My five-year-old daughter has had type 1 diabetes since May 2006. We had our two-year-old son’s antibodies checked back in June and one was positive. Over the past few days, he has been drinking a lot and his diapers have been very wet through his clothes. I checked his sugar; he was in the 90s mg/dl [5.1 to 5.7 mmol/L]. If he were to develop diabetes, how long would it be before his sugar goes higher? I know it is just a matter of time but any advice would be great.

It depends upon which of the several antibodies was positive and how positive it was. You should call and discuss this with your child’s diabetes team since they will know this answer or can find out. If you are seeing symptoms that are worrisome, as you suggest, then you may also want to do several pre- and post-food checks to see what the range of blood glucose levels really is. If he were still having symptoms or if they were to worsen, if there were weight loss or anything else worrisome, you should call the diabetes folks with whom you already have a relationship since they would likely want to see your second child, get laboratory work, etc. The real answer to your question about how much time from positive antibodies until diabetes fully develops is extremely variable.

SB