@joe very useful tool indeed!! you know my daughter complained a little bit last night that there was a pain there too. But like you she said more just uncomfortable. For the most part she forgets it’s on her. She did have some trouble with it itching. We are on our first full day of g6 being on her. We put it on late afternoon and she didn’t even feel the insertion. It had a bit of trouble after warm up connecting and then magically my phone started receiving alerts and all I could do is watch her levels on the screen. I actually took her outside last night and let her just run it out as wild as she wanted since being diagnosed, she was a bit on the higher side and I loved I was able to look at my phone and say ok time to go in based on how fast she was dropping. I’m noticing she doesn’t feel a low until 10-15 minutes after being consistently low on app. I haven’t had to calibrate it but maybe I should? That’s the part I’m a bit confused on. When I did a finger poke they were only a few digits different on BG level. I did lose signal quite a bit last night when she would lay on it but nothing that concerned me. I could move her and she would get a connection again. All in all I am very satisfied and don’t feel so fearful anymore!!
Based on the above I would guess there is no need to calibrate. The way I tell is I wait for 45 minutes of no rising or dropping and do a finger stick. That’s the best time to compare the 2 readings (CGM and finger stick) Never when rising or falling rapidly.
If you need (more) advanced warning, you can set a rate of dropping alarm settings>Alerts> Fall rate, or a higher minimum reading settings> alerts> low, to alarm a little sooner.
I am glad to hear it’s working for you! Here’s to continuing good luck 
@joe thank you so much!! And continuous good luck to you as well. I’m kinda starting to realize no 2 days are the same with T1d!
@Janine83965 I did! And the outreach coordinator called me today. They are having a hard time finding someone in my area but even just talking to her and all the advice she gave made me feel so much better. Hopefully I get someone soon🤞
The more support the better, for sure, but even if there’s no one local, we’ll always be here. The beauty of the internet age! 
My daughter has autism and so I have to do be able to see her Dexcom sugars as well as her. She uses the apple phone and watch. The watch is especially helpful when she is in school, because as long as the phone is in the room, she can still see what her sugar is. I have the Dexcom follow so that when she is in the house or when we go some where, I can see her sugar and it alarms when she is low and high. We now have her on the Tandem IQ that integrates with the Dexcom. I have the T-connect on my phone so I can see what is going on with her sugar and pump. Hope this helps.
Hi, my daughter is 5 year old and using Dexcom G6. I have the app install on my phone and share the information with her grandma on her phone. When I am not around we use the receiver. We always put the receiver in a strategic place so we don’t lose the connection. If we are outside I have it in my purse. Now when school starts, I may use one of those cross-body small bags for her to carry.
Other advice: I started making stickers for my daughter’s medical devices and side change day is now great. She now focuses more on what sticker she is going to get this time than the needle. I have them on my store but I’m not sure if I am allowed to share that info.
I wanted to share, as a parent of a g6 user who is 10, we got him started using an old phone of ours, that way we could use the follow app, and watch his sugars from anywhere. He mostly wears it in a runners belt. Also got a really good phone case. It has worked really well. We’ve actually never used the receiver it came with. He also uses the Tslim pump, so he can see his sugars that way as well.
Hi. My daughter was diagnosed at 2&3/4 years old. She is now 5. Wow what an overwhelming time, so I know how you feel! Additionally, I wanted people to know so badly how scary this disease is, but I’m finding unless they live in T1D world, they’ll NEVER understand the complexity of this disease. My daughter uses Dexcom & is on the Omnipod pump system. The pump was a game changer! Initially we used the transmitter but quickly changed to an iPhone. Again so much better for many reasons. When we travelled out of the country, my older daughter could still see her data in the USA. When she began pre-K, her school nurse connected with her iPhone/Dexcom and could monitor her bg throughout the school day on the iPad she had in her office. Our nurse educator at BCH suggested a company Spibelt to carry her cell phone. It comes in many colors and sizes, including xsmall for little people like our girls. It’s become 2nd nature to her… she goes to where her cell phone has charged, snaps on her Spibelt and puts her cell phone in right after. The challenge with her having a working cell phone has been, though, keeping her from playing with Siri 
and also not calling her grandma at odd times of the day. Over patches from Dexcom have def helped keep her cgm in place, and they do not charge you for them. You can either call them or order them on line. I will be praying for you & your baby girl. God is with you in this and He will help you. Feel free to reach out. God bless.
Welcome! My 1 year old was diagnosed at 14 months about half a year ago. He wears the Dexcom inside a SpiBelt and that works well. PimpMyDiabetes is awesome for fun stickers. [We also use GrifGrip as adhesive for his t:slim, which has worked well.] Uni-Solve on a cotton round is great to remove stickers.
Our toddler has one of our old iPhones that only works on WiFi (but I’m home with him, or we’re typically where there is reliable WiFi), and my husband and I can both see his data all day. Highly recommend. We move the phone to be near him wherever he is in the house. Dexcom rarely lasts the full 10 days on our little guy, but if you submit a tech problem to Dexcom they send a replacement each time. Just take a pic of each box before you use it so you have all the #s for submission.
