Living with NeedleBay: home, work, school and away
How NeedleBay helps through the day. Pick the one that sounds like you, or read them all. Each one says what the problem is and what NeedleBay does about it.
- A normal day with NeedleBay
- Morning at home
- Insulin at work
- School
- Out and about
- Carrying needles when you’re out
- Travel and holidays
- Evening and bedtime
- Checking someone else’s insulin
- Carer or parent helping
- Did I take my insulin?
- Stiff or shaky hands
- Poor eyesight
- How many NeedleBays do I need?
A normal day with NeedleBay
What does a day with NeedleBay look like? Simple, which is the point.
Morning: load four new pen needles, seals on, one in each bay. Each injection: open a lid, screw your pen onto the needle, peel the seal, inject. Screw the pen back into the same bay and unscrew. The used needle stays behind.
Teatime, not sure if you had lunch’s dose? Look at the lids. A needle with no seal is done.
Bedtime: open the lids over your sharps bin and release the used needles. Reload tomorrow.
Four bays fit breakfast, lunch, evening meal and a bedtime long-acting dose. On fewer injections, the same four bays last longer.
Shop NeedleBay. Single £14.95, made in the UK.
Morning at home
What is the best way to start the day with insulin pen needles? Load NeedleBay while the kettle boils.
Four new needles, seals on, one in each bay, lids clicked shut. That is the day sorted. Your breakfast dose: open a lid, screw the pen on, peel, inject, screw back in, unscrew. Done, and the case shows it.
Keep the box of needles in the kitchen drawer and let NeedleBay be the one that travels. It fits a dressing-gown pocket as easily as a coat.
Loaded the night before? That is fine too. Each needle keeps its own seal until you use it.
Read the insulin pen needle storage guide for more on keeping needles at home.
Insulin at work
How do I manage insulin injections at work without a fuss? Keep everything in one small case.
NeedleBay goes in a bag, a desk drawer or a jacket pocket. Your lunchtime needle is ready and sealed. The used one goes back in its bay, so there is no loose needle at your desk and nothing to explain to anyone. Nobody needs to know unless you want them to.
Four bays means a full working day, even on four injections. Forgot whether you had the lunchtime dose during a busy afternoon? One look.
No app to open, no battery to go flat halfway through a meeting.
School
How does a child with type 1 diabetes manage insulin at school? With a plan, a named adult, and something that makes the lunchtime injection easy to check.
NeedleBay helps with the last part. Load it at home in the morning. At school, the needle is ready in its bay, the pen screws straight on, and after the injection the used needle locks away until home time. A teacher or first aider can see at a glance that lunch’s dose is done, with no need to touch a needle.
It fits a school bag or a pencil case. Lids click shut.
Our school guide covers care plans, who does what, and what the rules say.
Out and about
Can I take my insulin pen needles out for the day? Yes, and NeedleBay means you take the used ones home safely too.
Shopping, a day trip, a match, the pub: the case goes in a pocket or bag with your pen. Each injection uses a fresh needle from its bay, and each used needle goes back and locks inside. Up to four stay in there, so a whole day out is covered. Nothing goes in a café bin and nothing rattles loose in your bag.
Back home, release them into your sharps bin.
Carrying needles when you’re out
Can I carry used insulin pen needles in my pocket? Not loose. A bare needle can prick you or someone else, and it should not go in an ordinary bin.
NeedleBay solves both halves. New needles sit in their bays with the seals on, so they stay clean and easy to find. After each injection the used needle goes back in its bay and locks inside, up to four at a time, until you get to a sharps bin, the yellow box for used needles. Then open the lids over the bin, press the release, and they drop out untouched.
One small case in a pocket or bag. Nothing loose.
Travel and holidays
How do I carry insulin pen needles on holiday? Take enough, keep them together, and have somewhere safe for the used ones.
NeedleBay does the last two. Each case holds four needles, so a Twin Pack carries eight and a Triple Pack carries twelve. Load them before you leave. Used needles lock inside the case until you find a sharps bin, so a hotel room or a campsite is no problem.
