My daughter is 2 1/2 and was diagnosed 2 months ago. We also do a night-time Lantus and 3 injections of Novolog during the day. It's overwhelming at first but it does calm down. Two things that have made a world of difference to me:
1. A kitchen scale. I also have a portable one. It's shocking how far off the listed weight and the actual weight are on foods. For instance, we were on vacation and stopped at McDonald's (woohoo to Playlands!) to eat. Their guide and my CalorieKing book (which is excellent, by the way) said that small fries were 3.5 ounces (or something similar). I weighed them and they were 1.9 ounces. Had I dosed her for the 3.5, I would have given her too much insulin and dropped her bg too low a few hours later. I use the home scale to weigh her before and after portions - it tells me exactly what she ate. Her numbers have been much more stable and in a good range since we began weighing.
2. Think Like a Pancreas. I can't think of the author's name but you can do a search by title. It answered just about every question I have and it explains the reason behind things, which is what I needed. I now have a firm target goal, understand how to calculate precise doses, etc. Very easy to read, too. I finally feel like I am controlling the diabetes instead of it controlling us.
We don't use a pump. We talked about it with our diabetes team and decided to hold off for awhile. I'm guessing maybe school-age. My daughter doesn't mind the insulin injections, so it isn't as much of an issue - where the site changes would be. We rotate bg test sites as we rotate her injection sites. If we are on arms, we test on her forearms...if we are on legs, we test on her fingers. She doesn't like injections in her bottom and we haven't tried belly. For her age and size, it's not our first choice. We'll wait until she is ready to try it - the doctor told us that by gradeschool, bellies are usually the least painful spot.
We do 4 injections a day and anywhere from 4-8 tests. We have better control with more tests, so it's worth it. She helps with everything, which makesit easier. All we actually do is the actually "pokie" and she does the stick and the bandaid and announces her number (which is teaching her numbers, by the way!) The tests used to bother her more but barely faze her now...it does improve with time. We have a depth adjuster on the needle and we use the lowest setting that will break the skin. Her fingers are so small that even one notch can be the difference between 'not painful' and 'really painful' - maybe there is a different one you can use? Or, check the gauge of the needle - the higher the number, the less pain.
Good luck!
Stacy
