Parenting the transition to T1D adulthood

Sweet Talk for Parents of Kids with Type One Diabetes

I feel so lucky to have been part of the conversation that makes up this week’s episode. My guest is Stacey Simms, herself a big name in the diabetes world, and the host of the Diabetes Connections podcast. At one of her Mom’s Night Out events, she had told me that she had a question about her T1D son’s transition to college — and here she is to talk about it.

Stacey starts by naming a few different areas where she’s struggling as her son transitions to college and she transitions to his independence. The first is simply about him leaving and the ways that she worries about his diabetes management, especially since they had made an agreement that she would no longer be on Dexcom share once he left for college. She also notices her reactions to his management style when he is back at home and wonders how the conversation about diabetes should look now that he’s a young adult. And as the topper: This super experienced T1D mom questions whether she did a good enough job teaching her son about diabetes.

This is a robust conversation about the ongoing challenges of parenting our T1D kids, even as they become young adults.

Listen to hear more about:

*The ways we sometimes compare our child’s diabetes “performance” to that of other kids

*The challenges we feel about our own adequacy when our kids aren’t doing as well at management

*The balance of our feelings of awe and respect for what our children carry and our critical feelings towards our kids for the things they forget or don’t get right with management.

*What it means to be “impressed” by what our kids are managing and how to communicate that authentically while still giving them space to fail with diabetes.

*How to talk to our young adult kids about their management

*Remembering that our kids might still need and want our help with diabetes — and how to ask them about that

*The ways that it feels like the worry about T1D never stops

Mentioned in this episode:

Need help getting your kid the right snacks?

That's why I've created the Sweet Talk Snack Course. It's a free mini-course to give you 6 snack sized lessons on making sure you're giving your kid the right foods to keep them nourished and their blood sugar in check. Get it at https://diabetessweettalk.com