Hand luggage is the place for your pen, your needles and your NeedleBay. The case is a few centimetres long and weighs very little.
NeedleBay keeps your needles tidy. It does not keep insulin cool, so follow your pen’s leaflet for that.
Evening and bedtime
Did I take my bedtime insulin? It is the dose people worry about most, because it is the one you take when you are tired.
With NeedleBay the answer is in the last bay you loaded. If that needle has no seal, the bedtime dose is done. If the seal is still on, it is not. No lying awake wondering, and no risk of taking it twice because you could not remember.
Keep the case on the bedside table. The green lids are easy to find in low light, and the lift tabs can be found by touch.
Empty the used needles into your sharps bin last thing, or in the morning. Then reload for tomorrow.
Checking someone else’s insulin
Carers on the diabetes forums describe the same problem in the same words: he is confused about when he has taken it, or my partner cannot remember whether he took it, and asking again starts an argument. A glance at the lids answers it without a word. A needle with no seal means that dose is done. A sealed one means it is not. You can see it from across the kitchen, and you do not have to handle a needle to check. Used needles stay locked in their bays until the sharps bin, so there is nothing bare on a bedside table and nothing a grandchild could pick up.
Parents of a child with type 1 diabetes, see our school guide. Everyone else, shop NeedleBay.
Carer or parent helping
What is the safest way to help someone with their insulin injection? Keep your fingers away from the needle, and keep track of what has been done.
NeedleBay helps with both. The needle stays in its bay while you screw the pen on, so you are not handling a bare needle. After the injection, screw the pen back in and unscrew. The used needle stays locked inside. One look at the lids tells you, or the next person, which doses are done.
For a visiting carer or nurse it means fewer “did you have it?” conversations. For a parent it means a child’s needles are not loose in a bag.
Shop NeedleBay, or read the school guide if you are helping a child.
Did I take my insulin?
Did I take my insulin? Most people who inject insulin have asked that. In one survey, over 9 in 10 had a memory slip in a month.
NeedleBay gives you the answer without an app. It is a pocket case with four bays, one for each pen needle. After an injection, the used needle goes back in its bay. Look through the see-through lid: a needle with no seal means that dose is done. A needle still sealed means it is not.
It helps prevent missed doses and double doses. No batteries, nothing to charge.
Read the full page: Did I take my insulin? Or see four kinds of insulin reminder compared, or shop NeedleBay from £14.95.
Stiff or shaky hands
Is there an easier way to put a needle on an insulin pen when your hands are stiff or shaky? Yes. The hard part is the tiny needle: peeling the seal, holding it still, screwing it on without dropping it.
With NeedleBay the needle stays put. It sits in its bay while you screw the pen onto it, so there is nothing small to grip. After the injection, screw the pen back into the same bay and unscrew. The used needle stays behind. Your fingers stay away from it the whole time.
Each lid has a lift tab you can open with a thumb, and clicks shut.
Read the full page: stiff or shaky hands and insulin injections. Or shop NeedleBay.
Poor eyesight
How do I check my insulin needles if my eyesight is poor? With NeedleBay you can feel it as well as see it.
The lids are a see-through green you can spot on a worktop, and each has a lift tab you can find by touch. A new needle has a seal. A used needle does not. Run a thumb over the bays and you know which doses are done without reading anything. The lids click shut, so you hear and feel the case is closed.
NeedleBay holds four needles ready and locks up to four used ones inside. No tiny printing, no screen, no app.
Read the full page: poor eyesight and insulin injections. Or shop NeedleBay from £14.95.
How many NeedleBays do I need?
How many NeedleBays do I need? One is enough for most people.
Each NeedleBay holds four needles. Four injections a day? One case, reloaded each morning. Fewer injections? The same four bays last longer. More than four, or a long day out? Take two.
Away for the weekend on four a day? The Twin Pack gives you eight needles ready to go. A week away is easier with the Triple Pack and a box of needles to reload.
Single, one case, £14.95. Twin, two cases, £26.95. Triple, three cases, £34.95. Delivery £2.95 by Royal Mail 2nd Class. Made in the UK.
