as even carb counting accurately and dose adjusting he is still spiking to high.

What I wanted to ask is have other parents had problems with irratic behaviour? meaning fine one minute and then the next he is bouncing off the walls. We're very careful what he has to eat and he always has choxolate, biscuits etc with his meal so it's counted. Just finding it a bit tiring the constant change in his behaviour.

Also toilet training any one got any advice we aren't having much luck.

Thankyou for reading this post im grateful for any advice.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Lou, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your little ones's diagnosis I don't personally have any experience with children, but hopefully one of our parents will be along to help. I do know that high or fluctuating levels can have a significant effect on mood, and I imagine that in one so young it must be hard to know what's going on. Certainly, a pump should help with control, especially when there are so many extra considerations in one so young, like growth hormones, variable appetite, boundless energy (at times, I'm sure!). So many variables it can be really difficult. Spikes can sometimes be due to the timing of the insulin dose, and levels going high before the insulin has really started to work, so might be worth asking the DSN about this. Although you have been at it for a few months it is still very much early days. Although I was diagnosed as an adult, I can see with hindsight that it was many months before I really started to build up sufficient experience to be able to work out what was going on a lot of the time!

Do you have a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas? If not, you should definitely get a copy as it is a priceless reference guide and very highly regarded. You might also find the Children with Diabetes website helpful. You can also get a free Kidsac from JDRF which might help.

Please ask any questions you may have, we will do our best to help! 🙂

 

[pottersusan]

don't know about children, but I do know my moods are, shall we say, variable with the swings in my blood sugar. Being an adult I feel I should be able to deal with this, but it's not easy sometimes. So I can understand how a nearly three year old might be erratic🙂 (When I got my wisdom teeth, I understood why babies cry when they're teething!)

 

[HOBIE]

Welcome Lou. Sorry to hear about your son but I was diagnosed 50yrs tomorrow. Things are not better than in the 60s but tech is. Every day you will learn things off others & it will improve. You have already done a good thing by joining this site. Please keep asking as there are a lot of members with good advice. Good luck Lou & son 🙂

 

[Lou H]

Thankyou everyone lou x

 

[trophywench]

Is this your only child Lou? I only ask because aren't all kids a bit changeable at 3? certainly our grandkids have all been ! (I wasn't responsible for their mothers LOL)

But indeed - mood swings are frequently an outward sign of what's happening to the person's BG - but how the hell you would tell the difference without testing, I haven't a clue I'm afraid.

 

[SB2015]

Thankyou everyone lou x

Hi Lou

Welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place as there are loads of people on here happy to help.

Whenever someone is diagnosed there is a lot to learn very quickly. Things are often wobbly at the start due to something's called the Honeymoon period, when the pancreas every now and then does a last ditch effort of producing some insulin without warning. So levels tend to wobble a bit. Keep asking questions here and of your diabetes team and things do gradually become the new normal life.

If you are offered a pump, as a pumper, I would highly recommend it. There is a lot of information in the pumping section of this forum, so have a look there as there are regular discussions about the pros and cons of pump over injections.

Keep asking and let us know how you and your child get on.

 

[Lou H]

Thankyou SB2013, Daniel is gonna go on a pump ive told his nurses we want it it's a case of waiting for his funding and order which looks like November/December time it be worth the wait. It's amazing the things you can get excited over lol

Thanks for your reply trophywench I have two children oldest is 5 who doesn't have diabetes and my youngest with type 1. Our oldest have struggled with the adjustment of more time of our youngest but I'm teaching him little bits to be included. There characters are very different but I have noticed when blood sugars are high he becomes more irratic and shall I say doesn't listen!!!

Lou

 

[Redkite]

Hi Lou, sorry about your son's diagnosis - mine was 4 when he was diagnosed. Variable BG levels (and particularly high BGs) can have a massive effect on mood, and little ones in particular can't easily express how they feel, so you can get stroppy behaviour! Going on the pump will be really beneficial, as you'll be able to tailor his basal rates to get much more stable BG levels - many parents have commented after their child has gone on a pump that they've "got their old happy child back". Wait till you get to the teens though, lol!