Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
In this episode of Child Life On Call, we sit down with Marlee Brandon, a pediatric speech-language pathologist turned full-time type 1 diabetes mom advocate. Her son Bain was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just 12 months old, changing their lives overnight. Marlee shares her journey from those terrifying first moments to becoming a beacon of hope and education for other families navigating type 1 diabetes in babies and toddlers.
From Pediatric Therapist to Type 1 Diabetes Mom: Meeting Marlee
Before becoming a full-time advocate and caregiver, Marlee worked as a pediatric speech-language pathologist, specializing in children from birth to five years old. “I love those little babies,” she shares, “getting them before they start in school.” Her background in pediatric healthcare would prove both helpful and heartbreaking when her own child faced a medical crisis.
Marlee’s journey into motherhood started beautifully. She had what she describes as “the best pregnancy and delivery, no issues.” After a wonderful maternity leave, she returned to work four days a week at a family-friendly pediatric clinic, continuing to breastfeed and pump for her son Bain. Everything seemed perfect—until five days after Bain’s first birthday.
The Day Everything Changed: Recognizing Type 1 Diabetes in Babies
It started subtly. While Marlee was at work, her husband and mother-in-law, who were caring for Bain at home, noticed something was off. He seemed fussy and unwell, and they suspected an ear infection. When Marlee came home early to check on him, he perked up momentarily—that deceptive burst of energy sick toddlers sometimes show when a parent arrives.
“Throughout the day, he kind of was fussy, but he would get little bursts of energy,” Marlee recalls. By 5:30 that Thursday evening, concerned about the approaching weekend, they decided to take him to urgent care.
The Urgent Care Visit That Changed Everything
At urgent care, Bain was diagnosed with a double ear infection and given an antibiotic shot since pharmacies were already closed. Then something alarming happened: he vomited all over Marlee. He would try to nurse but immediately vomit. The pattern continued and intensified.
“He went from a sickly ear infected fussy child to like, he was like, it was bad,” Marlee remembers. The symptoms escalated rapidly:
- He couldn’t hold his head up
- He couldn’t open his eyes
- He couldn’t stop vomiting
- Despite being desperately thirsty, he would vomit immediately after drinking
They rushed to the emergency room at their small-town hospital. The doctor walked in with shocking news: “He has diabetes.”
Breaking Misconceptions About Type 1 Diabetes in Babies
Like many people, Marlee’s first thought was shaped by common misconceptions about diabetes. “How does my baby have diabetes? He’s not overweight. He literally drinks breast milk,” she thought. This is a critical misunderstanding that many type 1 diabetes moms face: the belief that diabetes is caused by diet or lifestyle factors.
The truth about type 1 diabetes in babies and toddlers: It’s an autoimmune condition that has nothing to do with nutrition, weight, or lifestyle. The immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. It can strike at any age, including infancy.
“Type one has nothing to do with any of that,” Marlee emphasizes. “So that kind of changed everything.”
Life Flight and the PICU: When Type 1 Diabetes Becomes Critical
Bain’s condition was severe. He was in severe diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), borderline diabetic coma. DKA occurs when the blood becomes dangerously acidic due to the absence of insulin. He was life-flighted from their small-town hospital to a major children’s hospital, where he spent three days in the PICU.
“He was lifeless,” Marlee recalls through tears. “I didn’t know at the time, but they told my husband that he probably had six hours to live if we wouldn’t have gotten into the hospital.”
The PICU Experience for a Type 1 Diabetes Toddler
The medical team worked around the clock to stabilize Bain:
- Blood sugar checks every hour through finger and toe pokes
- Blood draws every four hours to monitor his metabolic panels
- No food for 48 hours while they stabilized his blood sugar
- Constant insulin adjustments
“He couldn’t eat for two days, like 48 hours and he’s a baby, he can’t talk. It was horrible. It really was,” Marlee shares.
By the third day, they could see him turning a corner. “You could just see the energy in his face. He could finally eat again and nurse. He went from lifeless to getting up in his crib and gliding around.”
Learning to Manage Type 1 Diabetes in a Baby: The Steep Learning Curve
Even with her healthcare background, Marlee felt overwhelmed by the diabetes education. “I would feel like it would just go right over my head,” she admits. “I was like, I need to go to nursing school. I don’t understand this.”
The Unique Challenges of Type 1 Diabetes in Babies
Managing diabetes in a 12-month-old presents challenges that many medical professionals haven’t encountered:
- Breastfeeding complications: How do you calculate carbs for breast milk?
- Communication barriers: A baby can’t tell you when they feel low or high
- Limited medical experience: Even at a major children’s hospital, staff told them repeatedly, “We’ve never seen this in a baby”
- Dosing challenges: Getting the right insulin-to-carb ratios for a tiny body
Adding to the stress, the hospital sent them home with the wrong syringes. “The nurses taught us how to draw insulin with the wrong syringes,” Marlee shares. At their two-week follow-up, their endocrinologist discovered they had been accidentally giving Bain more insulin than prescribed. “If you leave the hospital and mistakes happen there, it scares me,” Marlee says.
