My 16 month old seems to develop ketones VERY easily. Most times, we can get rid of them as quickly as they come on. What could be causing her to get them all the time? What are they doing to her body? What can we do to help prevent them? Do we need to do something different for her when she has them? Most days it’s trace to small. Sometimes, we have moderate, but only for one diaper and then they are down again. We always try to get some insulin in her to help flush them out.

Our daughter is one of the youngest at our clinic and I am afraid they just don’t know what to do with her. They are not great with answering questions for us.

Ketones only indicate that fat is being burned. However, this should be quite rare in all of us and also in young children. So, it may suggest inadequate calories or insufficient insulin being provided. I would go back and discuss this much more directly and in more depth with your diabetes team. You need to be comfortable asking questions and getting reasonable answers, although also acknowledge that they may not always have a specific answer. But, they should always have an approach to trying to figure out the problem, what “detective” work needs to be done, how to collaborate with you, etc.

SB

[Editor’s comment: Please see our page on Hyperglycemia and Ketone Testing. Given the difficulty of checking for urine ketones on a toddler still in diapers, you may wish to consider Blood Ketone Testing.

BH]