53: When the Decisions are Fraught and it all Feels Like Life or Death

Sweet Talk for Parents of Kids with Type One Diabetes

As T1D parents, most — if not all — of us grapple with some pretty significant anxiety about keeping our kids safe. The parent on the show this week shares with us about how she’s fighting with that anxiety in the quest to get things right with diabetes.

Frankly, the parent has one of the hardest diabetes scenarios: Her daughter, now four, was diagnosed at 13 months. It’s extra scary to have a diagnosis with such a young child and, in my experience, parents who have those very early diagnoses, often carry their anxiety forward as their children continue to grow. This parent confirms that her worry continues and that she often can’t tell if she’s facing a “normal” parenting moment because — for her — it’s so complicated by diabetes. She acknowledges that her worry is always “yelling at her,” telling her that she has to pay better attention. I notice that despite all this parent’s concrete questions, she’s really taken up with the worry about getting everything exactly right.

We spend some time talking about how to think about doing diabetes to live your life, rather than living your life for diabetes. I note how important it is to be flexible — sure, with diabetes, but also in how we think about things so we can create as much normalcy as possible in our lives. And this parent talks about how hard this is for her since she feels like she’s not getting diabetes right enough. While we detour into some diabetes data, we also take a look at how this mom’s anxiety and guilt get in the way. It’s a brave and courageous conversation that finishes with some practical thoughts about how to parent when diabetes is in the mix.

Listen to hear more about:

• Why high blood sugars aren’t as much of a concern for children before puberty
• Risk factors with diabetes and how the landscape of severe medical risk has shifted
• How to think about ordering parent choices and when you might step back from making diabetes the first priority

Mentioned in this episode:

Need help getting your kid the right snacks?

That's why I've created the Sweet Talk Snack Course. It's a free mini-course to give you 6 snack sized lessons on making sure you're giving your kid the right foods to keep them nourished and their blood sugar in check. Get it at https://diabetessweettalk.com