What a complex issue!  This week, a mom came on the show, talking about how her somewhat-newly diagnosed 7-year-old has been pulling off her pump.  Mom has been working hard to stay calm in the face of all these pump “failures” but really wants to get at the root of the problem, so her daughter stops derailing her own treatment.  She’s thinking about the kinds of consequences she might need to dole out around treatment options because — understandably! — She’s worried and wants this to stop.

With this mom, instead of thinking about consequences, we redirect to thinking about what her daughter might be trying to communicate with this pump-pulling-off behavior.  Although we can’t know for sure, I’m guessing that her daughter is anxious and is trying to say something about how she feels.  Together we explore:

• How to speak frankly and honestly about the pump discomforts to uncover what’s going on deep down for her daughter.
• How to show empathy to our T1D kids when they are showing anxiety or resistance to their diabetes care.
• The hard and complicated dance of choice: how to allow the T1D kid independence over their diabetes management, and what is developmentally appropriate. Sometimes, a child may express interest in having more independence even though it could cause adverse effects, so we need to find balanced ways to give kids options while staying within bounds of what everyone (kid, parents and other caregivers included) can handle.

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