31 for 21 - Glasses

K has worn glasses for astigmatism & nearsightedness, since she was 9 months old.  She also has nystagmus, although it seems to be getting better as she gets older.

The first day that K wore her glasses, it was really neat to see her looking around intently.  It was obvious, even at 9 months, that she could tell the difference with them on. 

Because every child is different, you may need to experiment a little, but here are some things that helped with  getting K to wear her glasses. 

 I found that she would not tolerate any sort of strap or band to hold her glasses on.  She also did not do well with cable temples. It seemed like if there was anything extra attached to her glasses, it would be just one more reason for her to rip them off. They were also more likely to catch on things with the straps, & of course if they caught on anything she would rip them off. This may work for some babies but if your little one is like mine than keep this in mind. K did much better with  no strap.

The other thing that made a huge difference was an accurate prescription.  Her first opthomologist was very conservative & would not give her a strong enough prescription.  Her new opthomologist strengthened her prescription quite a bit & from that day on she has been great about wearing them.

If your child is old enough to put their own glasses on, let them. Sometimes giving them ownership over putting them on can help.

I'm going to add my friend Laura's suggestion her too:  Her gorgeous little girl got glasses recently & she mentioned that she was going to get a cheap pair of glasses for her husband & herself to wear too.  It would also work great to do this with sibling too.  You could just get a dollar store pair of sunglasses & pop the lenses out.  Most of our family wears glasses anyways, but if yours doesn't, I think this is a great idea.

In hindsight, I also should have been more insistent with K on what she must do with her glasses if she takes them off.  I was so focused on "You need to wear your glasses".  Now that she wears them so well, if she does take them off, I am not expecting it & may not notice right away.  We have lost her glasses for a few days sometimes lately because we don't know where to look, & she can't always remember where they are.  One time, she put them in a little compartment on a toy dog kennel!  Luckily, our 8 year old found them because I would never have looked there!  We have been working on  having her put them on the table or a counter & are getting quite successful now.


Make sure you have your child's glasses adjusted as often as necessary.  The better they fit, the more comfortable they will be (& even less painful) & the more likely it is that they will be worn.  When she was little, if K's glasses did  not fit well, she would rip them off & throw them.  And those little straps that are supposed to keep them on?  They helped her glasses stay on about .02 seconds longer than without a strap.  Not only were they not effective, but they irritated her more so she tried to pull them off more often.

Pick a brand that fits.  We have had great luck with Specs4Us

This is the newest pair of Specs4Us that we ordered for K.

I have heard some people say that they had good luck with Miraflex, but I've never tried them. I've been hearing good things about Tomato Active glasses lately too.