glasses for 1 year old

[lou33]

Has anyone got any ideas for keeping glasses on a 1 year old? My ds has started wearing them, but keeps pulling them off.

During the day he is mostly ok but when I try and put them on him in the morning it is s real fight, and he pulls them off whenever he's upset or tired. He needs to wear them all the time, so any suggestions would be great.

We have tried a band around the back of his head but that didn't work, and he currently has ear curls around his ear to keep them on, but they are still very easy to pull off. I am worried they will get broken because he starts to eat them when he gets his hands on them. Help!

[Tillysmummy]

Sorry lou, can't think of anything. I didn't think they gave them to little ones that young. I don't suppose he'll respond to bribery yet ?

[lou33]

I wish he would! You would think that if they are prescribing glasses at that age then they would have suitable types available wouldn't you? Maybe a biggles style goggle which cant be pulled off. I can see this is going to be a struggle!

[Viv]

lou33, my nephew has to wear glasses and he was i year old last week. They have had exactly the same problems and it got to the stage where both my sister in law and her ds were getting very distraught because he screamed every time he saw the glasses, ripped them off etc. etc.
What has now happened is that the hospital have prescribed contact lenses. Apparantly in babies they have extra soft ones which a qualified person puts in, they can then be left in for a week and then you ga back to the hospital/ doctor to have them replaced. A bit of a fag I know but may be worth looking at. My sister in law is going for her first fitting with ds next week so I will let you know how they get on.
Good luck.

[Viv]

I meant 1 year old!!!

[lou33]

Thanks viv I will think about that !

[monkey]

ds had glasses from 9 months. At first he wore them fine (for about a couple of days!) Then we had a long spell of him not wanting to, even though he clearly saw better & could do more things with them on.

I found getting into a battle over them was really bad. The thing that worked best was keeping it all low-key, if he took them off I'd try to put them back on, if he resisted I'd put them away for a while, then try again a while later. Sometimes he'd keep them on, sometimes he wouldn't.

I also got him some prescription sunglasses and he'd be better with them. He'd still refuse them, but not all the time. Sometimes he'd insist on them, even in the house on a winter evening then insist on every light in the house being on!

Then one day he let me put them on without a fuss and that was that, Totally overnight acceptance, but it did take months. I guess it's like potty training or dealing with a reluctant eater - the more a drama you make of it, the more resistance you'll get. Chin up & good luck - it will definitely be ok, just a matter of time

[lou33]

Thanks Monkey, that's what I'm hoping will happen. He has been pretty good, but he doesn't like them going on. I just keep trying until he gets fed up pushing them away, or get one of my other children to distract him with a toy while i sneak them on from behind! Unfortunately he thinks it's all a game bless him, so when he takes them off and I replace them he thinks he's a clever boy so shows me he can do it again!

[AliH]

Lou33 - my dd also had glasses this young, and I'm with monkey, the more fuss you make, the worse it gets. Its like anything, he needs to get into the habit.

I find with dd that if I can slip them on whilst she is engrossed in something, then they stay on. She also whips them off when tired or upset.

She has ordinary ones, ie bits over the ears just like adult ones. If they are fitted correctly, they do stay on. It takes a few visits to get each pair right, but we have a brilliantly patient optician who doesn't mind how often we go. It has been once a week at one time.

Good luck, and well done for having ds eye problem picked up so early. So many children have eye problems which are never treated early enough.

[lou33]

Thanks AliH. He's actually a lot better now. We had ear curls fitted on his glasses so its a lot better. He hardly bothers with them now thank goodness. I think he has realised things look so much better with them on! Thanks all for the help, i'll probably be posting about him again when he has his hearing test in may ,for advice!

[monkey]

I also found that ds tore them off in anger if he was cross with me. every time I did the slightest thng to annoy him - answer the phone, go to the loo etc then off they'd come in defiance! He's over that little one now!

Younger bro is fascinated with them & keeps grabbing at them which makes ds obviusly very cross & possessive of his glasses.

[Bee]

By the way, did you know Specsavers don't charge at all for childrens frames (lenses are always free). V useful if the children pull them off with one hand and break them. Also, if the eyes are bad enough, the hospital may give you a second prescription so you can have a back-up pair.
Good luck with it.

[lou33]

Thanks for all the replies. Luckily ds seems to have got used to his glasses pretty quickly, so now he is only pulling them off when he is tired. I didn't know about Specsavers, wish I had before i shelled out £20 for his! He has a check up in may, so hopefully they will be pleased with his progress. They did say something about a spare pair later down the line, so maybe he'll get some soon. I don't know if they would be classed as strong or not, but I can't see a thing through them!

[AliH]

Lou33 - glad to hear that you have got through the worst.

I was amazed to hear about Specsavers, but only from the point of view that I have never been asked to pay. Our optician also allowed us to have a spare pair, by putting a new pair through as a repair. They are really useful, because a spare pair means that she never gets out of the habit of wearing them whilst the others are in the repair shop. It might be worth trying this with your optician.

Good luck with the hearing test.