The daily care for your child with type 1 diabetes can seem overwhelming, leading to conflicts between you and your child. Here are some tips that may help:

Make mealtimes less stressful

Mealtimes can become a battleground when you want your child to get a certain amount of carbohydrate. You can:

• Meet regularly with a registered dietitian. A registered dietitian can help set up a flexible meal plan to meet your child's appetite needs and allow for special events, such as parties and school activities. Some tips for mealtimes with young children include having alternative meal choices.
• Use rapid-acting insulin so you can give the insulin dose after a meal based on what your child ate.
• Count carbohydrate grams.

Make giving insulin less difficult

Your child may take several insulin injections each day or use an insulin pump. You may need help with:

Preparing and giving an insulin injection.

Keep monitoring reasonable

If you test several times a day (before breakfast, with meals, and at bedtime), you can tell how well your child's blood sugar levels stay within a target range. You need to test more often when your child is sick. Follow the sick-day guidelines that you and your child's doctor set up, or call for help. Do not give your child nonprescription medicines without talking with the doctor.

Home blood sugar monitoring

Encourage physical activity

Children and teens need to get at least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity most days of the week, preferably daily.⁷ Try to have at least 15 minutes of energetic activity during that time. Children with type 1 diabetes can participate in sports just like children without diabetes. But children who use insulin are at risk for low blood sugars during and after exercise. Some tips for exercising safely for your child with type 1 diabetes can help prevent low blood sugar levels.

If your child has a tendency to be inactive, you may need to:

• Limit his or her time playing video games, watching TV, or using the computer.
• Plan some activities to do along with your child, such as skating or bicycling.

Catch the ups and downs

Because blood sugar levels can drop to dangerous levels very quickly:

• Have your child always wear medical identification so medical personnel can give the right care. You can buy medical-identification bracelets, necklaces, or other forms of jewelry at a pharmacy or on the Internet.
• Make sure everyone who cares for your child knows how to treat low blood sugar quickly. For more information, see:

  Dealing with low blood sugar.

High blood sugar levels develop more slowly, over a period of hours. For more information, see:

Preventing high blood sugar emergencies.

Keep your child healthy and safe