When a child is diagnosed with diabetes, it's a big challenge for the entire family to adjust to constantly monitoring blood blood glucose levels, sticking to a healthy diabetic diet and ensuring that exercise is a part of the daily routine.
The best way to teach treatment to diabetic children will depend on your child's age, the ability to understand the disease and the willingness to cooperate. You can help your child learn to manage and treat diabetes.
Explain Diabetes to Your Child
Step 1
Educate yourself and your child. The first step is to explain to your child what diabetes is---and that means making sure you know everything you can about diabetes. Keep it simple for younger diabetic children, and get more detailed with older kids. Teens who are computer and Internet-savvy can do some research on their own to empower themselves and take their diabetes education into their own hands.
Step 2
Explain the consequences of poor diabetes management. Managing diabetes can seem like a lot of work to a child or teen who's had a pretty carefree life until then, what with frequent blood glucose (sugar) monitoring, scheduled meals and snacks and a strict diet. To keep your child on the right path to good diabetes management, explain why it's so very important to take these steps and what serious health complications can result if they don't accept their diabetes and keep it under control.
Step 3
Teach your child that not everything will change with diabetes. Sure, life certainly changes when diagnosed with diabetes---but that doesn't mean that a kid can't just be a kid. Tell your child that she can still play with friends, enjoy sleepovers with friends, and even indulge in a slice of birthday cake under the right circumstances. Exercise is an important part of diabetes management, to maintain a healthy weight and help keep the heart healthy. Play and exercise also have great social benefits---an important aspect of life for your diabetic child.
Talk About the Changes
Step 1
Revamp your child's diet and meal schedule. Diabetics have to make certain changes in their diet, and that means coming up with a healthy meal plan and a regular meal and snack schedule---and ensuring that your child knows how to adhere to it. At each meal, diabetics need to make sure they're getting the right amount of carbohydrates---not too many and not too few---to keep blood glucose levels steady, the Nemours Foundation says. And they'll need to eat regularly to prevent drops and spikes in blood glucose. You'll also need to teach your child that some foods and drinks they may have enjoyed before their diabetes diagnosis need to be avoided or limited, like sugary drinks, candy and desserts.
Step 2
Check blood glucose levels frequently. Diabetics must regularly monitor their blood glucose levels with a machine called a glucometer, and give themselves insulin as scheduled. A child can't know what the body needs unless she checks her blood glucose levels, so teach her how to use the glucometer and what the results mean. From that, she can see if she needs insulin, some exercise or maybe a snack, Nemours says. Figure out a blood glucose monitoring schedule that works with your child's schedule, and stick to it---maybe it's before school, at lunch and before bed. Teach her how to properly administer her insulin when the age is right, and create a schedule for that, too. There is no specific recommended age at which a child can safely administer insulin, but The Hospital for Sick Children says that teenagers should have the physical skills and judgement to give themselves insulin injections. However, it's always a good idea for parents to supervise the administration of insulin.
Step 3
Offer encouragement and rewards.Young children might be a little frightened by their diabetes and what it feels like when blood glucose levels get low. You'll need to explain to your little one what those feelings mean and that it's important to tell an adult when they feel those sensations coming on. The American Diabetes Association suggests offering a sticker, a new toy or some other treat after an unpleasant day or for identifying low blood glucose.
Step 4
Let older children figure out how to handle the disease and the treatment. Older children may just be a bit shy about telling others about their diabetes, so be prepared if they are resistant to being open about it. The ADA suggests that you let them handle it in a way that they feel comfortable with, as long as they are still managing their diabetes properly. Other children may want to be open about it and tell their friends and schoolmates. Encourage your child to do what feels right, but make sure that teachers and school administrators know about your child's diabetes in case of an emergency.
Tips and Warnings
- Try to make life as normal as possible for your child with diabetes. Create a treatment plan and make healthy habits a routine that can last a lifetime.
- Teach your child what low blood sugar feels like, and how to react to it (tell an adult, have some sugar) to bring blood glucose back to a healthy level.
Things You'll Need
- Insulin
- Syringes
- Glucometer
- Test strips
