Insulin
Children with type 1 diabetes require insulin injections to maintain good blood sugar control and to live healthy lives.
Most children will inject insulin two to four times a day. It is important to work with your health care team to find the most appropriate treatment routine for your child.
Insulin preparations are available in many different types and compositions.
Insulin dose
Insulin dose and demand will depend upon the child's sex, age, weight and duration of diabetes.
During puberty, the daily insulin demand will usually increase, with girls generally requiring more insulin than boys.
Too little insulin can cause:
- Poor blood sugar control (high HbA1C) and in the long run, complications of diabetes
- Poor growth and development as measured by height and weight
- Delayed puberty
- Poor quality of life
Everyone with diabetes should learn to adjust his or her insulin dose according to his or her blood sugar measurements.
It is also important to learn to adjust the dose to correspond to special occasions like birthdays, eating "fast" food, possibly drinking alcohol (older teenagers), and participating in physical activity.
Remember:
- Insulin absorption can vary a lot from day to day and depends on the injection site and size of the insulin dose.
- Measure the blood glucose levels more frequently when making dose adjustments. Also, check a level in the middle of the night if you adjust the evening dose.
- Check the injection sites for lumps and bumps that can interfere with insulin absorption and cause wide swings in blood glucose levels.
Call a member of your health care team if you have questions about dose adjustment or if blood sugar levels remain out of range after making appropriate self-adjustments.
