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With the school year in full swing, many parents face the issue of whether their child is ready to ditch glasses and take on the responsibility of wearing contact lenses. Although this might seem like an easy transition, parents must assess their child’s maturity. Contacts require careful maintenance and eye care. Contacts demand a level of intention that glasses don’t necessarily require. Here are five questions to ask to determine if your child is ready for contact lenses:
Is She Asking?
A prompt from your child might be the best indicator that she is ready for contacts. Initiative to make a change could also indicate readiness to properly care for contacts. You can always opt for a trial run, with a pair from Vision Direct, to determine how the contacts lenses will work for her. The Acuvue Oasys brand with Hydraclear offers an added bonus of UV protection.
Is He Responsible?
Is he child going to care for his contacts? There are responsibilities that come with the transition to contacts, and these are among the biggest concerns for parents. Since care for contacts has an effect on eye health, it is crucial to assess whether your son possesses the maturity to add this responsibility to his plate. Take your son to the optometrist for a lesson in contact care prior to buying them. Make sure he understands what is involved, and explicitly ask him if he is ready. If you both know what to expect, it might alleviate the fear factor.
Is your child disciplined in other areas of his life? Does he brush his teeth without reminders? Does he make the bed without prompting? Or feed the dog every day? Answer some of these questions to help assess your child’s contact readiness.
Do Glasses Effect Her Self-Esteem?
Do glasses make your child unhappy? Oftentimes children who appear different are teased at school. This leads to feelings of low self-esteem and negative feelings. There are, of course, ways to build up her confidence with glasses. But if making a change can help your child be more confident, switch. It might provide that extra boost to her personality. In addition, contacts may help overall vision, as kids aren’t required to take off contacts as frequently as glasses. In the case you detect your child might face bullying or teasing because of glasses, you may want to take the initiative to change to contacts.
Does He Play Sports?
Sports become difficult to navigate with glasses. If your child is an athlete, determine whether the glasses interfere or limit his moves on the field. The risk of injury is higher with glasses. When it starts to become hazardous for his well-being, it is time to make a switch, or consider eye protection specifically indicated for sport use.
Is She Patient?
Contacts require a level of patience that easy slip-on glasses don’t need. If you observe your child’s patience in other areas, then it is likely that she will not get frustrated trying to insert the contact in her eyes. Even if there is minor frustration in the beginning, a patient personality is likely to stay with the process for the long haul.
The switch from glasses to contacts is an important milestone for a child. Ask the right questions, understand the motivation and determine what is right for your child before you make the commitment to purchase contact lenses.
Do you wear glasses or contacts?
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
I’ve never had contacts because of my stigmatism and really never any desire. I know a HUGE part of the population has them and I always wonder how many do for cosmetic reasons – both women and men. Even I could wear them I wouldn’t just due to the fact that after all these years folks are always complaining about many things with them. I know, it’s all a tradeoff. All that said, I can imagine it would be huge for a young person in life with their looks. Excellent point on them being responsible with them, Krystle 🙂
I’ve had a contacts since I was 12 so I’m pretty used to them. As a child I didn’t keep up on the hygiene aspect of them too much which let to some bouts of pink eye. No fun! Now though it’s all just second nature. I remember when my husband attempting them. It was SO funny to watch. He couldn’t get them in his eye for nothing.