Our nine-year-old daughter has had type 1 diabetes for six and a half years. She is going through a stage of checking herself up to 20 times a day because she is feeling insecure/low. We are frustrated and saddened that she feels so insecure. We don’t know what she is feeling when she feels low. Is there anything we can do to support or reassure her? I thought of the idea of an insulin pump, but our insurance doesn’t cover it. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?

The best thing to do is talk directly with your daughter. Why is she checking so frequently? What is she thinking? What is she feeling? What does she think that frequent checking will protect her from? She may have some misperceptions that are making her worry more than she needs to. Also, I wonder if she had a low blood sugar that scared her, so she’s checking more often now to prevent that from happening again. I’d also talk with her to develop a reasonable plan for frequency of checking. Maybe every three to four hours would be sufficient? If this conversation does not decrease her worry, please discuss this with your diabetes team and see if you can also talk with a mental health professional about your daughter’s worries. It is unlikely that merely moving from injections to a pump will reduce her worries.

JWB