Well, I THINK my insurance issues are resolved and Brandan SHOULD be getting his pump next month, finally. I've already bought the pump pak he chose, which has a regular nylon belt. My question is this: Will that be OK to sleep in or do I need to get him a pump band to fit more closely to him?
Also, any last minute advice for starting the pump would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
My step daughter sleeps with it clipped ti her PJ's. This might not be a good option with a toddler though. They do make a "sports belt" that is very secure and might work well as far as keeping it in place.
Our Endo had us start on saline. We ran saline through the pump for the first 2 weeks. This helped us learn the pump inside and out before we actually went off shots and had insulin in the pump. This made it a lot less overwhelming and made us feel more comfortable.
My son has 1 belt - a nylon one - that he wears 24/7. I would encourage getting a second belt as a back-up or just as alternative. Like for when the first one gets wet. This has only happened a few times due to overnight accidents, but then he has to go the day with having the pump clipped in his pants and he's not a huge fan of that. (Cuz then he needs help to go to the bathroom.)
I like on the nylon one that the pack can slide around pretty easily, so when John is sleeping, he never seems to be laying on the pump. Which I just think would be uncomfortable, I dont worry about it hurting the pump.
Thanks JDVsMom, Becky(?)
You have a good point. I will certainly invest in a second belt when I can. I didn't think about it sliding, that's another good point. I guess that would be better than having to avoid laying on an area because the pump is pressed against it. I wasn't worried about hurting the pump, I was worried about the pump hurting him or the site getting pulled out. ;)
Although our daughter was diagnosed as a toddler, we weren't able to get her on a pump until she was 4. One great resource we found fr "pump wear" was (coincidentally enough) a company called "pump wear." You can check out their selection online at http://www.pumpwearinc.com/ . Our little Cassie loved the t-shirts and tanks with built in pockets for the pump and wore them night and day.
Yes, PumpWearInc is a great site. Brandan wasn't really looking forward to the pump until I let him look at their pictures of kids with their pump paks. He wants "A big train pack with a blue diabetes pump." :) I've already got the pump pak with the train on it, but I won't even let him see it until the pump gets here.
My only concern was that it may not be the best to sleep in and I'm interested in how it works for other children. :)
My son started the pump less than a year ago at the age of 2. I strongly reccomend the site http://www.angelbearpumpwear.com/ He wears the belts 24/7 and they work great overnight. I have a couple of them so he can pick which one he wants to wear so he feels more involved in the whole process. My only advice is that is does take a lot of work to learn a completely new way of caring for your child but hang in there because it will be sooo much easier in the long run. My sons HgbA1C has come down drastically and he is able to live a more "normal" life. Best of luck!!
My daughter's pump has been pulled out a few times at night with the pump packs because of the rolling around. We got pump t-shirts from kangaroo pump pouch and it keeps the pump secure to the body either in front of back, with the tubing inside the clothes so it can't get pulled out. They also sell pump underwear for boys (my husband wears them with his pump). They are worth the investment, as it really stinks to put a pump site in during the middle of the night! I would also get a few pump packs, because they do wear out with the little ones. Good luck.
I'm wondering if anyone has a child with a Pod, and if so has there been any difficulty with the Pod coming off at night? Will wore a "dummy" Pod for several days, and it seemed to stay very secure. We're just now starting paperwork to get the real thing...
Blessings,
Mo
My son - the little fashionista does not like the belts. At night we use a baby sock and diaper pin it inside his PJ's. (he appears well endowed) During the day now he just carries it in his pocket but when he was 3, I used to make a tiny slit in the pocket of his cargo pants and feed the wire through and plug him in. He has always had to have the site on his backside as he is still too thin in his tummy area and we get kinks.
Christine
So, just to let you all know; Brandan started his saline trial yesterday and slept in his pump just fine. :) He complained at first that the belt hurt his back so I tucked his shirt under it. The one time he woke up lastnight I checked on him and saw that he was using his hand to slide the Pump Pak over as he turned. This morning he made a comment about the belt being hard so I went to PumpWearInc.com and ordered him a softy belt. (Blue of course, everything has to be Spider-Man blue.) :)
[quote user="Lucas mom"]
My son - the little fashionista does not like the belts. At night we use a baby sock and diaper pin it inside his PJ's. (he appears well endowed) During the day now he just carries it in his pocket but when he was 3, I used to make a tiny slit in the pocket of his cargo pants and feed the wire through and plug him in. He has always had to have the site on his backside as he is still too thin in his tummy area and we get kinks.
Christine
[/quote]That is cute, very inventive of you. Brandan would prefer to keep his pockets open for toys. :) He loves his Pump Pak with the train on it. His site is on his lovehandle right now. I'm going to try his belly next, but he is also very thin. I hope it works.