Taking Time to Process
For the first month after coming home, Marlee couldn’t bring herself to give Bain his injections or change his medical devices. Bain was receiving approximately 12 shots per day, and the thought of causing him pain was unbearable.
“How can I hurt him? How can I do this to him? Because he was getting probably 12 shots a day,” she explains. “He’s my baby. I just couldn’t fathom doing that.”
The turning point came during a solo trip to town. Bain’s blood sugar started climbing, and Marlee knew she had to act. With her husband coaching her over the phone, she gave Bain his insulin shot for the first time. “That’s what I needed, I guess,” she reflects.
The Power of Narration: Using Speech Therapy Techniques with Type 1 Diabetes
One thing that sets Marlee apart as a type 1 diabetes mom is how she communicates with Bain during medical procedures. Drawing on her speech therapy background, she constantly narrates what she’s doing and why.
“I’ve learned from being a speech therapist, it’s so important to just talk to your kids and tell them why you’re doing things,” Marlee explains. “That’s how they learn language.”
This approach serves multiple purposes:
- Language development: Constant narration helps with vocabulary and understanding
- Building trust: Bain knows what to expect and why
- Promoting cooperation: Rather than chasing him around, he participates
- Future independence: He’s learning what he’ll need to do for himself one day
“I’m not wanting to chase him around the house and just shoot him up with a shot. I want him to know like this is important. You have to have this so that you can stay healthy and safe,” Marlee says. “My goal is to raise him to be aware that this is important because when he’s 14 and he’s rebelling because he wants to be like his friends down the street, he needs to know like insulin keeps you safe.”
Giving Choices: Empowering a Type 1 Diabetes Toddler
Another strategy Marlee employs is offering Bain choices wherever possible. While he doesn’t have a choice about whether he receives insulin or gets his blood sugar checked, he can control other aspects of his care:
- Picking out decorative stickers for his medical devices
- Choosing where to receive his injection
- Poking his own finger or toe during blood sugar checks
“That gives him the ability to feel independent,” Marlee explains. Even at two years old, Bain is learning that while diabetes is part of his life, he has agency in how he manages it.
The Reality of Being a Type 1 Diabetes Mom: Why Marlee Left Her Career
After Bain’s diagnosis, Marlee never returned to her speech therapy job. The reality of managing type 1 diabetes in a baby made it impossible.
“It literally changed our life,” she says simply.
The Trust Factor
When asked about self-care and getting breaks, Marlee is refreshingly honest: “I think the fact is, it’s just not important. If you want me to be honest.”
The challenges of trusting others with a type 1 diabetes toddler include:
- Communication barriers: Bain is too young to verbalize when he feels his blood sugar dropping
- Lack of qualified care: Most daycares don’t have nurses on staff
- Complex medical needs: Managing a toddler’s diabetes requires constant attention and expert knowledge
- High stakes: The consequences of errors can be life-threatening
“He’s not got a condition where he’s medically fragile. He can’t go to a medically fragile daycare and have nurses. He would go to a normal daycare where there’s not a nurse and I don’t feel like I have to trust people to take as good of care of him as I will,” Marlee explains.
Given that even the hospital staff made dosing errors and admitted they’d never seen type 1 diabetes in a baby before, Marlee’s caution is understandable. “If you leave the hospital and mistakes happen there, it scares me to send him to a school or a daycare as a one year old and trust that that can be done correctly.”
Life with a Type 1 Diabetes Toddler: Finding Joy in the Everyday
Despite the challenges, Marlee radiates love when talking about Bain. Now two years old, he’s a joyful, energetic little boy who happens to have diabetes.
What Makes Bain Special
“He’s just joyful. Everything is exciting to him,” Marlee shares. “People ask me, what can I buy him? I’m like, you can literally give him a rock and he would be excited.”
Bain loves:
- Being outside playing with rocks, dirt, or grass
- Running around and being playful (currently in a hitting phase)
- Arts and crafts projects with his mom
- Talking and having conversations
“I love talking to him and just having conversations with him and seeing the world through his eyes,” Marlee says.
Becoming an Advocate: Marlee’s Mission to Educate About Type 1 Diabetes in Babies
What started as Marlee’s personal journey has evolved into a platform for education and advocacy. Through TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, she shares the realities of life with a type 1 diabetes toddler.
“I never thought we would be on TikTok or Instagram or Facebook. That was never like a path that I chose. It kind of just happened,” Marlee explains. “But it’s connected me with people that get us through the day.”
