# 7 year old son, new to T1D: Omnipod vs T-slim
**URL:** https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412
**Category:** New Child Dx
**Tags:** insulin-pump
**Created:** [March 5, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412 "2020-03-05T20:03:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@liamsmom](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/liamsmom)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/1 "2020-03-05T20:03:58Z")
Hello! My son Liam just got diagnosed a month ago. We are on Dexcom and loving it. His levels are still pretty much all over the place. But we are getting the hang of things. We are starting the process of getting him on a pump for many reasons. He did a trial of Tslim and Omnipod dummy devices and it was pretty clear that he did way better on Omnipod. He is super active etc and he learned how to take the tubing off of Tslim and decided to do that many times. Anyhow, we are 99% sure we want to do Omnipod knowing that 1: it’s tubeless and he did well with that. 2: horizon is on the horizon and will have a basal IQ technology similar to t-slim in another 6-9 months.
What I’m wondering is: in a new onset kid, are we being stupid for prioritizing tubeless over basal IQ? I worry so much as a mom about this long-term health and I know that diabetes management should come before convenience. But I’m not him. I want him to feel good about wearing this everyday. Its his body and he is also an athlete. I guess I’m just looking for your perspective and some reassurance that we’re prioritizing the right things. thanks in advance, Liam’s mom
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### Author:  [@Jason99](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Jason99)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/2 "2020-03-05T20:39:07Z")
How did you get Tandem to let you demo their pump? They’ve never allowed this.
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### Author:  [@Eric](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Eric)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/3 "2020-03-05T20:49:37Z")
> [@liamsmom](#):
>
> I worry so much as a mom about this long-term health and I know that diabetes management should come before convenience.
Hi Liam’s mom. Welcome to FUD.
I don’t think you have to choose between one or the other.
I avoided pumps for 44 years because I did not want to have the tubes and the device attached to me.
But…I actually think it helps to get a handle on it with injections first before you go to a pump. Since you are just starting out, I think it would help you to spend some time learning it with injections and manual adjustment of basal insulin, so that you understand how it really works.
If you get right on a pump that is doing all the basal adjustments behind the scenes, you will never really have a true understanding of it all. You will always need to rely on the pump’s adjustments, and it is always somewhat of a mystery.
With athletics, there is an entirely different set of rules. We have some people on FUD who can help with that.
> [@liamsmom](#):
>
> Its his body and he is also an athlete. I guess I’m just looking for your perspective and some reassurance that we’re prioritizing the right things.
I know you have just joined, and there are 1,000,001 posts to read. There is a ton of stuff to learn, and everyone will be giving advice on a million things.
I would suggesting you start by reading this rather long thread.
> [@For the parents](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/for-the-parents/7784):
>
> The "Parent Project" Hi everyone. I apologize I have not been here in a while. There was something I was working on, kind of a project. It took a lot of time and effort and I had to disconnect for a while to get it done. To myself, I began referring to this as the “Parent Project”. It was something that came up for me, a tremendous and unique opportunity, which was absolutely perfect. I could not have designed a better opportunity. And it fit perfectly for what I wanted to do. This thread is…
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### Author:  [@liamsmom](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/liamsmom)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/4 "2020-03-05T20:54:55Z")
Our diabetes educator organized for us to get a Tandem rep to meet us and give us a pump to try that did not have insulin or anything, it was just attached to him and clipped to his belt. It was really helpful.
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### Author:  [@liamsmom](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/liamsmom)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/5 "2020-03-05T20:59:03Z")
Thank you Eric. I totally hear you on feeling comfortable with injections. We do feel good about doing injections and trouble shooting etc. I talk daily with the nurse and diabetes educators about adjusting his injections. The one thing we don’t really ever touch on our own without advice of an end is the Lantus. I admit that is on thing I don’t fully grasp. I will talk to my nurses to get a better understanding and see how this all can be applied to a pump. I think the reason we are interested in the pump is also because he wants to be able to eat more freely as a kid and not be pulled out of the dug out for shots etc. I guess because we only know the diabetes world with this technology, we are keen on getting him back to a more “normal” kid life asap and are equating that to a pump. HOWEVER, I am totally hearing you on the knowledge being transferrable to the pump and that it’s really up to the user to make the pump work as best as it can for my kid. thank you for this.
