Type 1 diabetes in children

What is type 1 diabetes?

The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin, which carries blood sugar into the cells. In type 1 diabetes the immune system damages the cells that make insulin, and the body does not have enough of it. This does not come from eating sweets or from a parent’s mistake, and it can begin at any age.

Signs

• Great thirst and passing a lot of urine
• New bedwetting in a child who had been dry
• Weight loss despite a good appetite
• Tiredness and low energy
• Repeated fungal infections

If your child has these signs, do not wait for a routine appointment. Have the blood sugar checked the same day. If your child is vomiting, breathing hard, has tummy pain or is drowsy, this may be diabetic ketoacidosis and needs the emergency department at once. See the list of urgent signs.

Treatment

A child with type 1 diabetes needs insulin to stay alive. Diets, herbal medicines and adult diabetes tablets do not replace it. The treatment plan has several parts:

• Insulin: by pen or pump, following the care team’s plan
• Checking sugar: with a meter or a sensor
• Food: learning the carbohydrate in food and matching it with insulin
• Activity: exercise is good and needs a plan
• Follow-up: regular visits, HbA1c tests and screening for related conditions

Insulin amounts differ for every child and change as the child grows. Do not change them without the care team.

Low blood sugar

Shaking, cold sweat, pallor, hunger, restlessness or changed behaviour can be signs of low blood sugar. If your child is alert and can swallow, give fast-acting sugar as planned. If your child is unconscious or having a seizure, put nothing in the mouth and call 115. If glucagon has been prescribed, use it as you were taught.

Living with diabetes

The first days are the hardest. A family has a lot to learn in a short time, and fear or guilt is natural. These skills slowly become routine. What helps:

• Everyone who cares for the child learns, not only the mother
• The school knows and has a plan
• You know your sick day plan in advance
• As the child grows, responsibility passes to them slowly and with supervision
• The child’s and family’s mood gets attention, especially in the teenage years

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is seen more in teenagers with obesity, and its treatment differs from type 1. The doctor decides which type it is. See also childhood obesity and metabolism.