Insulin Pump choices for a 2 1/2 year old

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Debbie Butler replied on Mon, Mar 9 2009 1:38 PM

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All of the pumps that you listed are great devices. This is a very important decision so I am glad that you went to an informational session and that you will be discussing your decision with your son's diabetes health care team.  I wanted to let you know that I have heard from some parents that it can be harder to attach the OmniPod pump to smaller bodies.  Also you may also want to consider another pump in addition to the 3 pumps that you listed.  The Animas "Ping" pump can give insulin in smaller amounts as compared to the other pumps that you listed.  Good luck with your decision.  I hope that some other parents reply to your posting as well.

-Debbie Butler, LICSW, CDE

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Ron AKA replied on Mon, Mar 9 2009 2:15 PM

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No experience, but here are a couple of links that may be of help:

Pump Comparison

Pumps

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John replied on Thu, May 7 2009 11:14 PM

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might be too young. Have you tried painless syringes? pls ask endocrinologists in childrens' hospital or Joslin.

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Melissata replied on Fri, May 8 2009 8:35 AM

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There are other message boards that have many parents of little ones on pumps, and Debbie is correct that most of them choose the Animas because of it's smallest basal increments. Check out the parents board at the ADA site and also CWD, Children with Diabetes parent's board. CWD is extremely active and most of the participants are mom's with kids on pumps.

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ajsmama replied on Fri, May 8 2009 3:58 PM

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Oh, by far NOT too young.  We chose to go with the Animas and have been completely satisified.  His blood sugars are astronomical now and his A1C has fallen to normal levels.  The smaller the kid, the better off they are with a pump.

For us, the best choice was to simply change clinics to one that supports the Animas pump. 

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Debbie Butler replied on Mon, May 11 2009 11:30 AM

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John, could you tell me what you mean by "painless syringes?" Do you have a specific product name?

Thanks,

Debbie

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Karen replied on Mon, Dec 14 2009 9:58 PM

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hi ajsmama,

my 2 year old son was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a week ago.  i would appreciate any tips you have (e.g., getting him used to the shots, when you felt like you could move to the pump, diet management, etc).  what should i expect? does it take a while to get sugars under control with a 2 year old? 

i would appreciate your advice! 

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ajsmama replied on Mon, Dec 14 2009 10:45 PM

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Hi karen, I had a long response written to you but just lost it on the computer.  I will write again tomorrow when I have more time.

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Karen replied on Tue, Dec 15 2009 9:53 PM

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thank you!  i would appreciate any advice you have :)

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ajsmama replied on Tue, Dec 15 2009 10:42 PM

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[quote user="Karen"]

hi ajsmama,

my 2 year old son was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a week ago.  i would appreciate any tips you have (e.g., getting him used to the shots, when you felt like you could move to the pump, diet management, etc).  what should i expect? does it take a while to get sugars under control with a 2 year old? 

i would appreciate your advice! 

Hi Karen,

First off, I hope you and your family are doing okay with the new diagnosis.  A diabetes diagnosis is a shock at any age but especially difficult with a very young child.  Our son, AJ, is vast approaching his one year anniversary (dx: 1-9-09) and my husband and I can hardly remember a life without diabetes.  We've learned a lot over the past year and know we will continue to do so!

I'm assuming your son is on a short acting insulin and a long acting basal.  We used injections for his treatment for approximately 3 months before switching to the pump.  When we have him injections he really fought them in the beginning but after about 2 weeks he started to realize this is the way of life.  The Novolog we gave in his thighs and the Lantus in his buttocks. At first it was a two person job to inject him but we did figure out a few tricks.  For the  thigh shots it worked best to have him sit in my lap and I would hold his arms back with my arms and cross my leg over his leg we would inject.  He obviously didn't like being held down but it was the only way to safely inject him.  The Lantus was more difficult since we gave that in the buttock.  I would have him lay down across my lap (like for a spanking) and then quickly inject the insulin before he started squirming away.  I've heard the Lantus stings when it's injected so that may have been why he was so squirmy. 

As for advice, just take it one day at a time.  This will become the new normal and your son will never remember life before diabetes.  It always makes me mad when people say how horrible it must be for him to have diabetes and I quickly retort that he will know no other way, which, I think, is better than when an older child can remember life before shots/insulin, etc. 

When he was on the injections, we found it easiest to have a set meal time schedule and stick to it.  We also gave the insulin before the meal, but it was difficult if he chose not to eat when we planned for him and then we'd have to give him extra sweets to make up the carbs.  That was tricky and was one of the big reasons why we moved to the pump so quickly. 

Once he was on insulin therapy for several months, we noticed a huge peronality change--for the good.  He is now such a silly, sweet, good natured boy now compared to how he was a year ago.  He was much more irritable, never smiled, and very serious.  We are happy to have our boy back.

He also has grown approximately 3 inches so far since his diagnosis, all thanks to the insulin!  He hasn't gained much weight, but we really aren't too surprised.  My husband is tall and thin and I think AJ will be the same.

You asked about the pump and how we knew when we were comfortable switching.  We had very poor control with the injections and his highs and lows were very extreme.  I think part of that was because his doctor at the time didn't have him on diluted insulin so the lowest meal/correction bolus we could give him was 0.5 units of Novolog.  With the pump we can give him a 0.05 unit bolus and his basal can be as low as 0.025 units per hour.  The control is much more precise and we feel he can have a more normal eating schedule and feel like a normal kid.  We now bolus him when he's finished his food instead of guessing how much he may or may not eat.  The pump comes with its own set of issues (infusion set changes every three days, possible site infections, higher risk of DKA) but we would not ever go back to injections.

I asked my husband what advice he had for you, and he thought it was important to have a good support system and know this is a team effort.  I would agree, this can be very difficult on a marriage especially if both parties aren't equally involved.  We've had our moments but have so far been able to work together well as a team. 

I would love to continue our conversations via email and would love to keep in touch with you.  I've had a few mentor relationships with JDRF, etc, but none of the kids were ever diagnosed as young as our kids are.  I think it's a much different ballgame with a child under 3 since they can't understand logic just yet.  Please feel free to email me personally and I look forward to hearing from  you!

(I hope this post helped and I didn't ramble too much--there's a lot to say about this diabetes thing!) 

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Karen replied on Wed, Dec 16 2009 11:24 PM

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This is so helpful!  Thank you!  I sent you and e-mail as well and would love to continue our discussion.  This diagnosis was a lot to take in initially, but with every day that goes by (and with Jack looking and acting so much healthier and happier already) I feel like it gets more and more manageable.   Thank you!