3 year old refusing to have his injections

[Forbes123]

Hi all
Just want some advice really. My son, who is 3 years old, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes nearly a year ago now. He has been remarkable with his injections (4 times a day) up until last week for some reason.
He refuses to have them done, which is not like him, and it's now become a constant battle (it's just like when he was first diagnosed and I can't understand why the sudden change)

Has anyone else experienced this with their children? It's becoming increasingly difficult to do his injections without both of us getting upset. I don't want him to have phobia's about needles/injections etc. Any advice on how to handle this situation please?

Regards

 

[AndyS]

Can't really offer advice from the child point of view but possibly a couple of things from my own experience.

If he is on Lantus as his basal insulin you need to bear in mind that this is slightly acidic and does sting. For me the shot stung like crazy then once it had settled the site felt like a bruise.

Are you keeping the insulin at room temperature? If you are doing shots from a cold pen this is a tad unplesent too.

Have you spoken to your Dr about getting a pump or an IPort? I think Tim2000s has trialed these and had some good things to say. The iport would basically get rid of the repeated sticks for a brief period so that help from that side.

Finally what needle lengths are you using? It could be work asking about 4mm needles since it could be the needle is going a bit deep and that is causing it to be a bit painful too.

Hope you manage to find a solution for your lad.

/A

 

[MellitusTrap]

Insulin Inhalers - pie in the sky?
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/insulin/insulin-inhalers.html

 

[Louise M]

My heart goes out to you and your little boy. Can i ask where you inject ? I was diagnosed before i turned 3. I know it was so difficult for my parents. In the beginning , while mum did the injections she did them in my upper arm. I know at time it was only 2 injections a day. Maybe you could give your little boy control of where you inject ? There are so many places to inject now and he could be in charge ?

 

[Robinredbreast]

Hi all
Just want some advice really. My son, who is 3 years old, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes nearly a year ago now. He has been remarkable with his injections (4 times a day) up until last week for some reason.
He refuses to have them done, which is not like him, and it's now become a constant battle (it's just like when he was first diagnosed and I can't understand why the sudden change)

Has anyone else experienced this with their children? It's becoming increasingly difficult to do his injections without both of us getting upset. I don't want him to have phobia's about needles/injections etc. Any advice on how to handle this situation please?



Regards

Aaawww, that must be so difficult for both of you. Has he got a Rufus bear who has injection sites ? my granddaughter has one and it really helped in the early years ( she's 7 now)
When things are a little quieter( not so fraught) can you have chat with him about the problem, ask him what would be better, or get him to draw a picture about how he is feeling, does he go to Nursery school at all, possibly other children being distant or making him feel left out, different ? or a friend who has said something mean to him? Or you could possibly do a reward system, for him when he is being a big brave boy and acting so grown up ?
If it continues, make an appointment to see his diabetes team, they must have some good advice regarding a child's refusal, with ongoing support and help when things are not going too well.
Good luck and all the very best RRB

 

[MasterDoctor]

I'm 14, diagnosed a month ago, so i can't see fully from your child's POV but sometimes if you inject near a muscle or a sore spot, it can put you off injecting, you might want to slowly reintroduce him to doing injections. Try to find areas with more fat in them (I know this is hard if the injectee has little weight but in my case, there are some areas in the thigh that aren't sore.)
Anyway, if you find some areas, preferably fatty which usually doesn't hurt, try to do it in those areas.