Newly dx 13 y/o thinks she can go places without the monitor

My daughter is newly diagnosed at 13. My question is because it is so new, she understands to a certain extent how important it is to watch you sugar levels, but she has this thing that she doesn't think she has to take her monitor with her all the time. I know this has to do to some extent with being a teen and all those funny feels you get at that age. To anyone who has a teen just diagnosed in their early teens: How did you deal with getting them to understand they need to have the monitor with them when they leave the house?

 

You have to nag them, a lot. They will get used to it when they know they don't leave the house without it. No meter, wristband and sugar: no leave house.

 

It's non negotiable, and takes nagging.

My son likes to keep his D low key, so our challenge has been finding ways to make carrying his stuff as discreet as possible. That made it less of a nag fest for me since it met his need of not wanting to draw attention to himself.

Alot of parents seem to use the spibelt and sling backpacks for their kids. Maybe your daughter would be okay with those, or even a purse of some kind?

Bobby won't wear or carry anything like that when he's out with friends (versus a sleepover or something.) So whatever he takes with him has to fit in his pockets.

I got him a One Touch ultra mini meter (smaller than our regular at home meter). One Touch meter cases are nice in that they all have extra bands/pockets so I can make everything fit (meter, strips, lancer, humalog and lantus pens, couple needle tips, 2 mini packs of skittles) and it then also fits in his pocket.

The drug store also has super tiny meters for sale, but I kept with the smallest One Touch I could find since our insurance covers the strips already.

For summer, I got one of the smaller FRIO pouches to protect pens from heat while still fitting inside his shorts pocket.

Hope that helps

 

We were DX just this past week, my daughter is 14. The way I have put it to her is if she doesn't want to have me with her, she has to have her "go bag" with her. The bag is a cute pouch with the following in it..monitor, strips, lancet, pen & glucose tabs. Since she is new to this, she has to call me before administering anything. So far so good....though she has only had 1 outing and is still scared from her 2 1/2 days in PICU.

 

I am pretty stern about it. If I find she forgets her supplies or meter when we leave the house I turn back around and don't let her go to whatever activity we were headed to in the first place or if it she was packed and it was an oversight we make it a little late. I always make it a point of turning around though so we have a consequence of being late if she doesn't follow through. I also have her test every 60-90 min during activity so if I see the meter was not used in that time the next day I go into the class and wait for her to test. She didn't like that so it happened only once, lol

Since it's become routine now we don't have an issue. I also do carry an additional set of everything she has so in the event we really end up forgetting or loosing something and don't realize it until it's too late there is no excuse.

In terms of 'understanding' I am frank about DD of what the consequences of highs and lows are without hiding any of the facts. My hope is that this will teach her from the start to take care of herself. While she is under my watch though there will be a consequence other than her own health for not following the rules. To us it's nothing new....no washing hands no eating, no cleaning room no friends over, no checks when you are supposed to no activities, etc

 

I was the constant nagger and would scold when it was fogotten. At 17 and with 13.5 years of diabetes under the belt, he finally consistently remembers.

Expect several years of constant reminding.

 

Thank you all! I have been nagging her and of course beginning to get headaches over it!! Thanks for the encouragement! I will continue with the nag and consequences! I am going to have her read all of your advise. She is not a purse carrier yet so I will try the back pack idea. Or take her to the store to pick out a purse she likes. We are new at this and I am so happy to see that I am not alone in this challenge!

 

J has a backpack he carries and dogtags that he wears when he goes out. We went across the road to visit the new neighbors tonight, and we left the bag (which also has an extra set, batteries, etc) and just took a meter, glucose tabs and his Ping remote.

He doesn't leave the house without his meter. (this is when I have a say - if he leaves the house when I'm not home more often than not he does leave his bag at home! )

 

We let Allison pick out a cute little "coach" wristlet. She loved it and felt stylish.

 

My dd is finally starting to remember. She did get it through her head that is important. And she told me that and has shown me that she is working at taking on this responsibility. And talk about nagging!! Yesterday when made one of my many calls to home while I was at work...she anwered the phone not saying hi but what mom!! hehehe!

 

That is my plan too! Trying to make this more fun than a pain for her I am going to be getting her a little "couch" too!! Can't afford too much but I know that will make it less of an issue for her. She doesn't like purses yet, except the Couch idea is appealling to her! Thanks!

 

One thing that I have learned is that no matter how many cute little bags or purses I buy because she tells me "If I had that one I'd use it", she just can't stand carrying anything....

My daughter of course has an answer for all of that.... She just makes her friends carry all of her diabetes stuff. The best part is that they are becoming so well trained that they remind her and make sure she has everything. Gotta love the friends that care

 

Lol!! That's great!

 

You could try using this as a threat: There is a mother on CWD that will gladly send me a fleece "belt" that closes with velcro and has velcro patches on it. I will put velcro on the back of your D supplies and velcro them to you!


(J wears his pump and Dex on those fleece belts. Works great for him )

 

This is my daughter's pet peeve about her fellow classmates with D. She says that she has to be their "mama" and lecture them.

She carried a mini-backpack for a couple of years because she is not a purse person. She recently switched to a purse. Let your daughter pick something out.

Make it non-negotiable!

Great video - http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/video/JoeS2.htm

Pay attention about 10 minutes into the "talk".

 

Thanks Kim and GaPeach!

I'm going to check those sites out.

 

Elissa,

Our CDE recommended that I watch this talk by Joe S. I just got a chance to watch the whole thing two days ago. He is just great! Very informative and funny!

 

I was actually in attendence for Joe's talk at that Friends For Life conference. Check out the details of the annual conference here: http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/activities/Orlando2011/

We have only been once but would LOVE to go again.

 

For some reason the thought of a fleece belt with velcro patches on it just cracks me up, but hey if it works why not? I can just see you sticking your child's supplies to the belt before he or she leaves the house.

 

LOL!!! Very Funny!!