What helped me was three things: (1) don't force it. Some mornings, the spot you pick doesn't seem to be working and you've having trouble putting in the needle. Just pull it out and pick a different spot. (2) Try to keep the needle perpendicular to the skin, straight up and down. If it's at an angle, that can hurt. (3) I used to sit at the edge of the bed and hunch over a little bit to bunch up the fat at the abdomen.