What to do when one child is empathic of the other

[czardoust]

So everybody Knows Kat (7) is diabetic. Kaitlyn (12)gets the physical symptoms that Kat should get when Kat is either high or low. Help? lol. In fact if Kaitlyn gets nauseated or vomits, I check Katerinas BS (and its high) and check Kats ketones which are 0.0 and Kaitlyn's which are trace (0.1-0.9). At times when Kat is low (below 70), Kaitlyn is tired, has a headache, is cranky, sluggish. HELLO? I am trying to teach her how to shield. Its not like she isnt aware. So, Kat very rarely has her own symptoms. I think I need to talk to Kaitlyn about, maybe is she harboring some guilt over not having D when her sister does. Katerina needs to also feel this stuff herself so she can predict an oncoming low or feel a high that lingers past an insulin correction so I can give her more (say its not time for a regularly scheduled BS check). Any ideas?

[frizzyrazzy]

I would suspect that Kaitlin's mind is making her have these physical symptoms as a way to get attention. The mind can make the body physically ill.

[Lee]

I think I agree with Michelle here - she is probably super close with her sister and has heard all of the signs and symptoms. She can probably also unknowingly pick up on some of the physical signs that are minute so she reacts to those unconsciously...

Plus, her sister gets attention, and as a child, she also unconsciously wishes she had more of her parents attention and viola - sympathy pain...

Wish I could think of a way to help her not experience them though ~ Poor baby :(