What Is the Right Age for the Pump?
People of all ages use the pump. One of the youngest ever to receive a pump was a baby boy only 12 days old. The right age to start using the pump is a decision that should be made between you and your diabetes team. However, it's not necessarily age that will be the real issue because there are plenty of young pumpers to prove it works. Also, note that for young kids, it's the parents who manage the diabetes, regardless of whether the child is on injection therapy or pump therapy.

What is more important is your readiness. If you're a parent, are you ready to learn alongside your child? If you're a teenager, are you ready to take responsibility for things like testing your blood sugars at least four times each day? You have a lot to gain by going on the pump: the chance for better health, more control over your blood sugars and a more flexible lifestyle. Pumpers around the world will tell you it changed their lives. Age is just one of many things you need to consider with the help of a diabetes team that is especially familiar with kids on pumps.

Check out our Kids' Voices section to read the stories of kids who have started using the pump. There also is the Parents' Voices section where you can read the stories of other parents with kids on pumps.