I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice about how to discuss with a 3 year old the importance of keeping his pump on? We were doing really well for 3 months now he's been taking it off pretty much daily. Are there any books out there about dealing with kids this young? It doesn't seem to matter where it is or how/how much I tape it down.
Thanks
My son Jack was diagnosed at one and has been on the Omnipod and Dexcom since he was 18 months old. He is now 3 1/2.
Jack is a very shy reserved kid, so we have never had a problem with him intentionally ripping a pump off. He also has had it on his body since he was a baby so maybe it's more normal to him. I saw your son was diagnosed when he was little little too, but I don't know when you started with Omnipod.
Jack is very nervous though and he will fidget with it, and a few times he has scratched them off. (We also have big sensitive skin problems - poor fellow.) We have to use tegaderm all the time to make sure he doesn't do it (especially in the middle of the night), and when it's really bad we wrap the pump with vetrap (cheaper ace bandage which is used for animals). There are also pod places he likes better, so if he is being really fussy we go to a better place he likes more.
As to discussions - he doesn't like a pump insertion so I explain to him that if he scratches his pump off we will have to do another owee injection and you don't want that right? That usually puts him off. We also explain that if he doesn't have his pump he will feel bad, and then he can't play, and he wants to feel good to play right? Nothing is more important than playing to Jack. We then do a big distraction (TV, songs, games, etc) and then we are on our way again. But like I said, our problem is different since Jack's pump removals are unintentional.
Good luck - I feel your pain!
I honestly don't know if all of them are intentional as he, too, turns all red and itchy when we take the pod off. I also use tegaderm (although sometimes I think the 3M Transpore tape is better and less irritating).
We too have explained to him about how if he takes it off we have to replace it again, how he may feel bad if he doesn't have it (he actually throws up when his ketones go above 2.5, so its actually sort of useful). Today we even threatened to go back to intermittent injection! I think the biggest problem is the real solution is for him to mature and just stop doing it!
Jonah was diagnosed at 21 months and switched to the pump this past July. He is my hero and totally awesome about everything. Fortunately, I am a veterinary endocinologist, so the science side has come easily for me (and I am also thus familiar with vetwrap!)
Have you seen the pump bands on pumpwear.com?
I feel for you. My 7 year old plays really hard sometimes and will knock hers off, but I can't imagine trying to explain to a little one to not rip it off!
We have found the following works:
1. Arm/Leg Bands to cover up the pod - you can get them at bands4life or tallygear. Comes in all colors/patterns, so maybe if you let him pick what he can wear over his pod he'd be more likely to keep it on. My daughter says the pod feels more secure when she wears the bands over the pod.
2. For rashes/sensitivity - we tried everything. I now use hibacleanse w/alcohol and then when that dries I use Skin-Tac. We haven't had any nasty rashes since doing this. I tried, for a while, spraying the site first with Cortaid spray, but it interfered with the adhesion.
As far as trouble-shooting...maybe this could help?
1. Pump Peelz - maybe if he could choose a cool way to decorate his pod he'd be more likely to keep it on? www.pumppeelz.com
2. Sticker Chart - For every day he doesn't pull his pod off he gets a sticker. At the end of the week, take him to to a place he loves or to go see a special movie. Whatever works. We used a sticker chart for pod changes. My daughter used to scream and cry through them. After 1 month of using the sticker chart, pod changes were a snap and we didn't need the sticker chart anymore
Best of luck. We're all in this together!
Thanks for the encouragement/advice/camaraderie. We have one band from pumpwear but I think he's already getting too big for it. Part of my problem is he always likes it on his tush and that's a really hard area to wrap! I feel as if I should allow him to maintain a modicum of control over the situation!
This most recent pod change (after his second pod scratch off of the day Grrrrr!) I put tegaderm down first, then put the pod on then put 1/2 inch 3M Transpore tape around the edges to hold down the tegaderm. What's funny is that the transpore is the first tap my CDE gave me but I thought it was too adhesive. I must admit, it doesn't seem to irritate as much....so far. I also just got some Skin-Tac to try with my next change (which I hope will happen in 3 more days rather then at 745AM when I am scrambling to get my daughter to the bus by 806! I don't think hibiclens will work for me in that its hard enough to get him to stay still long enough for alcohol to dry (the joys of the 3 year old diabetic child!)
I thought about getting the pumpeelz but we have actually been putting stickers on every pod anyway that I got at Target. If he's going to pull the &&*^(*%*&^% thing off daily, I'd rather it be cheap!
Great idea about the sticker chart. He have promised him Benihana if he keeps his pod on for a week but the chart will perhaps make the concept less abstract to his 3 year old brain!
Thank you again!