The infant and toddler with diabetes: Challenges of diagnosis and management

Infants and toddlers comprise a small minority of individuals with type 1 diabetes. However, epidemiological data provide evidence of a trend towards diagnosis at a younger age. These very young children pose significant challenges to both the health care professionals involved in their care as well as to their families. At diagnosis, younger children often do not present with classical symptoms of diabetes. Unless health professionals remain alert to the possibility of diabetes being the underlying cause of a child's illness, the diagnosis may be missed. Once the diabetes has been diagnosed, the major challenge is to set up a treatment regimen that is both reasonable and realistic; in the youngest children, the goal of very tight metabolic control may expose them to episodes of severe hypoglycemia which may lead to subtle cognitive impairments later in life. The therapeutic regimen must balance the naturally erratic eating and exercise patterns of very young children with the need to maintain adequate metabolic control. Setting a blood glucose target range of 6 to 12 mmol/L usually allows this to be accomplished. Diabetes during early childhood creates a psychosocial challenge to the families of these children. Successful management of infants and toddlers with diabetes depends on a well functioning and educated family, the availability of diabetes health care team experienced in the treatment of these youngsters, and the involvement of the extended family, child care personnel and others who play a role in their daily care.