Uhoh! Gosh, darn, golly gee. Looks like I'm about to fail netiquette again. I shouldn't copy from one board to another, particularly without the author's permission. But, from the lady who wrote Welcoming Babies with Down Syndrome, here's one of her recent posts to the ol' Down-syn listserv:
Re: Toliet Training
> My name is Peter and I have a
>beautiful daughter of 5 years
>old with DS.
>She has recently started taking off her
diaper and telling me that she wants to
>go potty (#1). Her developmental
>skills are around 24- 28 months.
>She weighs only 27 pounds.
>Unfortunately she was recently
diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
Dear Peter,
Your daughter sounds like a sweet little darling; I bet she and her twin
brother keep you going those four nights a week.
I have a son with Down syndrome who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he
was 7 years old. You can see his picture in the diabetes section of _The Down
Syndrome Nutrition Handbook: A Guide to Promoting Healthy Lifestyles_ by Joan
E. Guthrie Medlen (Woodbine House; ISBN: 1890627232).
As you have probably learned from your daughter's pediatric endocrinologist is
that having high blood sugar causes a child to need to go potty frequently,
along with having great thirst, that also causes her to need to go potty. So
it's fortunate that you are encouraging her to progress in toilet training, so
that she is much more comfortable.
Your daughter's pediatrician might be interested in reading Libby Kumin's book
from Woodbine House Publishing, _Early Communication Skills for Children with
Down Syndrome_, ISBN 1-890627-27-5 that
'focuses on speech and language development from birth through the stage of
making 3-word phases, problem areas and treatments'.
Having alternative ways to communicate until your daughter's speech is
developed enough so that she can have pertinent discussions with her
pediatrician will be helpful in managing her diabetes as well as other
important aspects of her life.
If you wish to learn more about Type 1 Diabetes, an excellent web page (with an
associated email list) is at
www.childrenwithdiabetes.comSome of the 'Advice from Other Parents' there is:
* Get the Pink Panther book (_Understanding Insulin-Dependent
Diabetes_, 10th Edition by H. Peter Chase, M.D. Published by the Children's
Diabetes Foundation at Denver, 2002. ISBN 0-9675398-3-8)
* Get the JDRF Bag of Hope and the ADA Wizdom Kit. It was several months
into Nick's diagnosis before I knew to get these, and they were helpful, but
would have been so much more helpful if I'd had them right away.
* Keep a glucagon kit in your bedroom in a drawer, in case you need it.
Keep some juice boxes, snacks and glucose tablets in a plastic bag in the same
drawer. You don't want to be running around in the middle of the night for
sugar boosts.
* Learn to think like a pancreas. Buy a calculator, or even several, and
work on learning the math. Learn to count carbohydrates and work with
carb/insulin ratios. Learn when the insulin peaks and how long it lasts. Learn
to correct for high blood sugars and treat the lows, and how long to wait for
the adjustments to take effect. The more automatic this becomes, the easier it
is to fit diabetes into your life.
More about the "Pink Panther" book:
www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/d_06_b00.htm#chaseWishing you all the best,
Pam W
SE of Seattle
Children with Diabetes Information for Classmates
www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/d_0q_421.htmChildren with Diabetes WWW page (DS)
www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/d_03_193.htmBut I don't think Pam will be too upset with me. Send me a message or an email if you'd like me to send you Pam's addy.