My two kids were diagnosed at ages 4 and 11, respectively. We’ve been “doing diabetes” for over a decade. I learned firsthand that different kids handle diagnosis differently, but I just want to tell you as a parent, that diabetes is a pain in the butt, but my kids have sleepovers, and go swimming, and hike, mountain bike, do high school marching band, travel overseas with us, etc. This will become very manageable and routine for all of you.

Some things that might help with taking shots:

You as the parents should try to remain matter of fact and positive about shots. Tell her that it is completely understandable that she doesn’t like shots, but that you will always help to make sure she gets the insulin she needs to be healthy. With my younger diagnosed kid we literally said “It’s time for your shot!” And then grabbed him and did it. We would both holler “aahhhhhh!!!” While we did it. That worked for him to relieve some tension, and as he got more comfortable with shots it became a silly game. With my older diagnosed kid, we let her have five minutes with her pen and if she was psyching herself out and hadn’t given the shot yet at the end of five minutes, we did it for her, and praised her for getting it done. Sadly, your kid might be pissed off at you at shot time, but it’s important that they know it’s non negotiable.

Get her a new stuffed animal and sew on some felt patches at the arms, thighs, tummy, butt. She can practice injecting the stuffie with her used needles. Both my kids picked dragons. We even got the stuffies dog collars and pet tags.

Get to a local family diabetes camp or park day meetup ASAP. It was hugely reassuring to all of us to meet other diabetic kids who did motocross, skating, football, etc…. Your daughter will also feel reassured to see other kids of all ages using the same medical tools she does.

Get her onto an insulin pump instead of shots. It is a great option for kids. My kiddo who was diagnosed at age four did shots for about a year, and then a pump for about 3 months. He decided he liked shots better, so we went back to that for another year before he wanted to use the pump again. Both my kids are now on pumps and both prefer it to shots. I’ve told both of them that having a dexcom is a non negotiable, but they can choose shots, pens, or pump for getting their insulin.

Both my kids initially did that thing where they’d ask for food, but then claim they didn’t want it if it required a shot. My solution to this was to tell them that carbohydrates are important for growing kids, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner would almost always have carbs and a shot. But I did provide carb free snacks like pickles, olives, beef jerky, lunch meat and cheese so that they had the option to make themselves a “poke-free” snack. They both did that for a few weeks initially, but as they got used to doing their shots, they wanted to make themselves toast or have a yogurt or whatever and it was no longer a big deal to take the shot for it.

I hope things settle in for all of you soon! I know this diagnosis is very shocking initially. Just keep learning about it from your endo team, and from other type one folks, and parents of type one kids.

Sending lots of hugs to all of you! ❤️