My four year old daughter was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. As would be expected, we are having difficulty with the injection of insulin. Are there any helpful hints out there that would ease some of her fears?

You don’t say whether pens are the device you currently use for injecting insulin to your daughter. Nowadays, needles used for pens are become really so thin and small that shots are practically painless and fearless.

Most of the time parents are directly or indirectly responsible for children not overcoming the fear of injections. If this might be your case, even partially, ask your diabetes team for further advice.

MS

[Editor’s comment: he problem you describe is very common in children of this age. If you are not using it already, you might try using the Inject-Ease® This works very well for small children. I would recommend using a reward system for not fighting the shot. Try not to focus (although, I know it is difficult) on her “bad” behavior as this reinforces it. You might also try play therapy using a large syringe for painting, giving a stuffed animal a shot, etc. If you are uncertain as to how to do this, you might ask your diabetes team for a referral to a play therapist.

SS]