Did The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix get T1D Right?

The Baby-Sitters Club is on Netflix, and, just like the beloved books many of us read as kids, Stacey has a secret. The character Stacey McGill has type 1 diabetes. Diabetes often comes up on television in the form of cheap jokes about unhealthy food. Sometimes there’s a supporting character who has T1D (usually misrepresenting how T1D actually works). But it’s extremely rare for a main character to have the condition. Everyone in the T1D community was excited for the release of the new The Baby-Sitters Club, wondering how they’d depict Stacey’s character. What would they include? Would a TV show finally get T1D right?

(There are some spoilers about The Baby-Sitters Club in this article. In case you haven’t seen it yet.)

I never read the books when I was a kid. Maybe one or two that I borrowed from a friend’s collection. But it was never something I really got into.

I didn’t even know there was a character with T1D. Heck, I didn’t know even what T1D was until my own son was diagnosed. Since then, I’ve really noticed, there is a lot of misinformation floating around about type 1 diabetes.

So, I was interested to see if the Netflix show would get T1D right.

After reading this article that interviewed author Ann M. Martin, I was concerned that even the author didn’t have a firm grasp of what T1D was.  She said, “when I began working on the series, I had two friends with diabetes, one who was not insulin-dependent and whose diabetes was well under control, and the other who, like Stacey, was insulin-dependent and had some difficulty controlling her condition.” She also learned the term “brittle diabetes” which influenced how she wrote Stacey’s character.

Yikes! That didn’t instill confidence.

Yet, I’ve heard stories of people diagnosing their children because they learned about diabetes from the books. They remembered the signs and symptoms and recognized them years, or even decades later.

Would the T1D information in the Netflix version of The Baby-Sitters Club be just as helpful?

The Babysitter’s Club Teaser Trailer

It was difficult to spot, but even the trailer had a scene that showed Stacey’s insulin pump clipped onto her outfit. That seemed like a good sign. They weren’t hiding her T1D, it was out in the open and would likely be discussed in the show.

People in the T1D community were excited to see Stacey and her insulin pump. Everyone wanted to see how their cherished pre-teen book collection would be portrayed on Netflix.

The hype was everywhere. Everyone was feeling nostalgic about the upcoming release.

Then it happened

About a day after the show was released on Netflix, several moms in T1D Facebook groups made posts warning others…

“Don’t let your T1D child watch The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix!”

Now, if you know me at all, you know I don’t really censor TV for my kids. Growing up, we watched shows and movies that were “too mature” for us and our parents used them to start conversations.

I do the same with my kids.

In fact, I’m quite drawn to shows that have an age-appropriate rating, but many parents ban from their house for one reason or another.

As I read through comments on these posts, many people seemed to have a problem with Stacey having a seizure in one of the episodes. The other recurring complaint was that she seems embarrassed about her T1D and referred to herself as “sick”.

I even saw a few people say that the show wasn’t allowed in their house for reasons outside of the portrayal of the T1D character.

Well, that sealed it. I made time to binge-watch the entire season with my kids the next day.

It started off pretty slow

I didn’t tell my kids that there was a T1D character in The Baby-Sitters Club. I just told them there was a new show they might be into.

The first 2 episodes didn’t mention T1D at all. But, for someone who deals with T1D every day, there were little clues every once in a while.

For instance, when offered candy, Stacey turns it down. It wasn’t because she can’t eat candy. We all know people with T1D can eat anything anyone else eats. She turned it down because she was hiding her disease from her new friends.

One thing I thought was kind of cool, the other girls did notice something was up with Stacey. Kristy noticed that Stacey always turned down junk food, so when she got pizza for everyone to celebrate, she also got a salad in case Stacey didn’t want the pizza. I’m sure some people may see that as a negative thing, but to me, they were trying to include her even though they weren’t sure what was going on.

Of course, that’s more about acceptance than T1D. Diabetes hadn’t even been mentioned by that point in the show.

