Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Katie Smith on January 1, 2011 at 11:03am

Hi there.  My son, Jude was diagnosed at 9 months.  He began pumping at 1 1/2. He is on the Animas Ping because it has the smallest basal rate, which usually keeps him from having any significant lows.  The problems we have had: an infected site because the inset has to go in his buttocks, it is impossible to keep it 100% clean all of the time since he wears a diaper; tubing that gets tanged on everything from toys to cabinet knobs, sometimes it pulls the inset out completely; he chewed the buttons off of his first pump while he was teething, luckily it was replaced for free; sometimes he tries to chew on the cord, out of boredom, I guess (lol); occassionally he falls down and his inset is dislodged or the cap comes off where the tubing hooks into the cartridge/pump and the strangest incident was when he spent the night at his grandmother's, where the dog sleeps in the bed with him and the DOG chewed through the tubing.  UGH! I know! BUT...after telling you all of this negative stuff, I want to you to know that I am unbelieveably thankful for the pump. It has made our lives and his so much easier. No MDIs anymore! No carrying syringes and insulin in the diaper bag. All in all a wonderful experience. I would recommend it for sure. My son is now 2 1/2 and he is beginning to recognize that the pump is just another part of his daily wardrobe, just like his shoes!  Best of luck.  I'm here if you need any help.  I am also on facebook and have a few other friends that have diabetic toddlers that could also give you some great input.

 

Katie Smith

Permalink Reply by Mikki's Mama on January 17, 2011 at 8:08pm

My little girl was diagnosed at 2 and she's now 3. We are thinking of using the pump but nervous!! If she were my only child I think it would be a lot easier but I have a 7 year old boy and a 20 month old boy, I just worry about learning something new while I have a toddler to keep track of!

Permalink Reply by Annie on January 7, 2011 at 1:50pm

My son was dx'ed 2 mo after his 2nd bday...was pumping shortly before his 3rd day!

Permalink Reply by Trev on January 20, 2011 at 9:21am

Hello. I have 2 type 1 daughters out of five kids. We demanded our team start our youngest on the pump when she was 2. Dx at 20 months. My 13 year old will have nothing to do with the pump-not cool dad! Anyway. They seem to be starting kids as young as infacy. It is proven safer then MDI as the research asserts it prevents nocturnal hypos(which was our biggest issue) Cheers!

Permalink Reply by ella on January 22, 2011 at 6:31pm

hi

I would tell your daughter if she wants to be around in 20 years she better get on a pump. its good to start in teenage years because they are the hardest. I reccamend you make her trial a pump for 7 days see how she likes it. I bet she will ask you why she did not do it sooner. The bottom line is unless there is a cure within the next 5 years she is going to have to go on the pump eventually you simply cannot maintain a healthy A1C on shots. To prevent complcations she has to go on the pump. At the same time maybe she just does not have enough info. I would take her to a pump class. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT GET THE OMNIPOD now there is a pump that could kill anyone. It has nearly killed me 29 times. Animas and Minimed are pretty much the only choices. Asker her what is "cooler" 2 arms and 2 legs and seeing or no toes or feet or hands!! that is what opened my eyes.
my doc pretty much told my mom either start pumping or get ready for a funeral. she said that pre omnipod and now she is saying that to the pod LOL. I have no choice but to go on a minimed or animas.
hope this helps

ella

Permalink Reply by Trev on January 22, 2011 at 8:21pm

Hi There! We initiated the pump with our younger Type 1 when she was 18 months. We were so relieved and it was life changing. I talk about her story here http://three2treat.blogspot.com
I have three in the family with type 1, Myself, 2 out of my five daughters. Cheers!

Permalink Reply by Celeste on January 24, 2011 at 7:56pm

Our daughter was diagnosed at 25 months and she was on the Omnipod by 35 months - now she is just over 4 years old. We love it but I wish they would include food bolus in their insulin on board calculations - it would help with daycare if they were able to correct when they take her reading off schedule. We have had some pod failures but with the automatic insertion they are very easy to replace and they have been good about replacing them. We have just started with a CGM (minimed) but it is pretty invasive - I hear the other brands are better - keep that in mind if the linked cgm is a selling point for minimed (though I think they are coming out with a smaller sensor - but with these things - who knows when). No matter what pump you choose I think you will love it - it really makes our life much more normal. Our daughter is a slow eater and some times she eats next to nothing at a meal - now meal time is much less stressful because if she doesn't eat - we don't bolus her and if we are worried that she might go low - we can lower her insulin rate. If she is hungry later - she eats - much easier with a preschooler. She never played with her pod but her now 2 yr old sister pulled it off her in the tub once.

It does take a while to get used to using the pump and getting the levels set(took us close to 4 weeks) - we started around Thanksgiving - I would not recommend that. You will have to be testing alot at night until they are set - so if you can pick a couple of weeks when you won't be busy - I would recommend it.

There are some good forums on here under each of the pump brands - you can probably get some good ideas of what you will encounter on them.

Best of Luck
Celeste

Permalink Reply by M. on January 24, 2011 at 10:02pm

My son was diagnosed at age 5. He wasn't ready for the pump until recently. He is 8 now and we've been pumping for about 7 months. We had a rough start - that first set change was traumatic for him! And despite tons of support from our CDE, his numbers were crazy high for the first few weeks. That said, we ABSOLUTELY LOVE the pump now! So much more flexibility, and really a lot easier. We don't have any problems with him detaching or pulling it out (though the tubing did snap once while he was roughhousing at the park). He is older so he gets that it's a part of him now. He almost feels funny without it. I think it is definitely worth a try. Good luck!!

Permalink Reply by Jessica05 on January 26, 2011 at 1:29pm

My DD was diagnosed at 15 mo, and on the Medtronic pump by 18 mo. It's been a life saver for us. She's never pulled out the site and when she was a toddler, we covered the site with IV3000 dressings to protect it as she slid off beds, etc. At one point she wore it in a little pump belt, but now she prefers to wear it on her waistband.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on February 7, 2011 at 1:29am

Eric was diagnosed at 18 months. HIs endo wanted him to start on the pump but we didn't have the insurance coverage. 10 months later, I got him on my insurance (he'd been on his dad's) and that's when we made the switch. They all want to play with it or detach it, so you have to find ways to stop them -- usually putting the pump site in their buttocks, and using some sort of pocket shirt that has the pocket out of reach on the kid's back to keep the pump itself away from busy fingers (and always using the button lock!). I have a set of instructions for a pocket you can sew onto shirts or dresses, if you want it send me a message with your email address and I'll email you a pdf.

Permalink Reply by noditucker on February 23, 2011 at 10:15am

my son got his pump a month after his fourth birthday. He is a very active rough and tumble boy who plays soccer and baseball. He also enjoys battling with his sisters and jumping on the trampoline, we have never had problems with his pump or infusion set. He loves the pump, and I would highly recommend it.

Permalink Reply by Mikki's Mama on April 5, 2011 at 1:33pm

what pump are you using? I am about to start my 3 year old girl on the animas and am worried about her getting rough and tumble with her two brothers.

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