We have quite a few friends start their kiddos on pumps and sensors in the last few weeks, which has led to a lot of questions about how to handle site changes, and how to decorate pods. So I figured I would write up a post about how we have handled all the robot parts over the last 4 years with our daughter.

This was a few weeks after her diagnosis.

We didn’t start our daughter on a sensor until maybe 6-8 months after her diagnosis. She was insanely tiny, and it was still possible to poke her with a syringe before she even realized it was coming. We could easily distract her with the toy she was playing with a few seconds ago and she’d already forgotten about the shot. She never minded the finger pokes and would actually hand us her finger when she saw the meter come out. And I honestly didn’t want to see a visual representation of Diabetes every time I looked at my baby girl. I remember having a lot of conversations with a good friend of mine with a son who was diagnosed a few months before us at 8 months old. His starting a sensor was the reason I was ok with putting one on our daughter. My friend shared how much of a difference it had made for their management, and even though I had been wearing one myself for a while, it wasn’t until I saw it on another little that I had that confidence.

We started her on a pump somewhere around her 2nd birthday. We made the switch mainly because we had gotten to the point of my having to literally sit on my daughter to force a needle into her, and I could never tell if she had gotten the full amount or if she had wriggled away before I pressed the plunger in. One day, my mom found her hiding behind a couch eating the corn on the cob she had just told us she didn’t want. She just didn’t want a shot. And I was not ok with her already having an unhealthy relationship with food.

So I fought with Kaiser (they didn’t cover pods at the time) and she was the first kid at our local Kaiser to officially be on Omnipod. I learned how to advocate for us from my mama. After this many years, multiple site changes have become pretty routine. I am extremely thankful that she has never once argued about not wanting a site change or wanting a break from her devices. She understood very very early on, that her pod is something she likes because it means she doesn’t need shots. She hates shots more than she hates the pod insertion. And her sensor means she doesn’t need finger pokes and lets us know how to take care of her. I’d like to think her dad and I wearing both of those devices has helped her never question the need for them. So here are a few things that work for us around the multiple site changes that happen every 3 and 10 days (when things go according to schedule).

We have always used short tv shows (the Disney shorts on Disney + have been perfect lately) as part of our site change bribery. When we first started, we used episodes of Doc McStuffins or Daniel Tiger (I really wish she still liked those). For double site changes we still let her pick out longer shows. Screen time is somewhat of a novelty, and isn’t usually something they get for no reason.
Decorating her pods was something I began early on. In the beginning it was just the Pinkery Pod covers, or the Pump Peelz stickers. Then I slowly added temporary tattoos into the mix, before finally delving into the word of nail polish and markers. Then right before a site change, she could pick out a new transmitter sticker if she wanted, or decide which of the decorated pods she wanted to wear. At first, my husband was really skeptical about decorating her pods. But when he saw how excited she would get for site changes because of how pretty they were and because she got to watch something, he quickly changed his mind.
We started using a Brave Box (not my term, 100% sure it’s something I have read in multiple places on instagram) early last year after her abscess’s started developing and we needed her to start using new sites she wasn’t as comfortable with. It was kind of like starting all over again, because she was very resistant to change. At first we promised her a trip to get whatever she wanted from Target. But then a good friend gave us all the figurines and barbies her daughters had outgrown, so we made a basket full of these to let her pick right before her site changes (this is how I got her to be ok with her stomach and back). Getting the reward right away helped a lot more than the promise of something in the future. We still pull it out every now and then when I really need her to rotate to one of her less favored sites.
We tried lidocaine once, but it didn’t make any difference to her and it was just one extra step. So we stopped. But it could work out for your kiddo.
Taking the devices off can actually be more of a process than putting it on. We have used a few different adhesive removers, but our favorite method has actually been a combination of fractionated coconut oil and lemon essential oil. I have made my own DIY wipe versions of these too for a quicker and not so messy site change process.

I am not above bribery. It could be stickers or balloons or lollipops (these ones don’t spike Aiyla and need no bolus) or whatever else floats your kids boat. On blood draw days, we always get ice cream. Yours could want a donut. The point is to make something pretty crappy, a source of a tiny bit of joy for them. Even if it is short lived. They have their entire lives to live with this disease, and HAVE to do site changes as adults. I don’t want to make my kid grow up any sooner than I have to, and if this means that even as an adult she has a habit of watching some TV while she does her site change, so be it.

I know this wasn’t much, but I hope this helps some of you starting out on your journey’s with Diabetes technology. As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Robot parts with Little's