by Cathryn Whitehead

Created on: May 31, 2008   Last Updated: June 13, 2008

Your child is always thirsty and has to go to the bathroom a lot. If too much time has passed between meals, you might watch your child have a major meltdown. And do all children sleep as much as yours? The signs are there, but it takes a blood test at the doctor's office to confirm that your child is diabetic. The pancreas doesn't break down sugar like it's supposed to, and medication with possible bad side effects will be required for a lifetime-or until better treatment or a cure is approved. A low sugar diet will have to followed along with a regular eating schedule. It's scary, but you can learn what's necessary. You have to, for your child's sake. But although it's frightening, having diabetes is no longer the death sentence it once was.

The first thing you need to do when you find out your child is diabetic is to find a support group. Your whole family needs contact with people who have lived through what you're about to live with. Children won't feel so alienated if they have friends who live with the same condition they do. You need to learn right away what you have to do to keep from viewing your child as different, and people who deal with that every day can help you.

Become educated. Read and study everything you can about diabetes, treatments, medication, and studies. Contact the American Diabetes Association and ask for every bit of information and help they offer.

Share the lifestyle changes your child has to go through. Practice giving insulin shots to an orange. Your whole family should eat the same foods on the same time schedule and adopt the same exercise routine. Although sugar isn't as poisonous to you as it is to your child, it's not good for anyone to indulge excessively. It's not fair to bake rich coconut cream pies for a holiday and tell your child they have to eat the sugar-free butterscotch pudding. Your child will be more likely to sneak forbidden treats.

Sharing information with schools, clubs, and other extracurricular organizations can stop food issues before they become a problem. Notes are often sent to parents who provide snacks asking them to refrain from sending sugar laden snacks and offering helpful suggestions for replacement snacks. Parents are generally very cooperative when presented with a note that explains a child in the class has a peanut allergy and it would be appreciated if peanut-free snacks were provided. They are as likely to cooperate with a note explaining that sugar-free snacks are harmful to a child in the class. Everyone who has taught their child to share knows they're likely to share or swap food with friends, and no one wants to be responsible for unknowingly harming a child. And a general note to all parents that doesn't mention names keeps your child from feeling they are at fault, that they are different from their peers.

Be an example. Show, don't tell. Live as you want your child to live, and you'll all live better.

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