Hi there,
Does many of you on here have toddlers with type 1?
My 15 month old was diagnosed last week.
I am a registered nurse and have a strong family history of diabetes, so am pretty comfortable with the whole thing in theory.
But still feel A LITTLE STRESSED.
I am keen to share stories or just be in contact with any one in similar situation
Cheers

alpha should see this and respond soon about her little boy, big hugs!

Hi eloise

While Grant didn't get Diabetes as a toddler we are a member of the aus/nz list for children with diabetes. If you go to their web site www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/ it is a wonderful source of information. You can also join the mailing list for the aus/nz forum where there are plenty of families with younger kids with d.

Remember you aren't alone with this, we will all help as much as we can.

Liz

thanks Liz, have book marked the site and will have a good look tomorrow.
Cheers all
Tash

Hi Eloise
I'm sorry to hear your news. A Diabetes dx is a shock to any family. My daughter was dx'd 7 years ago and the poor kid is still only 7! It does get easier, especially as they get older and can relate their feelings to you.
There are lots of great resources out there, and Starship (I think) is one of the best places to get your care.
www.diabetesyouth.org.nz can give you details of things you are entitled to and a link to the Diabetes Youth Auckland website.

Hang In There

thanks for that,
starship have been absolutely amazing.
Only in week 2 at this stage so things are so variable.
Keen to get James on to a pump.
thanks for the link

Hey Eloise, sorry was taking a break, but yeah I'm here Gabriel was diagnosed at 18 months (2 years ago on the 10th of this month as it happens) anyhow.

Hmm I wouldn't put Gabe on a pump but that is just my opinion on them.
I'm sure they are great for the right people don't get me wrong I'm not anti pumps, but not for a very active pre schooler, or even school boy once he's there.
I don't believe they look at pumps till they are over 5 anyhow.

Honeymoon period can be hard, and while we had ever medical prof tell us that the longer that lasts the better it is on everyone we couldn't wait for it to be over so we had full control over what was going on not just guessing that he *might* be producing insulin today and the hypos that go with it.

Anyhow, gotta go get more coffee, but feel free to chat, or PM me if you have more questions about actually parenting through it.
Umm yeah hear from you soon.

oooh questions don't know where to start!
James is a really happy bouncy kid and doing so well so I am really lucky I think.
Honey moon is quite frustrating I am finding, he is having quite a few overnight lows and the control freak in me wants to be able to have his day reading a little less wild. I suspect that's why I am drawn to pumps. I do see your point with the fitting in aspect of things
But i guess relaxing is something i am going to have to do?
tash

Hi Day readings will settle down, all in good time.
Gabe spent the first few weeks going from lows to 25.8, to 4.2 etc. Partly this was also as he was eating like nothing on earth to regain the weight he has lost, and also now he was able to process it better. It was SO nice to have my happy little boy back , once he was on insulin it was an over night change for his mood.

You will relax in time.
I still worry when Gabe isn't in my care, and Over night, and I've had times where mothers instinct has kicked in and I've thought I'll just give him another test to find that he's at 1.7 But you get there.

it's also nice he's alittle bit older and he's starting to recognise what a low feel's like and is about 1/3 of the time able to tell me.

I also can sympathise with him, I had gestational diabetes and was on insulin for it, and know exactly how the blood testing feels and how much of a pain it is, and exactly what a hypo feels like, I got down to 1.2 once, freaked me out as I was driving at the time.

You'll also find that as he's young he wont know any differently as to the testing and injections, where as say if he'd been 7 years old you have to get them to accept it as well as you learning and all that jazz.

Just ask questions as they come up, about parenting through it, dealing with lows, the theory based stuff.

One thing Gabe care team told me when he was first diagnosed was that I am the specalist when it comes to Gabes care, I am the one who knows how he reacts to insulin daily, when he's sick, what his lows look like, what his highs' look like etc. They are there to support me with the theory knowledge to help. That was something that made me feel a lot better, that I didn't have to question them on everything, and after that i felt a lot better being able to work out fluctuating doses etc on my own.

Sometime in the next week or so I've got an appointment with the dietician (who I don't see eye to eye with but that's another matter) on carb counting which will help me in terms of better working out how much insulin to give him.

Sorry I ramble. Didn't mean to.
But keep talking, keep asking, learning - although be careful what you read online as most of it is geared towards Type 2 not type 1.

