Last year, our daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes around the time of her fifth birthday. My wife, who was unable to breast feed her when she a baby, blames herself for our daughter’s diabetes. I think she is being too hard on herself, but this is torturing her. Can baby formula trigger diabetes several years later? What do you think?

I know of no research that suggests baby formula is a known trigger for type 1 diabetes. Lots of research has been done with several possible triggers suggested, but no exact trigger has been identified. Children who are breast fed can get diabetes too. Type 1 diabetes is genetically linked and your wife needs to stop feeling guilty about bottle feeding your child. She did nothing wrong and your child has gotten diabetes from both of your families genetics being mixed and passed along.

I hope you are working with an understanding diabetes team that supports your family and teaches you how to match the diabetes therapies to the natural, fun life of a child.

KS

[Editor’s comment: What a burden for your wife. To help put her mind at ease, a recent study from Germany, published in Diabetes Care, showed that there is no connection between lack of breast feeding and development of diabetes. See: No Major Association of Breast-Feeding, Vaccinations, and Childhood Viral Diseases With Early Islet Autoimmunity in the German BABYDIAB Study
SS]