My son got his pump at 4 (he's had it a little over a year now) He wears it in a simple pump pack all day every day and never has been bothered by it or had issues with it being pulled out (other than when he was due for a set change and the adhesive was wearing off but not at night) I got a few pump packs off ebay for under $10 each (Pump'n In Style)
I would love to know your thoughts and experiences once you have tried the Pod. I think this looks fantastic! I love that it is tubeless and that the insertion is totally automated. We are currently living in Kuala Lumpur so it isn't available to us here - just the traditional pumps. But I want to get my son, Noah (5 yrs), on this as soon as we get home to the states. It just seems like his life might be able to regain some normalcy - instead of constantly battling over food and when he can eat and what he can have. It sounds like he good get some freedom and choice back and not have me nagging on him constantly!
Best wishes to you!
Bethanie
[quote user="norwaymama"]
I would love to know your thoughts and experiences once you have tried the Pod.
Bethanie
[/quote]Hey, Bethanie!
William (8) has been on the OmniPod for about a month, now. Yes, there has been a defitinite transition from MDI to the pump, but overall, right now, there's no way we'd go back to MDI. And, I think this transition period is normal for all pumps. So, overall, what I LOVE about the OmniPod....
It's tubeless, so I don't have to worry about William accidentally pulling out an infusion site. Yep, we've had issues with a Pod getting jostled, and insulin not being delivered correctly because of blood in the cannula. This was mostly from our slip-n-slide (long explanation) where the Pod was bashed and slid-upon in a way that it simply was not designed to stand up to (ain't that a boy for you?). And, when I even think about what would happen to a traditional tubed infusion site....well....ick and shudder. So, overall, I personally feel the Pod will hold up better under the demands of a Very Active Child than a more traditional, tubed pump would. Just my personal opinion.
Flexible Basal insulin delivery is awesome. With MDI using a slow-acting insulin basal, you have no way of controlling how much and when basal insulin is being delivered. With the pump, not only can you set up different basal rates for different times of the day/night (such as the early AM when kids' growth hormones are being released, increasing BG), but you can suspend basal insulin delivery entirely by pushing a button. For example, when William is swimming, and burning through glucose like a madman, I can shut off his basal insulin entirely, and so not worry about his BG dropping while he's swimming. And, with the Pod, we don't have to disconnect any tubing, because the wireless insulin reservior is waterproof.
Okay, so maybe flexible basal delivery isn't the BEST feature. Probably "it SO EASY" is the best feature, because William can go to a friend's house, and actually EAT, and I can talk any competent adult through the testing and bolusing processing over the phone. Come to think of it, I can talk his 10-year odl brother through the testing/bolus process, because his brother was there during pump training and learned how to program the thing. It's really easy.
We're testing more frequently, AND were CORRECTING more frequently, which means tighter control. With MDI, if William's BG was 155, I would not set up an injection to correct. With the pump, I can give him a correction without him even noticing, and I do. That means tighter BG control overall. This has been especially important the last few weeks because he's been going through a growth spurt, which pushes his BG up. I've been testing a correcting 2-3 times overnight, which means his BG doesn't get out-of-control before the morning and breakfast. We can simply respond more quicky to BG fluctuations, and correct accordingly.
But, probably the coolest feature ever....I can have him eat a snack in the car on the way somewhere, and give him a bolus with the push of a button, sitting at a red light. Compared to trying to calculate and draw an injection, and have him drop his drawers and inject himself in the car (or in a restaurant or at a friend's house)....well, I just can express how fabulously freeing a pump is.
Before we transitioned to the pump, we were having some pretty considerable "issues" with William resisting testing and injections. It was getting to the point that he resisted every time it was time to test (about five times a day). I think a big part of this resistance was, testing was just the start of a frustrating and uncomfortable process necessary for eating. Now, with the Pod, there's no resistence to testing, because it is the ONLy discomfort involved in eating. Once he's done a BG test, that's IT. No more fussing, no more shots. He can just eat. I think it has relieved a huge burden for him, so he's much more cooperative with the testing aspect.
Okay, after all that, there are just too many fabulous features of pumping, I just can't go into them all right now. Did I mention that a Pod change takes only 5 minutes, is virtually painless when we get the site right, and we only have to do it every three days?
What a relief the OmniPod has been for us. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like more input, or if you'd like to get in touch with other families who are pumping.
Best wishes,
Mo
http://fivebearsablogging.blogspot.com/
Our 9 year old daughter switched from a traditional pump to the pod a year and a half ago and it has never come off while she is asleep. The pod has pulled away from the skin (around the edges) on a few occasions, when she accidentally ran into something or dove into the pool. This only seems to happen when she is wearing the pod on her arm, though.