Children with Type 1

[Luiseach]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading through the forum for a while now, though I rarely post. I am a non-diabetic myself, but in 6 months I am getting married to my partner who has Type 1 diabetes. We are intending to start a family in a few years. As I understand it, there is no definitive statistic for the likelihood of Type 1 diabetics having children with the same condition, but I was wondering if I could get an idea from forum members in a similar situation as to their experience of this? I would also like an idea of individual experiences of caring for young children with Type 1.

My partner (you may know him as UPB but please don't let that put you off replying here ) has no history of Type 1 diabetes in his family as far as we are aware.

Many thanks for any replies.

Luiseach.

 

[leggott]

Hi, I have read much about the statistic sof a child's chance of getting diabetes if a parent has it and basically most research suggests that if the father has type 1, the chance of a sibling getting it is between 3 - 8%. If the father was diagnosed at a young age ( if think before age 11), the odds increase slightly. My husband has type 1 diagnosed age 14, we have three children, 2 of which have type 1 diagnosed at ages 4 & 6. Diabetes is on the rise in children, but my nurse tells me that the majority of children she deals with do not have a parent or family member with the condition. I also meet with a support group in my area where there are 7 other families - of which I am the only one with diabetes in the family. They all (to their best knowledge) have no one in their immediate family with the condition. Although genetics do play a part, they believe that there is an environmental factor that triggers the condition.

I would be lying if I said that looking after a diabetic child (of which I have 2) doesn't increase your work load. Having said that, Diabetes does not stop my kids from leading an active life and to look at them you would not realise that anything was wrong. Having been diagnosed a such a young age means they don't know any different and consider themselves to be just as normal as their friends. There is no reason why children with diabetes should not live a long and fullfilling life. There is also alot of reasearch being done in this area at the moment and I'm hopefull that there will be advances in the way we deal with this condition in the not too distant future.

 

[SophiaW]

We have no family history of diabetes and yet my daughter got it. There are many other illnesses and "disorders" a child can get. Both my children have a mild form of autism, we have no family history of autism that we know of so that diagnosis also came as a surprise. Your children might be more at risk of getting diabetes, they might not get it at all, your children might get it even if both of you are not diabetic or have no family history of diabetes. What I'm trying to say is don't worry about what might happen, enjoy your life and take what it throws your way in your stride. Having a child with type 1 is harder but so is living with any of the other things life might throw you or your children's way. Looking after a child with Type 1 is more complex but it's not impossible and we still have plenty of fun along the way just like any other family.

 

[Matt1212]

As stated above caring for a type 1 child is a little trickier , but I am sure it could be a lot worse dealing with other illnesses
It just tends to be a bit all consuming if you let it.
Good luck with UPB – hope you don’t develop type 2 as the years go by because he is not going to be too sympathetic is he …….

 

[Luiseach]

Thank you for your replies. Please don't get me wrong, the fact that my children may potentially have Type 1 diabetes in no way puts me off having children, I just wanted to hear about people's experiences of this, to help prepare for that eventuality if it occurs.

Good luck with UPB – hope you don’t develop type 2 as the years go by because he is not going to be too sympathetic is he …….

Hi Matt, thanks for replying to this thread. However, I feel that this particular remark was completely unnecessary. I am a completely distinct person from UPB and any comments that you have on his previous posts on this forum, or any arguments that may have occured, should not be directed towards me. Thank you.

 

[Matt1212]

it was meant in a light hearted manner as i enjoyed the posts by UPB
and felt the post caused a relevant arguement
apologies for any upset caused - I shall refrain from humour in future as upsetting people is not my aim

 

[Luiseach]

it was meant in a light hearted manner as i enjoyed the posts by UPB
and felt the post caused a relevant arguement
apologies for any upset caused - I shall refrain from humour in future as upsetting people is not my aim

No, I apologise, I was clearly too defensive! Please don't refrain from humour on my behalf :wink:

 

[hismom]

hi,
my son was diagnosed in october last year at the age of 13. As you can imagine it was a bombshell as we have no history of type 1 diabetes in the family. In the first few weeks it was awful just trying to get the idea of it, I mean after all what is diabetes? Anyway once his insulin was changed things got easier, his blood readings settled and we started to get our family life back. He doesnt let it stop him doing anything and is regularly on stage performing in our local area. It just takes a bit of common sense and disipline. He has however come across some unfound views that he wouldnt be able to cope with anything active. We have done the best to prove this wrong. He did end up leaving a youth group because the owner made it uncomfortable for him as soon as he was diagnosed but to be honest she has done him a favour as he is now more determined that it wont happen again. In some ways I think you will be better equipped to handle it if it does happen as at least you have your partner/husband who has life experiences we were thrown in at the deep end and taught the hard way. In any eventuality you have to cope they will be your children regardless and you will do anything you can for them. Lets face it children can and do have a lot of potential health problems but we still have our children and love them. Sorry to waffle on but as a newbie to all of this it was just some of my thoughts. You will cope and so will they.



steph

 

[Jen&Khaleb]

You would have a big advantage knowing a lot more about diabetes and also the early symptoms if you did have a child who developed diabetes.

Having Khaleb develop diabetes at 8 months was a huge blow. If I was to complain (knowing that this wouldn't put you off having children) I would tell you that my record for consecutive nights of full sleep is 9 and I had to stop working because I could not get childcare. Even getting a babysitter is a real problem for me. Things have improved a little bit now Khaleb is 3. Having a sick diabetic child is also very taxing.

I am on my own and Khaleb also has Down's syndrome. The combination of T1 and DS has been completely life altering. Khaleb will most likely never be able to self manage.

Depending on your situation, and age of the child, diabetes may or may not make a huge impact. When having children there really is a load of potential problems but they really do make life worth living.

In Australia parents can having genetic screening done for children who may carry the diabetes gene. Trials are being done with inhalers to prevent the onset. I only know 1 family (father T1)who has had this done as their first 2 children (out of 3) became diabetic and they wanted to assist future families to avoid the same outcome. Khaleb is in a research project to help find the link between Down's and T1 that may also help other children.

It is good that you are thinking early and can take as many steps as you need to have a healthy baby. If I compare Khaleb to my other child (now 15) I'd have to say I am doing about 10 times the work.