WHEN little Layla Henschen kept chugging cups of water and was going through more nappies than usual, her mum first brushed it off as being down to the weather.

It was May 2022, and mum Ashley Henschen said the temperatures had started to increase.

Initially, she though that her two-year-old was just adjusting to the heat.

However, she became concerned when her toddler was soaking through her nappies.

After two weeks of her daughter suffering, Ashley, who lives in the US, took her little girl to the doctors, who diagnosed her with type 1 diabetes.

The condition causes the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to become too high, the NHS states.

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Symptoms often include, feeling very thirsty and peeing more than usual.

It's often referred to as a silent killer because in many cases, people don't know they have the illness – as it can take a long time for symptoms to appear.

The condition, if left untreated, can lead to a risk of strokes, heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and amputation, Diabetes UK states.

Along with being thirsty and peeing more often, Ashley said little Layla had also been irritable, something she put down to the 'terrible twos'.

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"We kind of brushed it off. She's growing. It seemed like every sign and symptom could easily be brushed off as something else.”

"She was pretty irritable. It was hard to go to a restaurant at that time.

"We had gone on a trip, and she was just really terrible the whole time. They warn you about going out with your 2-year-old to a restaurant and stuff. So, she had all the signs, but because we didn’t know what to look for, (we missed it)," she told Today.

The family went through two weeks of this before a nurse told Ashley to take her little girl to the GP as soon as possible, after she had relayed her symptoms to her.

She was given a urine tests and medics noticed that she had elevated blood glucose levels – she was then diagnosed with diabetes.

The symptoms of type 1 diabetes you need to know

GUIDANCE from the NHS states if you or your child have any of the below symptoms, then you should see your GP.

• feeling very thirsty
• peeing more than usual, particularly at night
• feeling very tired
• losing weight without trying
• thrush that keeps coming back
• blurred vision
• cuts and grazes that are not healing
• fruity-smelling breath

The experts added that when it comes to children, the symptoms of the illness come on fast.

In order to detect where you have the condition, your GP will do a urine test and will also check your blood glucose levels.

“It was never a thought in my mind, I was so confused," Ashley added.

The little girl was rushed to hospital where medics ran more tests.

They found she was experiencing diabetic ketoacidosis, which happens when a person doesn't have enough insulin in their system to convert sugar into energy.

After her diagnosis, Layla stayed in the hospital for two days and while she was there, her parents learned about the illness and how they will have to care for her.

Ashley said it had been really hard for her to accept, but said that as soon as treatment started, they immediately noticed a change in Layla's mood.

Now, her little girl is far happier and Ashley said she is getting used to wearing the glucose monitor on her arm.

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Now Ashley is urging all parents to seek help if they notice there is something wrong with their child.

She said you should 'trust your motherly instinct'.

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