Kids giving their own shots?

My daughter just swittched insulin and now has to take a shot before lunch at school. No big deal EXCEPT oour school nurse is being as difficult as she can be about the whole situation including refusing to train the 2 nurses aides to give injections or how to give glucagon in emergencys. She is NOT a full time nurse at this school. I have stated to her numerous times that she needs a backup person but she says she doesnt have to have one and that she WONT teach anyone or force someone to learn. She is at the school normally half of the day and then not even at school on Thursdays. She also said she is sometimes out of district --Whatever that means!!

Anyway the nurse is putting pressure in my daughter to start giving her own shots. Even making the comment that all the other Diabetic kids she has ever had were much more independent. Needless to say that pissed me off
Its funny how she thinks its OK to force a 9 yr old to give herself an injection but she wont force the 2 nurses aides to learn how to do it

But putting that aside it makes me wonder how long after DX did it take other kids to learn and not be afraid to give their own shots.

So my ?? is ....How long did it take your child before they were COMFORTABLE giving their own injections?

 

My daughter was 8 at dx..at that time she refused to even THINK about doing her own and I didn't push her. Fast forward just two weeks post dx. She stated "gimme an orange and show me how it's done". It took her maybe a few days to be comfy doing them on her own. HOWEVER..we ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have an adult check the dose she draws up.

 

Ohhhh......I would put a stop to her trying to intimidate and shame your child into giving her own injections IMMEDIATELY.

Are you in the USA? If not, perhaps much of this won't apply but....If this is a public school or a private school that receives federal money you should ask for a 504 plan. There is a ton of info here on 504's but I highly suggesting looking at the Amer. Diabetes website under Discrimination>Schools and also calling 1-800-DIABETES for their free school discrim packet.

If the school says only a nurse can give the shot and there is no nurse then the school is REQUIRED to provide a nurse. The MUST do this. Write a letter today to the principal and cc the nurse and the nurse supervisor and request that someone be put on campus immediately to give shots. Also request that the nurse no longer try to force your child into giving shots before she is ready. I would also call the pedi endo and have them fax over a letter to the school asking these 2 things: that someone be provided on campus at all times to give insulin and provide care, including emergency care and that the nurse not attempt to shame the child into giving her own shots.

The school is required to step up on this. I would not go another day without getting something in the works. Also send a letter to the principle requesting that they hold a meeting to evaluate your child for a 504. You would like an emergency meeting due to the circumstances. I would call OCR if needed.

 

I think it's really important that our kids move at their own pace that's comfortable for them. This nurse is way, way out of line.

It really does sound that in this situation, you need to get a 504 in place. The staff should be trained to give glucagon and there no reason that they can't be trained to give shots too. And even if your daughter *chose* to give her own shots, a trained adult would still need to supervise.

 

Willow started giving herself **some** shots about about 3 months post dx. She was 7 at the time. However, we ALWAYS had someone monitor the amt she pulled up into the syringe. One thing that made giving herself the shot was the inject ease - a device that holds the syringe and quickly injects the syringe (spring loaded) but she still has to push the plunger.

Now that we are on the pump - we have only been for less than a month - she is already learning how to bolus and understands the difference between bolusing for carbs or correction for bg.

I agree with all the PPs - your nurse is way out of line trying to bully you and your daughter into doing this on her own. Have you spoken to the school board, the principal?? This should be at yours and your dds pace. Even with all that Willow can do on her own - I still almost always do everything - only when she initiates do i let/help her do it on her own.

 

I don't think it's a good idea to compare D kids when it comes to giving their own injections, just like it's not helpful to compare their hight, weight or reading level. Every child deserves to be treated as an individual and with respect by the adults in her/his life. The nurse is WAY out of line for her comment and needs to be called on it. Your daughter has the right to be kept safe and accommodated while in school ( assuming it's public school) and the nurse needs to learn that and learn it fast.

 

I totally agree with Carol.

As for giving shots, Christian was 10 when dx and he gave himself his shot on the 2nd day. They even gave him a certificate. LOL!! He did it ever since. I would just draw it up, until he switched to the pen, and he would take it and give it to himself.

Good luck with the school nurse.

 

My son went on the pump at 12 and he never gave his own shot. He refused and I did not push. We were on NPH/Humalog so school was never involved in shots anyway.

The nurse needs to get off her high horse. Call and make an appointment with the principal or go even further and call the superintendent. She doesn't make the rules, the law does.

 

That nurse is ridiculous. Every kid has their own learning curve, even with diabetes care. Alex was 7 when she was diagnosed, and I have to admit we pushed her to give herself her injection at school, because she could and did do it at home. Having said that, her lunch time bolus is fixed at 2 units of Humalog, because she eats the same thing all the time -- rice and chicken -- in exactly the same proportions. Her syringe is preloaded (by me the day before), and she does her shot under the supervision of the librarian or the special ed teacher.