Episode 3: The Truth About Stacey

The third episode is from Stacey’s point of view. Quite early on, you see her insulin pump, and then she says she has type 1 diabetes.

Jordan’s eyes almost popped out of his head, “Wowza! Not every show has type 1 diabetes!” he said.

His sister asked if it makes him feel better about having it. He nodded. Then they went back to watching the show.

The seizure episode.

I knew this was the episode, and I was a bit anxious to see what happened.

In all honesty, it was quite anticlimactic considering all of the warnings I’d seen about that scene.

Here’s the thing: while a seizure might be difficult to watch, it is a reality of what could happen with T1D. Every year when we go into my son’s class to have “the T1D talk”, someone asks us about seizures and passing out. That’s real life.

And, the way they did it on The Baby-Sitters Club was fairly mild.

It’s a scary thought, that your child could have a seizure in class (or anywhere really). But it’s an important piece of information for them to have. They should know that it can happen, why it might happen, and what has been put in place to protect them in case it does happen (medical alert bracelets, school staff training, accessible glucagon…)

The only problem I had with the seizure was the explanation behind it.

Stacey explains that the seizure happened just before she was diagnosed and was caused by “insulin shock”. Now, aside from being a fairly outdated term, insulin shock is something that happens as a result of too much insulin causing hypoglycemia. There are people who have hypo episodes prior to diagnosis, but it’s much much more common to have hyperglycemia and even be in DKA before you’re diagnosed with T1D.

It’s just an extraordinarily unlikely scenario.

But, it’s pretty improbable that anyone who doesn’t live with T1D would even notice or retain that information.

Stacey is embarrassed.

Stacey is clearly trying to hide the fact that she has T1D. Her mom is also trying to keep it discreet. This is demonstrated when her mom is trying to find clothes that cover up Stacey’s insulin pump.

While this isn’t necessarily the norm in the T1 community, there are people who are embarrassed or don’t want others to know about their diabetes.

Many people disliked that Stacey was embarrassed and trying to hide her T1D from everyone.

But, let’s face it, it was pretty realistic.

The seizure prior to her diagnosis was recorded and sent around her old school and the video “went viral”. That was her introduction to the world of T1D.

She is a pre-teen girl who is just trying to fit in. Six months into diagnosis. She was bullied so badly right from diagnosis (even by her best friend) that her family moved to a new town.

I talk about my son’s diabetes all the time. He has no problem telling people about it. He wears his Omnipod and Dexcom for all to see and he doesn’t care who is looking.

But, he isn’t Stacey and I’m not Stacey’s mom. He didn’t have a seizure in the middle of class. His friends never made fun of him. He wasn’t at an age that was already difficult to navigate without the added stress of T1D.

I can understand why Stacey was hiding it. Even if we don’t feel the need to hide our children’s T1D. Even if we want to educate everyone on this disease. Not everyone is like that.

For a child or teen who has also felt this way, it was probably nice to see that they weren’t alone and their feelings are valid.

Is Stacey “sick”?

Similar to the embarrassment, many people in the T1 community didn’t like the use of the word “sick” to describe Stacey’s diabetes.

But again, it’s not unreasonable.

She’s fairly newly diagnosed. You do actually feel quite sick when diagnosed (unless it’s caught very early). Before diagnosis, you’re exhausted all the time and you’re starving. That’s at the very least. Many people get a lot more sick than that.

After diagnosis, you’re still exhausted and starving for a couple of months. And your blood sugar levels are a roller coaster. Which, guess what… makes you feel sick.

I get why people dislike the use of that word in the episode. I really do.

But, considering the character’s age and what she’s gone through, it’s a pretty natural thing for her to think.

I’m sorry… what?!

I can’t write a review of this show without mentioning this strange scene.

Stacey was at her friend’s house and felt her blood sugar dropping. Because she was embarrassed about her T1D, she excused herself and went home to treat it.

Now, in all honesty, this is one of the reasons I encourage people to be open about their T1D. Sneaking away to treat a low by yourself isn’t the safest thing to do. But, that’s not what I had a problem with.

