How To Detect Diabetes In Babies?

Monday, November 14, 2011, 11:43

Diabetes in a baby may be one of the most dangerous health conditions because it is really difficult to detect and if it is not checked in time it can cause severe damage to the infant in a matter of a few years. The damage would include bad eyesight, kidney problems etc. Signs of high blood sugar while obvious in adults is not so transparent in babies. The primary symptoms of diabetes like fatigue, frequent urination, unquenchable thirst are difficult to understand for parents as the baby cannot express it in so many words.

If you want to make sure that your baby doesn't have diabetes, then you need to watch out for some signs of high blood sugar that are marked in infants.

Sings Of Diabetes In Infants:

1. Thirst: The baby cannot tell you that he or she is feeling thirsty so you have to be doubly alert. Note the number of bottles of water or fluids your baby finishes in a day and compare notes with other parents. Ask your pediatrician how much water intake is normal for a particular age group of babies to be sure. Slight variations are not alarming but if the difference is huge then you need further investigation.
2. Frequent Urination: It is difficult to say how much urination is frequent in infants; firstly because they are not yet toilet trained and then they urinate all the time anyway. However, you can check by keeping a note of the number of diapers you change per day.
3. Rapid Weight Loss: Again a very tricky symptom of diabetes in babies to be conclusive. Most babies lose weight when they learn to walk or are weaned away from breast milk. But if the child is not active and losing weight inspite of eating well then it could indicate diabetic tendencies.
4. Fatigue and Weakness:Usually a baby naps every few hours but if the nap is becoming slumber then you need to get it checked. If your baby refuses to play, sleeps for more hours than is normal and shows a general lack of immunity and then you need to visit the pediatrician immediately.
5. Unhealed Wounds: If you notice that even minor scratches, cuts, infections take an unusually long time to heal then your child may be diabetic.

How To Deal With Diabetes In Infants?

Diabetes in babies is most often type one diabetes. This means that their immune system has destroyed the insulin producing cells in their pancreas. That is the only plausible reason for showing signs of blood sugar so early in life.
The only diabetic care for this condition is to take regular insulin supplements (mostly injection) and control the sugar intake.
You also need to make arrangements for regular checks of blood sugar, almost on a monthly basis to monitor the blood sugar levels.

Use these parenting tips to detect diabetes in your baby in time so that you can save his or her future from damage.