Our little guy has been wearing glasses ever since I can remember. He got them when he was about 18 months old and they are just a part of him now. I have had about 1,000 people in the grocery store, restaurants, and parks ask me about how I get him to wear his glasses so I thought I would share a few little tips for how we got him to wear them all the time and also make it FUN!
Okay first…how did we know he needed glasses so young? Well I think this picture answers that question 🙂 His right eye was trying to cross in EVERY picture. We took him to an optometrist and then a pediatric ophthalmologist who actually did the tests and prescribed the glasses.
Now the first day he got the glasses he thought it was fun for about five minutes and then he took them off. We put them back on and he started to cry…and I think I did too. How was I going to make a baby wear glasses??
I decided that being very consistent was the key to getting him to wear them. The second he woke up in the morning, we put the glasses on. He was only allowed to take them off when he was sleeping. This was VERY hard and the first week or two I bet he took them off about 300 times a day! Not exaggerating 🙂
Finally he started to realize that with the glasses on, life wasn’t a blur, the TV had pictures on it instead of just bright lights, and he could see the cars go by outside. It took some time but he realized that these glasses actually made his life better!
A few quick tips about your child wearing glasses:
If you LOVE taking pictures of your kids like me, you will need to learn to use your camera without the flash. If you use the flash, you will never see your baby’s little eyes in a picture. If you take the pictures outside or in a bright room, you won’t need it anyways.
When you take your baby to the eye doctor, it could be a VERY long wait. Take lots of books, games, and lots of snacks and drinks. Our first appointment was over 2 hours long because they dilated his eyes and we ran out of milk!!!! Needless to say that was rough 🙂
Choose child-proof lenses. They make so many great brands of frames for kids now and we love his MiraFlex frames. They have been through A LOT and are still in good shape.
Make the glasses experience fun! Here are a few of the products I LOVE LOVE LOVE for little babies or kids with glasses. We used these to make the glasses fun and now he puts them on himself and calls them his “fire flies” (I have NO idea why he calls them that!)
- This book is one of Cole’s favorites and it explains the process of going to the eye doctor and is also interactive: Arlo Needs Glasses
- I found this book for girls and thought it was SO cute because it comes with a cape, crown, and glasses pouch: Princesses Wear Glasses
- This FREE matching game of Princesses with Glasses would go great with the book above!
- Blue’s friend gets glasses in this book: Magenta Gets Glasses
- This book has tons of pictures of kids wearing glasses and explains why they need them: Glasses the Board Book
- This book shows all the different reasons people wear glasses: Glasses to Go
- There is a character named “Prince Wednesday” in the Daniel Tiger series and my son loves him because he is really silly…and wears glasses. There is an episode in Season 4
where they talk about Prince Wednesday’s glasses and how they make him special…it’s sad that I know that 🙂
- On the children’s show Doc McStuffins
, her toy owl can’t see and needs glasses too. (Episode 11: Through the Looking Glasses)
- My favorite thing Cole has for his glasses is a Lenz Frenz Dinosaur that my husband’s cousin gave him. It is a large glasses case for when your child is going to bed or napping. It holds their glasses and is wearing glasses too! It lays in bed with him every night and he LOVES it as you can see from the pictures 🙂
He had to read Arlo Needs Glasses to his new Dino friend!
This picture cracks me up every time 🙂
For more information about children’s eyes and what to expect check out this great article!
**This post contains affiliate links that support my blog.
Thanks for helping increase awareness by writing this awesome post (and for mentioning our books, too)! One in twenty preschoolers need glasses, but sadly only one in one hundred wear them. http://greatglassesplayday.com/2014/10/09/happy-world-sight-day-no-more-avoidable-blindness/
Oh wow I didn’t know that statistic but I believe it! I used to teach and each time a kid started to have troubles, my nurse would ask about their eyes and that was the case several times.
Great post! It can be a challenge as both a child and their parent to need glasses at such a young age, but your advice is point on. I’m so glad that Lenz Frenz has helped your son feel more comfortable with glasses, and I hope more doctors and parents will spread the word about these thoughtful products! Eyedolatry Blog
Thank you! Loved your post too…they really make glasses more fun and also keep those glasses from going missing every day 🙂
Our 15 month old would adore a lens frenz! Very cute!
Hey Cari! Oh wow that is super young…I know the feeling 🙂 Thank you so much for entering and let me know if you ever need advice or help…we’ve been there!
Thanks! We found out around 6 months that she needed glasses. It’s been a little bit of a struggle. I’ve found that she does better with them when we’re not home since she’s more distracted.
Hey Cari! Yeah that is very young…I guess you just can’t go home anymore 🙂
I would give to my little granddaughter, just got glasses for first time. I like the Unicorn (Glasses Holder).
Hey Shirley! I think she would really think her Grandma was the BEST 🙂 Thank you so much for entering!
My son would be ecstatic to have this. And, it would remind him to wear his glasses.
Hey Sean! Yeah this little guy really makes glasses fun…thank you for entering!
My favorite it the Li’l Lenz Frenz T-Rex. Super adorable.
Hey Alina! Yeah the T Rex is my favorite too! Thank you so much for entering 🙂