That nurse needs a good swift kick in the pants. She'd've pissed me off, too.

 

My daughter, dx at 3yo, started giving herself shots at school in 1st grade when we switched from NPH and she needed a shot every day at lunch. Insulin was measured by the secretary (no FT nurses in our schools) and the shot was supervised by her as well.

Using the pen vs. syringe helped a lot in my daughter being comfortable with giving her own shots.

 

My son Kelton was dx'ed when he was 10, at that time he was not ready to give himself his own shots. By the time he was 11 he was ready.

I personally would not push any child before they were ready to give themselves their own shots. Some kids want to early on and some don't.

 

Tyler was 9 1/2 when he did his own shots, that was 3 years after diagnosis. He also didn't use a syringe, he used a pen.

I believe that we need to let our children go at their own pace, they have their entire lives to give shots, test blood sugar, count carbs etc., when they are ready to do it, they will. You can't force a child to walk that isn't ready to, it just won't happen, so why push giving shots. JMO.

 

My son, Will, was dx at 4 in July '07 starting giving himself injections at the beginning of September '07. We pump now and unless the sites are in places he cannot comfortable put them in, he puts in his own sites.

We never pushed him to do any of this, he chose to do it himself. Every child is different and it is bad enough to be dependent on insulin but to be forced to do something the child does not feel comfortable with is not fair and in my honest opinion makes this even more difficult to deal with. I wonder how well she will like school when faced with doing something she doesn't want to do.

Get that 504 and move quickly!

((((Hugs))) to you and your daughter.

 

Let me get this straight. She is refusing to train anyone else on the necessary care that your dd needs, and she admits to you that she is not always available to provide that care. She wants to put a 9 year old who does not want to do her own shots in charge of her own D care. It sounds to me like she's trying to cover her you-know-what.
I'd have me a meeting scheduled today with the principal, nurse, and anybody else I can think of about putting a 504 in place NOW. It's time this nurse does her JOB, and that includes providing care for your dd when this particular nurse is not in the building.

 

Lilly is 5 and was ready to give her own shots about 2 weeks into it. She's a very take charge girl though (like her momma) and I think she likes to have some control over it, so it works for her. She had a hard time doing the shot (we have to draw up the insulin of course!), but we got the inject ease and it is much easier now.

Every kid is different though and if your daughter doesnt want to do it then I would tell the nurse to back off.

 

I agree with the others. I think it's a huge mistake to push a child to take on more responsibility for her D care than she's ready for. If you make her do it now, what happens when she's 16 and "tired" of doing if for herself. It would seem to me that you are setting her up to rebel later. I think you're right in getting a 504 and making the nurse do what is necessary to ensure your child's safety while at the school. If that means she has to train the health tech to give the injections, so be it. Good luck!

 

This was a big factor for us too.

Hanna was 4 when she started doing her own shots -- about 6 months post dx and she asked US. I would NEVER have suggested it to her otherwise. One day my DH mentioned to her that when she was older, she might prefer to do her shots by herself and that night she asked to do it -- she never looked back. We always drew it up and supervised her until she was about 8 and we switched to the pen. Then we showed her how to prime it and dial up her dose but she did pretty much did her shots on her own. By this point she'd been doing her own shots for 4 years so it wasn't as scary for her to do them at school (before the pen she was was on NPH, so there were no school shots). I was still pretty concerned about her having to do her own shots at school (we're at a paraochial school with no nurse) but the cafeteria staff watched out for her (including one who is a mom w/a T1 kiddo) so Hanna felt comfortable. However, I can't IMAGINE her having to do this when she was either younger or so soon after being dx'd.

The school nurse needs to reevaluate her position IMO.

 

Hunter was dx at 5 and within a month wanted to gve his own shots. He liked being able to control that part of this. He does his own site changes etc with supervision but he needs that little bit of control. That being said, your school nurse is way out of line and as pp's have said, no child should be forced to give their own injections. I'm peeved for you.

 

You are on the right track.

Plain and simple: if the nurse says only she can do injections then that is acceptable. The school then MUST provide a nurse there at every time she would need an injection - so for planned meals/snacks. And the nurse has to come running if the child needs a correction (at the very least - if the nurse does not stay on site).

It sounds like you are doing all the right things with the 504, getting the pedi endo involved, the principal, etc. The nurse totally needs to back off pushing her to give her own shots. That is such an individual issue that you cannot compare young kids. That is something you can work on with her at home when the time is right.

Keep us posted!