insulin pump

saffie547 said:

I'm after some advice. My son is 7yrs old and was diagnosed last December, his DN has asked about him going on to an insulin pump, I personally think its too soon.

any thoughts?

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Grab it quick, it's a lot of hard work for you as his mum but your son's quality of life will improve no end and his long term health as well.

As a matter of interest why do you think it's too soon?

saffie547 said:

He was only diagnosed in December last year and is only 7. Although I do think it would make a difference while at school. His school are not dealing with his correction rates properly.

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7 is a great age for a pump children as young as new borns go on them.

7 is not a great age for going on a pump. In my opinion 11yr old should be the minimum and will be better because child is more grown up and is able to deliver the insulin themselves using the buttons.

A pump can demand an awful lot of attention especially establishing correct carb ratios and getting all the basal rates correct. On top of all this, a pump is connected to the body by a tube and infusion set (cannula). If the pump works all ok then everything is hunky but if something goes wrong and the set gets knocked causing blood to clog the cannula or a bubble gets in the tube or the tube somehow comes undone from the pump... then all hell can break out and you will find the pump will start bleeping loudly and then that will make teachers at school get worried that something is not right. Top it all with bg levels that are sky high because insulin has not been delivered and panick stations start to happen and parent gets phone call from school asking them to get there pronto to sort everything out. So parent at work is always on edge waiting to get the phone call.......

iHs said:

7 is not a great age for going on a pump. In my opinion 11yr old should be the minimum and will be better because child is more grown up and is able to deliver the insulin themselves using the buttons.

A pump can demand an awful lot of attention especially establishing correct carb ratios and getting all the basal rates correct. On top of all this, a pump is connected to the body by a tube and infusion set (cannula). If the pump works all ok then everything is hunky but if something goes wrong and the set gets knocked causing blood to clog the cannula or a bubble gets in the tube or the tube somehow comes undone from the pump... then all hell can break out and you will find the pump will start bleeping loudly and then that will make teachers at school get worried that something is not right. Top it all with bg levels that are sky high because insulin has not been delivered and panick stations start to happen and parent gets phone call from school asking them to get there pronto to sort everything out. So parent at work is always on edge waiting to get the phone call.......

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That's only your opinion IHS, but read the forums with children on pumps. The parents are delighted with them as are the children. Their quality of life and glucose control is so much better. Nope it's not a walk in the park for parents they all admit that but the well being of their children is well worth it.
I have never had an alarming pump due to blocked cannula and that's in five years of pumping.

I think there are alot of differing aspects for consideration with a pump for a 7 year old.

Especially for the parents as well.

There is lot of testing initially. A lot of effort that will continue through growing and hormone changes etc.
School support is essential. I knownof 2 diff people dealing with pumps at school.. And both have different things that theyvare allowed to do to help. So parents also have to be available sometimes.

I will say that I too have had problems with alarms going off for occlusions at the most inopportune times.. And these have been down to a particular batch of sets. I also know someone else with a child at school that has also had probs with sets.. But these were actually not straight when taking them straight out of the box... So sets can be a prob on occasions.. And the alarms going off can really be at the least wanted time.

I think parents should be confident themselves, ( even if they arent) to help the child to accept more frequent tests etc..

Some hospitals have a lot of children on pumps.. Trying to get the majority of kids on them, ask to speak to a parent of a child with a pump at your hospital. Some hospitals also do buddies when going on a pump.

I know of a child under 10 on a pump and the child has been on pump camping hols thru the hospital.. I helped initially, but know that the parents sometimes just lack a bit of confidence and just want to check that they are doing right.

It does have an impact on child and parent initially, but it really is a very hard decision.

I would definitely try to speak to a parent...

my daughter is now 18 months old... she was diagnosed june this year... we have already started the training to get her set up on the pump... the sooner the better!! i cant wait to not have to chase around 4 times a day to inject her.
We have tried the cannula in her and i then changed it myself after 2 days and she wore that one for 2 days as well... so much easier and better for her... but then thats not with the tubing and pump fully fitted yet so watch this space lol

Pumps are great. Period. However I don't know why they don't give all toddlers the omnipod - it doesn't have any tubing and is really robust. They auto-insert the cannula to, via the remote - just feels like a pinch.

kt78 said:

Pumps are great. Period. However I don't know why they don't give all toddlers the omnipod - it doesn't have any tubing and is really robust. They auto-insert the cannula to, via the remote - just feels like a pinch.

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My daughter hasnt been fully fitted with her pump yet but i have started all the training, i did the cannula fitting last week... Ava (my 18 month old daughter) hasnt been offered the omnipod? although i can sort of see why the non tubing might be a plus!
Do you not approve of the omnipod? what pump are you on??
sorry for all the questions

I would definitely reccomend a pump. If you lived in America and had good health insurance your son would have been put straight onto a pump and injections not even considered. If you've been offered one, it is a faff in the short term but long term you'll regret it if you don't take the opportunity, loads of people are desperate to get their children on pumps the long term control is so much better. If your son is able to test his own sugars and inject himself with supervision then he should handle the pump. The only draw back is if you havn't got good support at school, but you could always be firm with the teachers and give them all the info that you're getting and do weekly catch ups until things are going smoothly. Personally I find being on a pump much less hard work than injections and would have prefered to be on it from the start rather than have all the bad control throughout my teenage years when I was on injections. I've had quite a few meetings with parents with children on pumps some as young as 2 and they seem to be doing really well not that there aren't any teething problems but nothing to stress over.

With children I personally would like to see them go straight onto a pump at diagnoses...

There is several advantages firstly you only got to put your child through an cannula insertion one in every 2-3 days, unless there's a problem, so less stressful both for the child and the parent..

You only have to convince child the once to except the need of a piece of equipment, instead of getting them to except the need of injecting several times of the day then at a later point getting them to except a pump...

Introducing insulin pump therapy is no different than introducing injection therapy.. The carb counting is the same..

With pumps parents can start with the basic menu, a straight bolus dose, the pump basal can be set by the DSN, as the parents confidence grows then the other features of the pump can be introduced at the speed the parent is comfortable with...

Far better to learn one regime, than having to learn two..