Pumping and school

I am wanting to switch my daughter over to a pump sometime in the next year. By then, she will be in school and there are days where both her dad and I work and she will have to stay at the school lunch program. I am wondering what parents do to bolus for lunch on a child that is only 5 and can't work the pump safely by themselves? I seriously doubt anyone at the school does this, right? I just want to know all the info before I leap. (We are in Canada, if that makes a difference, so we don't have the school forms like in USA)

There should be someone that can do it for her at school. Cameron doesn't eat everyday at school, but they give me a monthly menu for breakfast and lunch. I generally see what he will eat and count the carbs ahead. The pump does all the work for you, just have an adult either do it or supervise it. You are going to be shocked at how quickly she picks it up. I was shocked when Cam went to support groups and there were four and five year old kids that were working their own pump. Side note- I am freaking out because he changes schools this year and they don't know him.

Hi Jen,

Hopefully your daughter's school has a full-time nurse who can deal with bolusing for your daughter. If not, you can set up a meeting with the school principal, her teacher(s), counselor, lunch room staff, etc. to come up with a plan for how to deal with it. I've seen plenty of other discussion here on Tudiabetes about this issue. I'm sure you can dig up some good ideas by doing some surfing on this site. Check out the "parents of T1 kids" groups and forums.

Cheers and good luck, Mike

There are no nurses employed by our schools. We have 19 public schools and 10 catholic schools and not one has a nurse on staff. There are "aides" and I am not sure how much education re:diabetes they have, but one principal told us that the aide did the bolusing for one D child but the funding for that is only kindergarden and maybe grade one. After that, no diabetes aides.

Does your daughter's school have a health aide? Would it be possible to train someone? Only a nurse can administer insulin at my daughter's school. She just recently went on a pump in February. We use an Animas Ping. My daughter can dial in the insulin and the health aide makes sure she is correct. She will call me for the 15 seconds that my daughter is in her office and I say "yes" go ahead and deliver. My girl hits the OK button and is off to lunch.

I am sure with a little guidance you can get this to work out for you and your family. Maybe you can visit the school now to get a feel for who would be there to help.

Good luck! We love pumping!

If she goes to public school, by law they have to accommodate the student. It does not matter the state. That DOES NOT mean that they have to hire a nurse if they do not have the funds, but they have to train someone. It will more than likely be the diabetes aide, or possibly a teacher that is diabetic. You are going to have to be proactive, and learn the legalities. It is not that the schools will attempt to mislead you, many of them don't know themselves.

Hi Jen , ...I just found your discussion , since I was looking for more info about the DTC ...the following links are related to parents in BC advocating for " safety in schools "
Are you located in BC?? Every Province, every schoolboard is different !Some provinces maybe ahead from BC ? . Have you contacted the CDA /Advocacy ? CDA is asking stakeholders to complete : http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/living/assessment/ ...an opportunity to speak out about about pumping in school and other thoughts you may have ?
I have a pumper teacher friend where I live , who assisted one of her students , who also has down syndrome with bolus delivery/pump ; she and his MOM worked very closely together, while he attended school . A win win for everyone !!
http://www.bcmj.org/special-feature-unsafe-school-advocating-children-type-1-diabetes
http://www.bcmj.org/blog/d-day-diabetes-diagnosis-day .
There still will be hurdles ahead for these and other parents !