Wondering what kind of medical ID jewelry your kids are wearing and like.
My daughter is 10 and diagnosed 5 months ago. She wears a G6 and Omnipod and is Generally very compliant about all areas of her diabetes management. BUT she is adamantly against wearing any medical ID. She’s not a jewelry kind of girl, dislikes bracelets, and I think she’s trying to put her foot down and assert control here.
I’m struggling with the issue of safety vs. allowing her to be herself and have some control over what she wears when there is so much that is out of her control. Would love to hear thoughts and advice from other parents and T1Ds about this.
Hi! There are some very pretty and engraveable bracelets available. Some are a bit pricey, but may appeal to your little girl. My t1 daughter is 22 and still doesn’t love the idea of an alert bracelet, but does wear one. Two places I know are LaurensHope.com and Stickyj.com I hope this helps.
Hi, for my son (he is 10 and has been at this over 9 yrs now) . I buy rubber-type bracelets on eBay. There are several vendors and many colors. I like the kind that have printed on them loud and clear; “I am diabetic.” This makes it clear that the wearer IS diabetic, as opposed to just supporting some worthy cause (as so many of these rubber bracelets are to show support for a cause.). The rubbery-type bracelets are not that expensive. They come in a couple of sizes (measure the wrist before ordering.)
Not a parent but T1D for 23 years. I hated the bracelets and jewelry. Seeing recent things in the news where diabetics are treated incorrectly as druggies though, makes me aware that I need something. Not sure if you’re ok with it for your 10 year old, but check out momentaryink.com. They are high end temp tattoos that last 2 weeks(more or less). You can design your own, so maybe just a medical symbol and Type I Diabetes underneath it. You can scale it large or small and add color. Maybe let her design it to make it fun. Then have her put it on her inside wrist.
We have the same issue. My bling loving girly girl won’t wear the bracelet I got. I’m letting it go for now as she is so young.
My main concern would be a car accident that left us unable to communicate to first responders, I recently have seen seat belt decals that we might purchase for that reason.
Those tattoos look pretty great too.
Hi! Not a parent myself, but I was diagnosed just before I turned 15 – over 14 years ago. I’m really not a jewelry person either. I’m also really picky about the feel of my clothing, and if something doesn’t feel 100% comfortable on me, I simply will not wear it. I went through a number of bracelets in high school and found all of them too uncomfortable/annoying/distracting to put up with.
Today, I actually wear a medical ID dogtag on a simple beaded chain as a necklace. There’s a number of kinds available on Amazon for pretty cheap. I think the one I have cost me about $25 and came with 6 lines of free, custom engraving.
In addition to the medical ID, I also have a few small jewelry charms on the necklace. Sure, I’m not a jewelry person, but these charms are sentimental – like the little Pikachu charm my best friend brought back for me from Pokemon Center in Tokyo. Makes me feel like the necklace is less of a chain weighing me down by being a constant reminder of my diabetes, because it’s also a tie to my cherished friends, family, and memories. After all, a diabetic is only a part of who I am, not all of who I am. Maybe adding one or two other important tokens could help your daughter feel a little better about wearing the ID tag? I hope this helps!
What about attaching the tag to her phone decom case. A tag hanging from it is better then nothing. Or a diabetes rubber bracelet wrapped tightly around it.
Thanks for all the responses! I know her tastes will change over time–what she likes or will tolerate at 10 will change when she’s 11, 12, 13, etc-- but for now she just doesn’t want to wear any jewelry. She will tolerate a rubber band bracelet, but not daily. I’m getting more of those (the words tend to wear off after a while) to wear if she’s doing something away from school or home.
We did get some small zipper pull tags for her backpack & coat and I’m looking into the seatbelt band and iron-on patches.
She also LOVED the idea of Temp Tattoos @kate4728! Thanks for that! Maybe not for every day but for trips, amusement parks, etc, I think it would be great and we’re investigating.