Preparing your child and family for a life with diabetes

When a child is diagnosed with diabetes, it comes as a shock for parents. All parents require some time to become comfortable with administering insulin shots, scheduling blood tests, mealtimes and carbohydrate counting. Parents also face the dilemma of how to teach children the reality of diabetes, how to tell and make relatives and friends aware while still keeping life as normal as possible. Managing your child’s diabetes may seem like the most challenging and difficult task. However, life and diabetes can go on together. Here are some key points to help you-

When and how to tell, “My child has Diabetes”

When your child is detected with diabetes, your family and inner circle has to know about it. Do not hide it. If you are going to hide it, your child may perceive it as something that is shameful. Take care to inform in detail about your child’s diabetes to-

• Your child’s teacher and some friends. As the child grows, this information needs to be repeated.
• Adolescents almost always have a big problem disclosing it, but you need to make them understand that living with diabetes makes one stronger, not weaker.

Friends & Family: Their Reactions to Your Child’s Diabetes You and Your child may get a lot of positive and negative responses to your child’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Sometimes people react more fearfully just because they are ignorant. Older adults, especially grandparents may have misconceptions on what they think they know about Type 2 diabetes. If you find this happening, the first step is to take the time to educate others. Grandparents or close family friends may go through a grieving process. This is completely normal. But, it should not be too long and constant. They may pity or assume that the child is sickly. You should explain that your child’s diabetes is under control and that he / she is healthy and active. This discussion is very important, not only for others but also for your child. Usually, just having more understanding of diabetes and its treatment will help people respond better to your child and their needs.

Children

Let your child talk to you about how he / she feels about having diabetes and with this practice your child has less emotional stress and better control of blood glucose levels. Let him / her know you will always be there for them, no matter what. Once in a while you may find some of your child’s friends teasing them. It’s important that you explain to your child that diabetes is only an excuse to tease not the reason for the teasing. Most of their friends will be supportive.

Brothers and Sisters

One of the keys of adjusting to diabetes is to keep your family routine as close to normal as possible. Brothers and sisters of children with diabetes will have a variety of reactions to the diagnosis. Once in a while they fear that they will get diabetes. Reassure them that they can’t catch it from their sibling. Many siblings become jealous or feel left out because the child with diabetes suddenly begins to get more attention. Let them express their feelings. If it’s true that you’ve been giving more attention to the sibling with diabetes, admit it and explain why. Let them take responsibility for helping their brother or sister.

Other Parents The parents of your child’s friends are an important group of people to educate about diabetes.

They may be the first people their children get their opinions about diabetes from. They also have final say over birthday party invitations. By doing this you are helping to keep your child’s life normal. Educating the parents of friends will probably be ongoing, as your child makes new friends.

In order to properly prepare children for life with diabetes we must remember how we feel when we are ill. Imagine how this is magnified in a diabetic child. They never get a break nor rest or vacation. Never forget that they experience emotional problems. We carefully need to talk about what happens if they don’t take good care of their diabetes. We don’t want the child to think that there is something wrong with them or to feel ashamed if their blood glucose levels aren’t always under control. Finally we need to realize that preparing for life with diabetes is an ongoing process and you cannot always control the process. Just take care of it one day at a time. With your help your child can understand the process of diabetes control. With preparation and awareness you, your child and the rest of your family can live healthy normal lives.