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### Author:  [@ClaudnDaye](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/ClaudnDaye)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/6 "2020-03-05T21:34:12Z")
Hello! I am Liam’s dad…lol. my son, Liam, 6 is also diabetic. Diagnosed at 2 and you can read all about is throughout the site.
We went with Omnipod for the same reason and we are happy with the decision. We have been looping for about a year now and love it… Much better control in our son.
Welcome to the site! I’ll be happily to answer any questions you may have as will anyone else here!
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### Author:  [@Chris](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Chris)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/7 "2020-03-05T21:39:16Z")
How old is your son? Also, I agree with Eric. We did MDI for 6 months and then got a tslim pump. Yes, on a pump it is easier to eat flexibly, but the concepts (Basal and Correction) are the same with MDI and pumping, it is just with the pump you can adjust hourly to accommodate changing activity levels. So that makes a pump more difficult to manage because there are more things to adjust.
My recommendation would be to do MDI for two more months and then add a pump once you have the confidence to manage basal and bolus insulin on your own. Because that is what you will be doing (with or without consultation with your medical team) when pumping.
Also, our physician requires my son to have a pump break at least once a year for at least a month to ensure we can manage if the pump fails, and I think this is a great practice.
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### Author:  [@ClaudnDaye](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/ClaudnDaye)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/8 "2020-03-05T23:00:22Z")
We also did MDI for the first five or six months. It is definitely beneficial to know the manual methods.
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### Author:  [@ClaudnDaye](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/ClaudnDaye)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/9 "2020-03-05T23:02:29Z")
> [@Chris](#):
>
> Also, our physician requires my son to have a pump break at least once a year for at least a month to ensure we can manage if the pump fails, and I think this is a great practice.
I find this kind of invasive myself. I would never let our Endo dictate our schedule. I get why and I know that it’s a nice practice… But we can manage these things on our own, when we want too, without it being dictated. If you’re ok with it though all is well!
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### Author:  [@Chris](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Chris)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/10 "2020-03-06T00:08:44Z")
They don’t dictate what month, they just want us to have one a year. If not they ask about it at the next appointment. We always just do it the month my son goes to diabetes camp since it is an easy way to start.
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### Author:  [@Boerenkool](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Boerenkool)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/11 "2020-03-06T18:53:58Z")
> [@liamsmom](#):
>
> What I’m wondering is: in a new onset kid, are we being stupid for prioritizing tubeless over basal IQ? I worry so much as a mom about this long-term health and I know that diabetes management should come before convenience.
No, I don’t think you’re being stupid for doing that at all. Basal-IQ may not make that much of a difference on the long-term. If you achieve good control without it, the potential benefits of Basal-IQ could be quite small. Besides, you state some good reasons for choosing the Omnipod:
> [@liamsmom](#):
>
> he learned how to take the tubing off of Tslim and decided to do that many times.
Obviously, that disrupts insulin delivery and Basal-IQ can’t fix that. So if you can’t keep him from taking off the tubing, picking the Omnipod may actually be better for his glucose control.
> [@liamsmom](#):
>
> I think the reason we are interested in the pump is also because he wants to be able to eat more freely as a kid and not be pulled out of the dug out for shots etc
> [@liamsmom](#):
>
> we are keen on getting him back to a more “normal” kid life asap and are equating that to a pump.
These things are also important. You say diabetes management should come before convenience, but they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive. Finding a balance between convenience and optimal glucose control is part of diabetes management. It is not selfish to value a worry-free childhood.
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### Author:  [@liamsmom](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/liamsmom)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/7-year-old-son-new-to-t1d-omnipod-vs-t-slim/9412/12 "2020-03-07T02:00:50Z")
Thank you everyone for your insights. They’re so helpful. This has been really tough so far but I have already witnessed how awesome the T1D community is. We are very thankful for that.