Children will most commonly take insulin either four times (or more) a day or twice a day:
Four times a day (or ‘basal bolus’):
Your child takes a rapid- or short-acting insulin before meals and a long-acting insulin once (or sometimes twice) a day.
Advantages
- More flexibility with meal times
- More flexibility with amount eaten
- Mimics the action of a healthy pancreas more closely
- Fewer hypos
- Easier to achieve better overall diabetes management.
Disadvantages
- More injections
- Will need to learn to carbohydrate count for best results.
Twice a day
Your child takes a mixed insulin usually before breakfast and before dinner.
Advantages
Disadvantages
- Need to eat at similar times each day
- Need to eat similar amount of carbohydrate at each meal.