Tips

We’d like to share some tips and suggestions of things that have worked for us, making our pumping journey a positive one.

If you have any tips, suggestions, or comments, please share them with us, using our “contact us” page. We will periodically update this page with your tips.

Every child is different and unique and only you know your child best.

Any advice we share is not meant to replace advice given by your child’s health care professionals. Please check with them before making any changes to your diabetic’s routine.

I Want To Do It Myself!

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a hundred times, “I want to do it myself!” In order to enhance acceptance and knowledge, we let Ashley do many things, pertaining to her diabetes, herself.

Ashley chooses her own pump case (even if it doesn’t match her clothes) and wears it however she is comfortable; high and snug, or low and loose. She generally wears it under her clothes, but isn’t embarrassed about being a diabetic or wearing an insulin pump. Our best advice is:

Give your child choices whenever possible, so they take “ownership” of the pump
and our fun comfortable cases. Choices, and participation in their own care, will help them learn to take responsibility for their diabetic care as they grow older. Give them knowledge and they will learn acceptance through understanding, of what being a diabetic means.

Ashley was always curious about the pump and its buttons, so with strict instructions never to touch the pump without one of us helping her, we have begun teaching her how the pump works and we let her give herself insulin. We teach her all about insulin, diabetes, pumping, good eating and good health. Although she is only five – she “helps” us make her choices and is learning a lot about diabetes management and nutrition. She is very accepting of her diabetes and her pump because she “understands” and participates in what is happening to her.

Using the Pump Case

To put the pump in the fabric pump case – go in on a small angle with the flat part of the pump toward the zipper pull and the tubing side toward the zipper opening. If you don’t use your pump’s block feature, put the pump with the buttons to the back (against the body) which will minimize the chances of leaning on something that could push a button.

Let your child wear the belt however it is comfortable, loose around the hips or snugger around the waist. Remember that the tighter the belt the more pull on the fabric against the pump which could cause the case to get worn spots quicker. The fabric pump case will wear out differently on different people. If it is worn 24/7 by an active child it will wear out quicker than, say, a case worn by a teen or adult. Fabric does wear out no matter how you wear it or how well you treat it.

To pull the pump out of the fabric case open the zipper or Velcro closure and pinch/squeeze gently on the bottom of the case while pushing up. The pump is plastic and the case is fabric so it should slide up and out very easily. If you reach into the case to pull the pump out, be sure not to squeeze any buttons and accidentally give insulin. Also, when using a zipper case it is easier to pull it out the same way you put it in - pull up on the side with the tubing and slide it out on an angle.

Supplies

We tried many different kinds of carrying cases to carry Ashley’s diabetic supplies with us until we found the one that we liked the best. We wanted something small and easy to carry. However, we wanted to be able to carry everything we could possibly need to care for Ashley. We were able to find a relatively small (10x6) double sided, nylon case with a small handle and a shoulder strap. Here is what we carry with us wherever Ashley goes.

• Glucagon - for emergency use
• Strips, finger stick device, lancets, and meter – to test her blood sugar levels
• Log sheet to record her numbers
• Restaurant style sugar packets - for lows
• Small carb counting book including carb counts for restaurant food – for eating out
• Syringe and bottle of insulin – in case of pump failure
• Infusion set, Reservoir, IV Prep, Alcohol, Tegaderm and EMLA cream - for site change
• Extra batteries and a quarter to unscrew the battery compartment cover – to change the battery.
• Small pair of reading glasses for grandma – in case she doesn’t have hers available
• Doctor’s business card and card with emergency contact information

We also keep more than one fabric case available in case Ashley needs to change her case. This is especially helpful for younger kids in case the pump case gets wet due to a nighttime wetting accident, food or liquid spills, or damage to the pump case. An extra fabric pump case is great to have for the peace of mind of knowing that you are prepared for anything.

Soft, flexible, fabric pump cases are very easy to use, comfortable to wear and a secure place to keep the pump safe.

The Infusion Site

Ashley took one look at the “Serter” to insert her infusion set and freaked out. It looked a lot worse than it really was, however we could not convince her of it. Ashley accepted the finger pricks, shots, and wearing the insulin pump 24/7, but she did NOT like the Serter. It looked bad, it sounded bad and it frightened her. So we decided to insert her site manually. With a lot of practice it became second nature and we were able to get good site absorption more often than not.

Since so much of diabetes management is associated with pain (finger pricks and shots), we wanted the site insertion to be TOTALLY pain free. Our doctor suggested using EMLA cream to numb the area before inserting the infusion set. We have NEVER inserted a set without numbing her site. Since changing her infusion set was just a minor interruption of her day and not a painful experience, we are able to change her site without any fuss or bribing or rewarding. It just became part of wearing the pump. Now the pump represents a totally pain free way to get insulin and manage her diabetes.

Eating

Just like pumping, we found that the more Ashley understood about the food she ate, the more cooperative she would be. This does not work for all children, younger children don’t understand and older children may not care or may use food as a way to rebel. We just felt that knowledge is power so we let Ashley “help” us manage her diabetes. We are hoping too, that this will ease the painful transition between us being totally responsible for her diabetes and her assuming responsibility as she gets older.

Ashley chooses her meals based on her knowledge of food. For example, if she has high fat pizza for dinner she can’t have high fat ice cream for a nighttime snack. Too much fat is not only bad for her, it makes controlling her blood sugar difficult.

High blood sugars make her hungry and she knows this hunger is caused by her blood sugar. To avoid it going higher, we have “taught” her to make no or low carb choices to satisfy her hunger without affecting her blood sugar during these times.

When Ashley was first diagnosed at three years old, we started teaching her about food choices, but she was too young to truly understand, so we had to make eating healthy fun! We let her help “cook” her meals, and we were as creative as possible with food appearance; like making faces out of anything round and making plates with lots of small servings of various foods to give her the allusion of “choosing” what she ate.

For more information on pumping see our resources page.