Stacey’s mom comes home to see her daughter sitting at the counter, looking kind of worn-out, eating an apple. She immediately looks concerned and asks Stacey what happened.

Once Stacey tells her mom that she had a low and dealt with it, her mom books an “emergency appointment” to get blood work done and they spend all day on a Saturday getting tests done on Stacey.

So… that’s not a thing that happens. Ever.

Low blood sugars happen all the time. You treat it with sugar until it comes up into range and then you move on with your day.

Is it realistic that the mom freaked out because her daughter had a low blood sugar when she was alone? Sure. That definitely happens for lots of people.

Is it realistic that Stacey would get tests done all day because of that incident? Absolutely not. Never. There isn’t a doctor on the planet who would run any tests for that. In fact, there are no tests to run. Checking her blood sugar on her blood glucose monitor is the test.

People with T1D do get regularly scheduled bloodwork done. But it isn’t an emergency. And it has nothing to do with having one random high or low blood sugar reading.

But hey, it highlighted the seriousness of the disease… I guess.

Things they did get right

The video of Stacey’s seizure is sent to basically everyone in Stoneybrook.

But still, no one knows why she had the seizure.

It takes some coaxing, but the girls finally get Stacey to tell them what had happened.

“What is it? A nervous breakdown? A neurological misfire? Hard drugs?”

“It’s diabetes. I have diabetes ok. Type 1. There’s no cure. I’ll have it for the rest of my life.”

That is all accurate. Many people don’t realize it’s a life long disease. And often people suggest ridiculous “cures” for T1D. In reality, there isn’t one.

“I just started feeling weird. I lost a bunch of weight. My mom thought I had an eating disorder.”

That happens all the time. Parents dismiss the symptoms or think it’s something entirely different that will sort itself out. Even doctors are known to misdiagnose people with T1D and send them home without doing proper testing.

“Once people know I have a disease, it’s all they think about.”

She even explains that she doesn’t like people to focus on her T1D. This is fairly common. People do hyper-focus on a disease like type 1. Once they find out that you have T1D, you become “the diabetic”. It’s one of the reasons that person-first language is favored in the diabetes community.

“My pancreas doesn’t make insulin. Which you need to like, live.”

Everyone needs insulin to live. Our bodies make it naturally. But people with T1D, their bodies no longer make it. That’s why they need to inject it for the rest of their lives. It’s not something that is bad. It’s a hormone. People don’t get addicted to it. And the goal isn’t to stop using insulin.

Friendship and Acceptance

The Baby-Sitters Club touches on a lot of serious subjects. From first periods, to gay parents, to transgender children, to the death of a parent… and so much more.

They always fall back on friendship and acceptance. And it’s no different with Stacey’s T1D.

Stacey is so worried that her new friends will treat her the same way her old friends did when they find out about her diabetes. But instead, they normalize it.

They tell her other people they know with T1D. They stick up for her when some of their clients are hesitant about having a girl with T1D babysit their children. (And how convenient that one of the parents in the crowd is an endocrinologist who explains that Stacey is probably more mature than most kids her age because of her T1D??)

“That was when I realized I belonged.”

Stacey’s story showed two contrasting scenarios that do happen in real life.

When you or your child is diagnosed with T1D (or many other conditions or diseases), it’s quite common for people who you were close with to drift away from you. You can lose friendships that you thought were solid and realize that family members who you adore don’t reciprocate the feeling.

But then, you find new people, your people, who accept you and want to hear about and understand your life. Even the difficult parts like T1D.

Those are your people.

Stacey found her people. And, in the end, she became confident enough about her T1D to tell everyone. She even started to decorate her pump and talked about getting cute accessories for her T1D tech.

It wasn’t perfect, but there were a lot of little details that they got right about T1D. I for one am excited to see what they do with season 2!

~ Leah

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Did The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix get T1D right? Tell us what you think in the comments. Don’t forget to head over to the Carb Counting Mama Facebook page and “like” for more T1D articles and info!