newly diagnosed 7yr old refusing injections

[byjaymes]

Hi - this is my first time here, our daughter has very recently been diagnosed with Type 1 all was going OK but the last week has been horendous surrounding her 4 injections, she has become extremely stressed and upset when it is time to do her injection she wriggles and pulls away and tries to grab the pen, kicks and screams and cries, yesterday it took 40 mins to actually get the injection in her.  When I talk to her when calm she does not understand why she has started doing this and just says it is not fair.  It is breaking my heart and I just dont know what else to try we have tried all the suggestions from clinic but nothing is working.  She understands that she has to have these injections but it is causing her and the whole of the family so much heartache. I wonder if anyone has been through this and has any advice for us please?

[shuff8028]

Hi I am new to all this as well and this post was back in May but heres my story I have twin 6 year old boys and one of them was dx in march and the other two weeks ago so our world has been crazy as well. I found that makeing them apart of it all and letting them do as much as they will do has helped me with my boys not sure how old your child is but we are workin on getting a pump for both of them so kids do well with them and some do better with shots I also agree with reward system as well I hope all is well and hold your head high I hear it gets better  thanks stef

[im_emily]

depending on her age i highly recommend the pump! it changed my life i was at 4 shots/plus a day and refused for a while and i was old enough to know better. shots never get easier in fact as i got older they got harder because i became self aware of the bruising they left behind. the pump more or less eliminates the need for the needles!

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

I can understand what she and the whole family must be going through. I am not sure how old she is but unless of certain age (4-6 years) kids do not pick up logic well and trying to reason with them might not be a good idea. You could try incorporating this with a positive reinforcement / reward each time she takes the insulin. If she is old enough you could try to make her understand that though she might be one of the few kids who have diabetes but there are kids less lucky than her and it is her strength despite the diabetes that makes her special from other kids. For long term you could sign up for behavioral/ psycho therapy sessions after consultation with her treating doctor.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!