No! No secret method. It seems that when you want it to work at a close range, it won’t, but when you don’t, it does. Maybe that’s the trick…
Seriously, we keep the doors open, I think that helps, and it’s across a hallway/stairs area between our bedrooms, so about 10 feet from sensor to receiver. With 2 walls in between. Maybe our walls just aren’t well insulated. I have no idea really. Sometimes it doesn’t work, for no apparent reason, but most of the time it does just fine. In any case, it’s clear when you look at it whether or not it is working, so you can try moving it around to different places and seeing what works best. I place the receiver at the edge of the bedside table, with the part that looks like it receives the signal toward the open door.
Unfortunately, cgms was not on the market when she was dx’d at 8. Had it been, we would have gotten cgms, along with the pump, made that one transition from shots to pump/cgms and cgms would be accepted by her as part of management. She is very used to having to deal with only one site and would prefer not to use cgms all the time (she uses it when there are problems or if she is exercising a lot). Dexcom is relatively pain-free for her and she does not complain about insertion. Her main beef is she does not like carrying around the extra Receiver; and does not like the extra level of management Dexcom provides. She wants to enjoy her life with as little thought as possible 
She had tried the Minimed cgms that communicates with her pump but found insertion painful after the EMLA (numbing cream) wore off. I personally think, at four and five years of age, you and his teachers or other adults will be doing most of the management for him. He is young enough to take guidance from his parents and unlikely to resist as long as cgms is comfortable to insert and wear. And that he will accept cgms, just as he accepts the pump once he gets used to it. Love Dexcom, think it is by FAR the most comfortable to wear, insert and manage. You will love it. And he will grow up with far superior levels of management than would have been possible without cgms. Once Dexcom communicates with a pump, I’m sure we will be able to transition into full-time use as one of her main gripes will be taken away. The older a child is, the more their opinions must be taken into account and the more fixed their opinions are, unfortunately.
I think the fact that your son was son young when diagnosed and doesn’t really know any different, makes it so much easier for you to use the pump and CGM. My son was 13 1/2 when diagnosed… he is so self conscious about having diabetes and while he is good about shots and checking at home, he hates doing it in front of other people and at school… I am hoping he will get over that soon. He is also going through puberty so his ratios are changing quite a bit. I don’t expect his a1C to be great at our next visit but hopefully, he will start being more diligent if he sees it going up…
Hi Annie,
My daughter just turned 6 and has been on the MM CGMS for 3.5 years. (dx’d at 9 months) She also has a late August birthday and we were unsure, but eventually decided to start kinder the very day after she turned 5. (we’ve been doing this a long time and we were ready!)
The year was challenging, but the CGMS helped a lot! I was available to help the school as needed and the alarms kept her much safer and gave the teachers and nurse a lot of peace of mind. There is more for them to learn, but I think that’s for the best, as even at age 6 she is no where near ready to be responsible for her D care.
The CGMS numbers are not meant to be exact, but seeing the trends and having the predictive alarms is priceless!
I have done a lot of training for our school and our district and the other nurses wish their D students had a CGM too. They are amazingly valuable to anyone who will wear them 24/7 and really learn how to use them. Our school has been very accommodating and overall the decision to start kinder was a good one for us. I’m not sure it would’ve been without that handy little CGMS!
Good luck!
Amy