Help! - Small children with glasses

[mom2alix]

We just found out that DD2 is going to need glasses. Anyone have any good tips on getting her to keep them on?

 

[Meriweather]

strap around the back. That's what DS used.

 

[crz4mm2]

Yep, straps are good.
DS had them starting at 18 months. I remember the joy
and he threw them out the window of the car once too.... sigh
Good luck!

 

[kejoda]

With some kids once they realize that they can see better they won't want to take them off. Didn't work with my son John. It was late July/early Aug. when he started wearing his. I ended up putting socks over his hands to keep them on. It only took a day or two and then he was fine with them. Hopefully you won't have that problem with her.

If you haven't ordered the glasses yet try to get them from a place that is opened every day. And see if they will give you extra nose pieces and screws. We get ours at Wal*Mart. Good prices and good warrenty. We also have 2 pairs on hand, just in case.

 

[mom2alix]

Thanks so much for the ideas! I know on this forum there were bound to be people with experience who would have good ideas to share.

I'm hoping she'll be fine as she likes wearing her sun glasses and trying on my glasses. She also starts preschool next week (3 days after we get the glasses) so I'm a little nervous about how she'll do when I'm not there to make sure she wears them.

 

[HeyMickey]

Some glasses for little kids have flexible ear pieces that wrap around the ears. They kind of look like a C from the side rather than the usual kind that are just bent a little at the ears. My brother had them when he was little. They stay on better than the regular kind does and they take mistreatment better because they are flexible.... because it's hard to convince a 2 year old to be gentle with glasses

 

[rascalmom]

Try to buy from somewhere with a replacement warranty. Scratched lenses & broken frames are covered by the Eyemart Express store in our area.

 

[Lanshark]

DS started wearing glasses at 14 months old. DD started wearing them at 3 years.

The arm of the glasses had a soft wire wrap around that went behind their ear. They never experienced any problems keeping them on.

One tip is to buy a good quality set of frames that the optician guarantees for at least a year. We had to have them replaced a couple of times the first year and we had absolutely no problem with the replacement guarantee. DD was a tomboy and you'd be amazed at how bent a set of frames can get. The good quality ones can however be bent back into shape fairly easily. The optician we dealt with was associated with the pediatric opthamologist so a vast majority of their business was in catering to kids needs.

We also get the lightest lenses we could get. This keeps them from slipping down the nose because of weight. They also look better because the childs eyes do not appear as magnified or large.

Another tip: A child that age is not going to be able to articulate if they are not seeing well out of their glasses. I always had the lenses double checked for the correct strength. Although a Dr prescribes the strength a technician grinds the lens. We have had 2 instances of the lense strength not matching the prescription. We also had an instance of the optical center not being correct on one set. Again it helped going to an optician that does a large volume of childrens glasses.

Good luck. The kids handled it much better than I did when I found out they needed the glasses. That was all about 14 years ago. Now both kids wear contact most of the time. The glasses never slowed them down one bit

 

[mom2alix]

The place we ordered from does have the warrantee and they said they'll even redo the lenses free if the doctor changes the prescription within 3 months, so I was pretty happy about that since we don't know how her eyes may change at this point.

I hadn't really thought about getting a second pair, but that's a really good suggestion. I always keep my old pair around "just in case" don't know why I wouldn't have a spare for her as well. Especially as she' s less likely to be careful with them!

 

[DisneyTeacher]

My DS (now 6) got his first pair of glasses when he had just turned 3. His vision is so bad that it only took a day for him to realize that he could see so much better with them on. We took it slow the first day and didn't get too stressed when he took them off a lot. By the second day he was more ready to give them a chance.

You got good advice, go to a place that has a good replacement policy and good hours. We have made many trips for new nose pieces, adjustments, and new frames. We get our DS's frames replaced for 2 years for any reason.

There are so many options and a lot nice frames out there for kids today, so much better than 20-30 years ago.

Good luck!

 

[mom2alix]

Originally posted by Lanshark

We also get the lightest lenses we could get. This keeps them from slipping down the nose because of weight. They also look better because the childs eyes do not appear as magnified or large.

Marcie,

Based on the magnified comment I assume your kids were far-sighted too? How old are they now? I'm wondering because the Dr. told us that we caught Alix's early enough that we have a 70% chance she won't need glasses by the time she's 12.

 

[Lanshark]

Mom

DD is now 18 and wears a +3.0 strength. DS is now 14 and wears a +5.25 strength. DD's eyes have improved over the years. Both are pretty heavy prescriptions. DS's much more so than DD's. We haven't made the turn yet with DS's but DD's prescription is weaker now than when we started out. I can't remember the exact strength when we started. The only reason I know it now is because I order their contacts.

When we went to the lightest weight lenses it made a huge difference cosmetically. It was well worth it. I don't believe their first set of lenses were the lightweights. The technology on making the lenses thin has improved A LOT over the years.

Both of my kids swam competitively so I also had to get prescription swim goggles and sports goggles for basketball. Neither could see the wall on the pool without the prescriptions and all it took was one cut over the eye from the frames for us to get sports goggles. There is a lot available.

The condition my kids were dealing with was a little more than just far sightedness. I don't think they will ever completely come out of the glasses but as I said it has not hindered them one bit.

Good luck

 

[mom2alix]

Thanks Marcie,

With DD, we noticed a problem because her left eye started turning in. Left is a +4 and right eye is +2, which indicates that she doesn't like using her left eye, but apparently it can be retrained since we're starting so young. At any rate the doctor says the glasses will keep her eyes straight since she won't have to cross her eye in order to focus.

Hopefully she'll outgrow it. If she's braver than her mother, she could also have laser surgery when she's old enough. I keep saying I'm going to do it, but I'm a big wimp!

 

[Lanshark]

Mom

The condition is called esotropia. It was also the issue with my kids.

DD now holds straight without the glasses unless she is very tired or tries to focus. DS will be 14 in another month and hasn't made the turn yet. We were also told they may come out of the glasses but it was not to be in our case. DS was actually in a bifocal for about 5 years until we elected to have eye muscle surgery. That got rid of the bifocal.

I don't know if the Dr has mentioned patching but we also went throught patching one eye to force them to use the other. It lasted for about a year for a few hours each day and worked wonderfully.

If you have any questions at any time please PM me.

 

[mom2alix]

Thanks!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I want to say thanks to ya'll for this information,too. I'm going to save it and keep it filed away for later because we already know that between the eye problems I have (mixed astigmatism) and DH's eye problems (extreme farsightedness which will lead to progressive bifocals), DS will need glasses sooner or later.

TOV