Children | Page 4 of 8

5 Ways to Help Your Teen with Diabetes Succeed

Treating diabetes well demands a long term vision. You tolerate a lot of inconvenience today in order to avoid future damage. But, have you tried lately talking to any teenager about the future consequences of anything? Be it school, friends, lifestyle choices– teenage thinking is not designed to consider long term consequences.

My Six Year Old Didn’t Sign Up for Type 1 Diabetes

My husband and I work hard to manage our son’s condition so he feels good, learns the ropes and has a long, healthy, happy life. But also so diabetes isn’t the focus of his world—there’s plenty more for a first-grader to think about. Still, that weekend a nasty cold, a clog in his insulin pump, and other factors led to a series of high blood sugars and, consequently, vomiting and dehydration. We were shades away from hospitalization.

Kids First Diabetes Second: Enjoying Summer with Diabetes

I like to pack a couple of water bottles that we can refill throughout the day to stay hydrated. Remember, there is a lot of blacktop at amusement parks, which turns up the heat! Pack enough food to cover regular snack times, plus a few extras in case you need them to recover from lows. I also pack a few extras for other family members. Applesauce pouches and organic fruit strips hold up well in a backpack or cooler.

What I Wish I’d Known When my Child was Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes

Don’t talk A1C’s with your kids. Ever. Listen, before diabetes, did you take the lab sheet from your child’s annual physical and show them things on it and celebrate numbers? Of course not. A young child does not even need to know what an A1C is, never mind the result of one. I wish I’d known this.

Pumps vs Injections: An Excerpt From “Raising Teens with Diabetes”

Pumping insulin can offer a person with diabetes more freedom, more precision, and less stress on a management basis. But they can be tricky, too: pumps need to be paid attention to quite closely. So what are the benefits of pumping, and what are the benefits of MDI? Both offer their own, and while many like to claim pumping is the only right choice, in reality, with the many types of insulin available today, the decision of pump versus MDI is mostly a personal one.

Children With Diabetes Friends for Life 2014: A Wrap-Up

It was midway into a parents’ session on positive caregiving at the annual Children with Diabetes Friends for Life conference in Orlando, and a mother in the corner of the room was crying. Feeling alone and overwhelmed by the new task of raising a toddler with Type 1 Diabetes, her emotions overflowed.

How Our Daughter’s Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis Changed her Life—And Ours

Even though Bisi can live a long, healthy life, I feel terribly sad for her, and for us. Sad that she will need tens (hundreds?) of thousands of blood tests and injections; sad that what she can eat and how she lives is so much more regimented and restricted than it was before; that she faces health consequences and worries that a six year old shouldn’t have to know about or think about. And I feel sad, even though she is a girl who takes an enormous amount of pleasure out of life, that she knows her life is shadowed by this.

Diabetes Camp: Why It’s Really Good for Parents

It’s important for parents to make a list for themselves and the rest of their family and then stick to it during diabetes camp weeks. It’s just too easy for diabetes to remain front and center in our lives, even when our kids are away. A little work at tucking it away isn’t just not selfish, it might just be semi selfless, since it makes us both physically and emotionally stronger, and helps bolster the entire family.

Should I Screen My Child for Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease?

Many parents I know with diabetes themselves, or who have one child with diabetes, occasionally check the blood sugar level of a particularly thirsty non-diabetic toddler or a seems-sleepier-than-usual non-diabetic sibling. But there is no palm reading for as-of-yet unpricked fingers. I can’t sit around worrying for what may or may not happen. I am sure I will see the symptoms if they appear. I’m sure I’m equipped to handle a diagnosis. Why put myself or my kid through unnecessary worry, stress, or pain?

Changes for Jeff Hitchcock and Children with Diabetes

Jeff Hitchcock and his website, Children with Diabetes, have gone through some significant changes recently. These changes reflect how growth and success brings its own set of challenges, and also reflect some larger changes taking place in how diabetes functions as a business.