The Power of Community for Type 1 Diabetes Moms
When Bain was first diagnosed, Marlee turned to online communities for support and information. While in the PICU, she spent sleepless nights scrolling through Facebook groups, searching for answers and reassurance.
“I would go in there and I would just ask a million questions. I would go in the search bar and search up words. I just read,” she recalls. “I didn’t sleep the whole time in the hospital, basically, because I didn’t leave Bain’s side.”
Now, Marlee is paying that support forward. Just recently, when Bain’s insulin pump tubing showed blood, she texted a friend she’d met through advocacy: “Has this ever happened to y’all?” That immediate connection and problem-solving is invaluable.
“It’s just nice to have people that you can just run and talk to even if they’re across the country,” she says.
Essential Resources for Families Facing Type 1 Diabetes in Babies
When asked what resources helped her most, Marlee recommends:
1. Facebook Groups
Diapers and Diabetes was Marlee’s lifeline in the early days. This group is specifically for parents of very young children with type 1 diabetes. “Finding support is the main thing, whether it be people online,” Marlee emphasizes. “I feel like moms, if you have a four-year-old that is just getting diagnosed, it’s good to find parents of kids around that age because every age comes with its own obstacles.”
2. The Juicebox Podcast
The Juicebox Podcast by Scott Benner became another crucial resource. “Once you get settled and you feel comfortable and you’re not scared of everything that has just happened, start listening to it. It’ll change your perspective about diabetes and how to manage,” Marlee says.
What makes this podcast special? “He’ll tell you things that the doctors and the nurses just don’t tell you. He knows the real life things that you just truly need to know.”
3. Social Media Communities
“Social media has helped so much,” Marlee shares. She found only two people with type 1 diabetes content when she first started looking on TikTok. Now, she’s become one of those voices others turn to.
Tip for finding support: Use specific hashtags in search bars to find relevant communities and content about type 1 diabetes in babies and toddlers.
4. Books and YouTube Videos
Marlee consumed any educational content she could find—books, YouTube videos, articles—to understand what Bain was facing and how to best support him.
Marlee’s Message: Diabetes Doesn’t Have to Define Your Child
Through all the challenges, hospitalizations, and life adjustments, Marlee maintains a powerful perspective:
“I’m trying to show people that diabetes doesn’t have to be your life and doesn’t have to be the reason that you have a bad life or you can be anything and do anything you want and just have diabetes. Like it’s okay.”
She continues: “Bain is a healthy two year old that’s wild, that falls all the time, that eats everything, but he has diabetes and he’s okay and he’s going to be okay. And a year ago, I could have never imagined this.”
On Bain’s Strength
“He blows me away every day. He really does. He’s the strongest boy I’ve ever met. Which I know there’s lots of strong boys and girls, but in my eyes and what I see, he’s unbelievably strong. He’s stronger than I could ever be,” Marlee says with evident pride.
Advice for Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Families
Based on her journey, here’s Marlee’s advice for other families facing a type 1 diabetes diagnosis in babies or toddlers:
- Find your community: Connect with other parents whose children are a similar age and stage
- Give yourself grace: It’s okay if you can’t do everything immediately—Marlee couldn’t give injections for a month
- Educate yourself: Listen to podcasts, join Facebook groups, read everything you can
- Talk to your child: Even babies benefit from narration and explanation
- Offer choices where possible: Help your child feel agency in their care
- Trust your instincts: You know your child best
- Remember it’s not your fault: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition—nothing you did caused it
The Future for Type 1 Diabetes Toddlers
While the early days after diagnosis can feel overwhelming, Marlee’s story shows that families can adapt, thrive, and even help others along the way. Bain is living proof that children with type 1 diabetes can be joyful, active, and healthy.
“Everything is exciting to him,” Marlee says of Bain. That joy, that resilience, that strength—it’s there in both mother and son.
Connect with Marlee
You can follow Marlee’s journey and learn more about life with a type 1 diabetes toddler on social media. She shares educational content, daily life moments, and honest conversations about the realities of managing type 1 diabetes in babies and young children.
Her advocacy work includes raising awareness through special t-shirt campaigns and creating content that educates the public about what type 1 diabetes really is—and isn’t.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Diapers and Diabetes Facebook Group – Support group for parents of very young children with type 1 diabetes
- The Juicebox Podcast – Real-life diabetes management advice and education
- Facebook Type 1 Diabetes Support Groups – Search for groups specific to your child’s age range
- TikTok and Instagram – Use hashtags like #Type1Diabetes #T1DBaby #DiabetesMom to find supportive communities
If you or someone you know is dealing with a recent type 1 diabetes diagnosis in a baby or toddler, know that you’re not alone. The journey is challenging, but as Marlee shows us, it’s also filled with hope, strength, and an incredible community ready to support you.
Want to hear the full conversation? Listen to this episode of Child Life On Call wherever you get your podcasts.
