Tips to Help Your Child Adjust to Wearing Glasses

When it comes to getting glasses for your child, the optometrists at Access Eye understand that finding the correct vision prescription is often the easy part. Even some adults find it difficult adjusting to wearing glasses, so it can be a legitimate struggle to get your child to wear their glasses. In an effort to help ease that transition for you and your kids, our experts offer the following tips:

Start Gradually

There are not many kids who take to wearing glasses instantaneously, so understand that getting them to wear glasses is usually a process. Rather than expecting your child to start wearing glasses all day long, start by having him or her wear lenses for half an hour at a time. After that has been successful, increase the increments to an hour or two, and continue to extend the duration from there. Eventually, wearing glasses will feel normal to your child and will not require timed sessions.

Let Your Child Choose the Frames

Kids are much more excited to wear eyeglasses when they have some choice in the matter. Allowing them to pick out their own frames is one of the easiest ways to give them some autonomy in this process. Parents sometimes try to intervene when their children choose frames in a color or style that they would not select for themselves, but we recommend that you pick your battles. By allowing them to have the kind of glasses they want to wear, you are likely to face much less resistance when you ask them to put on their glasses.

Set Clear Expectations and Stick to Them

Making concrete rules about when your child must wear glasses, be it at specific times of day or locations like school, helps to eliminate excuses from your child. Some parents choose to establish rewards and consequences to motivate their children to wear glasses throughout the day. That can be successful so long as the parent is committed to following through on this reward system.

Make Sure the Glasses Stay in Good Condition

Keeping glasses comfortable is one of the best ways to ensure they will actually stay on your child’s face. The optical staff at Access Eye will check that the glasses fit just right before your child leaves our office, but let’s be honest — kids have a tendency to bend, scratch or otherwise damage their glasses due to carelessness or adventurous play. If they complain that their glasses no longer feel good, that could be indicative of a problem. Stop by our optical department with your child to see if we can adjust the glasses to make them more comfortable again.