Diabetes in 12 month old?

[FireplaceJane]

Good Evening

I have some concerns for my child, she has a kidney issue for background info, one smaller than the other and draining slowly, under a paediatrician for this. She was hospitalised with Bronchiolitis just before Christmas and hasn’t quite recovered so I’m aware this could be a viral/post viral infection or just bad timing with different symptoms coming together.

We’ve had 2 weeks of quite a nasty cold, nose streaming, coughing, lots of mucous. Since just over 24 hours ago, she has been completely refusing all solid feeds (despite offering well liked foods/snacks) having half milk feeds (approx 2-3oz every 5 hours) and drinking almost cup after cup of water from late this afternoon. She has been crawling over to family to reach for their cups/glasses and the thirst seems unquenchable.

Bath-time ok, baby seems tired and clingy but somewhat happy.

Has anyone any suggestion as to what this could be? I will gladly contact GP on Monday morning for a check over, or 111 if things are the same tomorrow.

Thank you

I’d contact 111. It could be something as simple as tonsillitis but as she’s got a pre existing issue I’d check

It's unlikely at that age, but it isn't worth taking any chance at all. I'd call 111 tonight, they can organise an OOH GP appt, and if they can't do a finger brick blood sugar to check, they can refer up to paeds who can.

Thank you both - guess it wouldn’t hurt.

a question for any one with diabetic children? What were the first symptoms and how quickly did they become apparent?

thank you

The only signs that dc had type 1 was drinking more and bed wetting (dc was 11 so very unusual). He wasn't ill and was very confused when he was admitted to hospital.

My son drank loads when he was around that age and had an ear infection.

But I wouldn't risk it, get his blood sugar checked this weekend.

My DD is type 1. She was slightly older but had extreme thirst and needing to pee excessively. From the time I took her to the GP, who diagnosed her with a simple finger prick to her having her first dose of insulin in the paediatric ward was less than 1 hour. They were waiting for us in the ward as the GP had phoned ahead.
Please get her checked out, it is very easy to diagnose.
I would also disagree that it was unlikely due to her age, Type 1 can happen at any time.
Fingers crossed it’s not though

Hi, thirsty is one sign. The other three are toilet, tired and thin.
Is she having lots and lots of heavy wet nappies? Has he visibly lost weight? The other sign is ketones on the breath - they smell like acetone/nail varnish remover.

It took weeks for these signs to fully develop/get worse for my dc, they don't just suddenly appear. However you can still have t1d without all the signs showing, as it can be caught early before all the symptoms become apparent. And yes babies can have it.

Try not to worry, it's likely something else making her throat sore perhaps, but do insist on a blood glucose test at the GP - its a simple finger prick. Don't let them fob you off. If you can get an earlier out of hours appointment then even better.

Also, well done on even knowing its a possibility- theres so little awareness that often children are v v ill before diagnosed.

I would get her checked. It is absolutely not out of the question at 12 months I am sorry to say. Good luck.

I don’t want to scare you OP but undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes can turn nasty very quickly. If that’s what the issue is you really don’t have time to wait until Monday.
I hope that isn’t the problem but honestly you need to get on to 111 right away.
Do you have any friends or family who are diabetic who can do a finger prick test for you?

My concern is that at that age, in the unlikely event that it is diabetes, she could get very sick very fast. I really would get checked out tonight.

Yes, Type 1 can be diagnosed at any age but usually in children . Scary how people still confuse Type 2 with Type 1 .

Very similar to us, the nurse did the finger prick test, went straight to the gp (actually ran down the corridor!) They phoned ahead to the hospital and within the hour of the first finger prick he was in a hospital bed.
OP, I really hope that there is nothing seriously wrong but definitely get checked ASAP.

Yes please get checked tonight, it’s not something that can wait.