Chrissy Teigen Details Son Miles’ Type 1 Diabetes Journey for First Time (Exclusive)

• Chrissy Teigen and John Legend revealed last summer that their 6-year-old son Miles had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes
• The cookbook author is teaming up with Sanofi’s Screen for Type 1 movement to encourage others at high risk to undergo early screening for the chronic condition
• “I know how much it means for Miles to see himself in anybody. I told him, ‘Miles, you get to be that now for other people! How cool is that?’ He really is a little warrior,” Teigen tells PEOPLE exclusively

As a mom of four, Chrissy Teigen thrives on being a planner.

“If they have football season coming up, I’ve got to get that gear. If Luna has a recital, I’ve got to get that costume going,” the entrepreneur says of raising her oldest daughter, 9, and siblings Miles, 6, Esti, 2, and Wren, 22 months. “There’s no other way to go about this life.”

Still, Teigen, 39, learned in the toughest of ways last summer that there are some things she and her husband, John Legend, 46, simply can’t plan for.

In July 2024 the superstar couple revealed Miles had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes — a chronic condition in which the pancreas makes little to no insulin — after a “terrible” case of shingella landed him in the hospital during football camp.

“It really took Miles down harder than a lot of the other kids,” she recalls of the common bacterial infection that affects the digestive system. “His pain was incredible, and he’s a pretty tough little boy.”

After three full days of “blood test after blood test” at Cedars-Sinai hospital, doctors confirmed Miles — who had previously shown no symptoms — was facing Type 1.

“We were thrown into this world of chaos and having to learn so much all at once,” says Teigen of grappling with her son’s autoimmune disorder, which can lead to life-threatening complications affecting the heart, blood vessels, nerves and kidneys if left untreated.

Nearly a year later Teigen and Legend have settled into a new normal, prioritizing Miles’ physical and emotional health while balancing the needs of all their kids.

“Everything was put on pause. We were finding ourselves going in and out of hospitals, sitting down with our notebooks taking copious notes and taking videos of everything someone was doing with the insulin jar,” says Teigen.

When they first returned home, Miles was asking, “Why me? How come not Luna?” she recalls. “He was really worried that it would affect if he could play sports. Can I have candy still? Can I have ice cream? All those things that only a kid would worry about.”

Teigen and Legend bought stacks of books about diabetes for Miles, but “I found myself reading more children’s books than maybe he was even,” she says. “It puts it in terms that are so easy to understand.”

One of the most difficult parts of Miles’ treatment for Teigen is administering his daily insulin injections.

“You try everything: tokens, bribery, iPad time. You do everything you can to see what makes him comfortable,” she says, growing emotional. “The first three months were really, really tough for us as a family because your child is experiencing pain.”

Teigen admits there are still ups and downs. “One day you’re like, ‘He did it!’ And you’re so excited it’s all looking up. Then all of a sudden the next day is so difficult again,” she says. “I’ve always said this about having kids in general, and it fits in with this too: When things are going so great, you can always count on it to turn. And when things are really rough, things are going to get better. Our family’s really good about navigating those curve balls now.”

While the Cravings founder and her husband have been prioritizing Miles’ health, they’ve also worked hard to balance the needs of their other children throughout the ordeal.

“It affects everyone in the family differently. Luna’s a tough cookie and she’s kind of the boss of everybody. She’s like queen of the babies,” says Teigen. “She doesn’t want to say it, but those moments at bedtime where you’re like, ‘Do you have big feelings today?’ or ‘I noticed you’re a little shy or a little quiet today. Do you want to talk about it?’ Then the tears come out and they’re like, ‘I just feel like [Miles is] getting a lot of attention’ or ‘He’s getting candy when I don’t get candy.'”

“You realize that everybody’s involved in this and you kind of figure out a way to navigate everyone’s different feelings and moods around it,” she explains. “That’s our job as parents. We’re happy to be a safe place for them to be able to come to and talk about if they are sad or not.”

Teigen and her family leaned on their village — including strangers who flooded her Instagram with support — after Miles’ diagnosis. Now she hopes to advocate for others who are at high risk of developing the disease (genetics is a factor) to get early screenings, which are often low or even no cost depending on insurance.

Like many other “T1 moms,” Teigen had “no idea” early screening existed for Type 1 diabetes, which is estimated to affect 2 million Americans. An autoantibody blood screening looks for diabetes-related autoantibodies even before symptoms surface.

“It doesn’t prevent Type 1, but it is going to prepare you for it. I cannot tell you how much it changed our life so quickly,” says Teigen, who’s partnering with Sanofi’s Screen For Type 1 movement. “We went straight from the hospital to home, and I would’ve loved to have made more mistakes pricking an orange than I did on Miles. Go to your doctor, advocate for yourself and for your family for early screening.”

While her son is only 6 years old, she can already see the impact sharing his story has made on him.

“One of the things with shooting with Sanofi… there’s a time in the video where he finally really talks about it for the first time and he says something that’s so simple and beautiful that I look down at him, and I’m like, oh my gosh, this is such an emotional process,” she says. “He knows now that he and I get to be spokespeople and we get to help others. He’s found such power in that, and it’s really been incredible.”

While attending the Olympics last year, Teigen and her family serendipitously sat next to Nick Jonas, who has also been outspoken about his own journey with Type 1.

“What better person to run into than Nick Jonas who showed us the gear [and] everything? He was so sweet to Miles. It was amazing,” she says.

“I know how much it means for Miles to see himself in anybody. Some people have sent us [videos of] their friends that are soccer players who live with Type 1 and you see his eyes light up,” Teigen continues. “I told him, ‘Miles, you get to be that now for other people! How cool is that?’ He really is a little warrior.”