Have you heard of the Sugar Mate app? Sugar Mate calls me in the middle of the night when our little guy goes below a certain # that we set. I’m confident I would sleep through the Dexcom alerts otherwise.
Also, good to remember that a finger prick is a more accurate result. If our son is low and we have already given carbs, but Dexcom still says he’s really low, we do a finger prick which will always shows he’s headed up before the Dexcom picks it up. Gives some peace of mind.
You’re doing great, mama. You’ll start to find your groove, and soon you’ll be offering your own tips & tricks💛.
@srozelle thank you so much for that. You have no idea how much that means to me. I went to a friend’s birthday small gathering this weekend more as a break from all things t1d for just 2 hours. And it almost put me more in a funk. People wanted to talk about it and knew nothing about it and it’s still something I have a hard time sharing without the emotions flowing. Sorry for the late response, I needed some time to clear my head and get the negativity out of here! I want others to be educated and know what to look for but when they want to know details of the night I called 911 it’s still too fresh to talk about in that kind of environment. When I finally went to pick my daughter up from her Dad’s her BG was very high and has been all over since. It’s been a rough couple of days and it made me feel guilty for needing that break away. Next break away will be something with nature and one close friend that knows the situation. Lesson learned. This chapter in life is definitely a roller coaster ride.
@rachelcap awesome recommendations, thank you! I recently bought all of those things. It’s amazing how big a T1d supply can grow! I think I’m set…for now! I spoke to her educator and pushed for a insulin pump so now just waiting for training class in may to get started. I was against the pump not knowing much about them I guess it was more just not having to attach another device to her and not wanting to hear the good in it. Now that I’ve heard how much easier life will be for her and she can do more snacking of the things she enjoys without the injections beforehand and then waiting the 15 minutes, I know it’s the smart move to get her back to what she feels is more normal. No matter what I do 20 minutes of physical activity and her numbers just drain. It’s so sad because I can’t bring her any where and she’s missing that. It just doesn’t seem fair for little kids to go through this and keep them so isolated from everyone. I haven’t heard of sugar mate but definitely downloading after I write this! Sometimes I feel like my alerts aren’t going off. So any extra alert I’ll take it! We are only 3 weeks into this new life and it feels like an eternity. Thank you for your kindness and advice. I love it all!
@MamaSharon you’re so right about people don’t understand unless they go through this. The ups and downs the high the lows the sleepless nights, the constant worry, not knowing if you can make those plans you want to do. So many things arise and each day is a surprise. I tell people it’s like gambling you just don’t know what it will be. But it’s not the fun gambling I enjoy. It’s the kind of gambling where you are on edge the entire time and if things go right you almost want to cry out because you can breathe and get to chill out again for that hour or 2 or maybe only 20 mins. Siri:joy: my daughter knows all about her and loves her so I already know that will be something she uses all the time just.like our Alexa. I bought Alexa a while back and never used it until her DX with T1d. I use her every meal time for alarms and it’s been very easy. Her dad uses Siri for a lot of carb info which is awesome too. Definitely thankful for all the technology. I know God only throws at us what we can handle. Everyone’s joke with me has been I was always dealt the bad hand in life, it’s always something being thrown at me. But I’d take all of those other things over this any day. He has a plan for me and my girl even if I can’t see it with the dark cloud hanging over now. As long as she can remain strong and positive, so will I. I live for that smile and can’t wait for it to be back more often then not. Thank you Sharon, you’re time and advice helps heal.
Just me, popping back in to say how incredible you’re doing. I’m 6 months in and have yet to reach out for help on here. Not because I haven’t needed it, but because of fear, mainly. T1d parenting can be so isolating and lonely, and you’re doing a great job reaching out and making connections. Immediately after diagnosis, I had many in-person interactions that left me feeling terrible. People just don’t understand T1d. Now I have just adjusted my mindset to realize people generally have good intentions, but the execution sucks😆. “So is he all better now?” or “Are you feeling like you have his T1d figured out?” used to drive me nuts. Now I just respond with, “Nah, the nature of the disease is a rollercoaster. But we’re learning to ride it😆,” or something of that nature. Keep rocking👊🏼
Congrats Joe! Happy to hear you are getting a Dexcom!
Thank you! @pamcklein , so far it’s Day 5, very accurate. Very little pain. Happy. Fixed my overnight basal rate. I’m using my phone and I missed a low warning so when I felt it I went to the app and it was hung on a “continue to the app” page. I pressed ok and then got the alert. That’s what you get when you use a phone as the receiver I guess. It was a mild low anyway. Yes I think it’s a keeper.
Rachel, I hope you’ve found some good information here, even if you haven’t asked for it directly yourself. Is there anything you still need help with?
You made me remember after I got T1D at 14 months old in 1963 we were using the 5/10 drop urine test method with a Vienna sausage can for collection. When I was 3 one day I kept bumping into things and falling on my butt. My mother asked me what was wrong and I said I didn’t know. She made me give her a urine sample and she ran it which said I was 1+. She said it wasn’t my diabetes at which time I collapsed. We learned to not believe the urine tests and go with signs and feelings.
@joe -
I used Clinitest for many years. Funny thing, my husband had his grandmother’s business card (she was a nurse) and we discovered the formula for Benedict’s Solution on the back!
Pam K