Where do you put the pump?

I was just wondering where your kids wear their pumps.

Riley wears his in little pockets sewn into the inside of the waistband of his pants. No one even knows it’s there until we pull it out to bolus. I like it that way. It keeps people from staring and asking nosy questions.

But, Riley will be starting kindergarten soon. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want his teacher reaching into his pants. So, we’ll have to start putting his pump somewhere else. He has a clip that came with the pump. I’ve checked out the kid’s pump pouches too. I’ve also looked at some cell phone cases.

I was just wondering what works for you guys.

And, while I’ve got you. Where do you put your child’s sites? Riley is thin (39 pounds) so we only use his backside. Do any of you with smaller kids use the abdomen and does it work OK for you? Riley’s backside is starting to look a little ragged.

Maddison used her tummy at first, quicksets, Minimed, but we had bent cannulas and absorption problems. She is almost 7 and only 38lbs. I felt I had to force the upper bottom becuase of this. Oh! What a fight! She wants to go back to tummy but, we will need a different set. She uses a pump pack some days…but likes to use her pockets most.

Charlie usually just clips the pump on his shorts or pants. He doesn’t like the way it feels in his pocket. We sometimes use a pump case for when he’s playing soccer or extra active. Site is inserted in his butt, which is also not looking so good.

We also started at the tummy, but that was also before I discovered UNI-SOLVE and my daughter liked to rip the old sites right off, so we ended up with a stomach that looked like someone did a really bad waxing job, all bruised up. She was totally set against using her bottom, and it took some bribing, but we finally switched and have been using it for a couple of months now. I much prefer it.
As for where we keep it, it really depends on the day. We have a pump pouch with an elastic band and use it sometimes. Use pockets too, but lately she just likes to clip the pump right on her pants. She has a pink cheetah skip (Minimed 522) and likes to show it off.
I actually welcome people’s questions about the pump. I feel like I am getting an opportunity to do a quick education lesson :wink:

Thank you guys for your responses. I put Riley’s pump in the clip that came with yesterday and attached it to his waistband. He thought it was really cool until he went to play and then he said it just got in the way, so he ended up with it back in the pockets sewn into his pants.

Next, I’m going to buy a cell phone case and see how that works for him.

We use a pump pouch. I sewed a number of them (need a new batch) and that’s pretty much all she uses. She just tried the clip again because everyone at camp was using them, but her shorts and pants are generally elastic waisted and the pump pulls them down too much. She doesn’t like the pockets on jean or other pants either. I think she’s gotten used to having the tubing tucked away in the pouch and under her clothes. I’ve heard of people dropping their pumps in the toilet too, so we like the pouch. It’s funny, because her pouch often shows but she doesn’t get a lot of comments on it.

My daughter just turned 10, was dxd at 6, has been pumping for almost 3 years. She too is very skinny and very active. We rotate between the upper buttocks/lower hip area and her tummy. She looks like a pin cushion. I dont’ think her thighs or her arms have enough fat on them to use. I’d be worried about absorption rates, she plays soccer and softball.

We use mostly buttocks, but I make her use tummy every 3rd or 4th. We use the Rapid-D with the needle that stays in, so we have no problems with absorption, but it seems like the tummy sites get banged up on her more than buttocks. She scrunches and even with the Mastisol we lose way more tummy sites than buttocks.

She has worn a pump pack from the beginning. We used the clip for the saline trial and she hated it. She wears mostly elastic waistbands or dresses/skirts, so it was a royal pain for her to keep it secure. She almost didn’t want the pump until I promised we’d get a pack before her pump showed up.

My daughter is VERY thin and has no fat on her belly, so we use her bottom. I know we could use her thighs (that’s where we use to give her shots). We basically switch sides each site change and try to spread it out as much as possible.
She uses the clip for her pump and puts it on the inside of her pants, it stays protected and out of the way, but easy to access. We also got her a leg pouch (which seemed very expensive) and that’s nice for when she wears dresses or pants without much strength to them.

Charlotte is 4 years old (she’ll be 5 in Aug) and has been on the pump for 1.5 yrs. We’ve been using pump pouches attached to a soft waist band since the beginning…I’ve recently learned to sew them myself and so she is now accumulating a wardobe full of them. No one ever really comments or stares and if they do they just get themselves an earful of diabetes education, lol. I guess the most typical thing is for people to think she’s got some sort of cell phone or pager strapped to her. Anyway, it’s worked out well for us so far…she’s been in daycare and now in Pre-K and is active…she’s never had a site pulled out yet. We do her sites in both the abdomen and tush. We originally were just doing them in her tush, but I started noticing that she was getting sort of “lumpy” so we’ve started rotating to the abd and it hasn’t been a problem since. Admittedly, the abd sites are more intimidating b/c she doesn’t have as much “meat” there, but once it’s in they work just fine.

Riley is almost finished with his first year of school. We just kept the pockets in his jeans just like before and everything has worked out fine. Thanks for all of your suggestions.