It does get easier I've been told.
My fear at this stage is that gabe still has to go through the acceptance phase himself. and what happens if he then rebels.

grrrrr wrote huge post and it dissapeared!
Dont find the carb couting hard, its working out what actually get eaten lol. half of bowl on floor, a bit fed to the cat, and ???amt in his hair.
Had gestational diabetes too, but only in my 1st preg.
James is my third

stink at losing it.
We're only just being taught carb counting but I spose now at 3.5 years it's a little easier to tell what has and hasn't been eaten.

also have 3.5 year old and he has habit of doing runner from table half way thru meal then coming bac, so guess each age will have its challenges.
James seems to be having more lows at mo but hard to pin down to eat at ti, and we are often on the go with school and kindy ect so he is distracted from eating.
Any hints
Is dietcian not so user friendly?

Gabes dietitian I have found not to be so user friendly but that's more that she tries to force her opinion rather than fact on me (Like when i said Gabe still has a bottle of milk at bed time and she told me that he shouldn't and I should stop, to which I replied that's a matter of personal opinion isn't nothing to do with dietary reasoning?) she wasn't happy, and she's tried to lecture me about the amount he eats sometimes. He'll go through periods where 5-6 weetbix for breakfast isn't uncommon, and got told i shouldn't do this. Well i'm not going to let him go hungry and as she couldn't suggest something that was more filling I again put her in her place but kindly suggesting then that she come round and convince a hungry 3 year old that he can't have more food when he's asking for it every 5 min and is clearly hungry

anyhow I'll see how she goes when it comes to teaching us carb counting.

Some of his lows I'm sure will be from honeymoon when he's producing a small amount of insulin and your dosing at the same time but because you don't know if or when he's producing himself it's hard. It's the main reason we hated honeymoon so very much and were more than glad when it was over.

Hints.
Errm I used to always make sure I had a packet of rice crackers on hand where ever we went, and glucose obviously. Not much that couldn't be fixed with those 2 things on hand.

Gabe was always good at eating (he started solids at 3.5-4 months) and always good at eating on the go, in the stroller the car, when we were out anywhere etc so for him it was always easy.

I spose getting him to eat something you know he will , like with Gabe at the time I knew a banana would always go down well something like that.

I'll have a thing on more tips

am still bf James on demand and there is no way to count the carbs on that so why should a bottle be different? Hell there is no way i would tell any of my boys to stop if hungry , why if diabetic. What is short acting insulin for then? that how the pancreas works normally. Its not like you are giving sugar in toast.
James eats some huge, some tiny meals but it works out over all so a pump would be helpful there.
I am def biased as my Dad is on a pump, and has found it great.
Have found loading up on high protien foods at really hungry times, like scrambled eggs and beans help.
I am finding it tricky to be confidant in dosing his insulin at the moment
Tash

Tash don't worry confidence comes later
I was confidant but as I said I had GD and was on insulin so I had had 5 months practice, and also a close friend who was type 1 to find out more info from.
but at this stage just concentrating on learning what it all does and how it all works and then how it all works in relation to James.

The dietitian thing its just a clash in styles ... and we are getting a new one sometime in the next few weeks and this one is moving on from the hospital which is fine, and the next one has even more experience dealing with peads.

It's hard don't get me wrong and just when you think you've got it sorted they go through a growth spurt and it all changes again.

The hardest thing I've found is getting his father to do the same thing I am, which is even harder now we aren't together and I can't watch and be on hand to say "no don't do it like that, or You should be doing XYZ"

HI All for your convenience i have made this topic STICKEY

Thanks Bryan

things are settling down, although 4 teeth the way so not sure how that will disrupt things
over night lows a bit frustrating, have reduced protophane to 1 unit, no short acting and only 4 units protophane in the morning.
He is so incredibly active, i am constantly feeding him!
Am still thinking pump is the way to go

Wait till he's out of honeymoon, on a pump you'd still be having these problems in honeymoon phase anyhow.

It will settle as you said it's only been 3 weeks, it takes time, took us a good 6 months to start getting some really stable numbers out of Gabe and stop having constant lows.


It will come right

And I know gabe constantly ate after he was diagnosed simply as he was now able to process what he was eating (We think he went undiagnosed for about 9 months, given we took him to the hospital at 9 months with the same symptoms and were sent home when he perked up but anyhow) Gabe has lost about 4kg by the time he was diagnosed and was gaining all that back and then some.

james has put back on all the weight he lost
think he had symptoms for 2-3 weeks and last few days was a bit of head burying as i knew what it was. I had done a dip stick and smelt his breath.