Helping Your Child Choose Their First Pair of Glasses
If your child has recently been told by an optician that they need to wear glasses, then it can be something that will take some getting used to for them. Kids can take time to get used to having to take care of their glasses and carry them everywhere, and if their eyesight isn’t especially bad without them, they may even wonder why they have to wear them at all, leading to tantrums about putting them on!
Over time, your child will become used to wearing their glasses and taking care of them when they are at school, but at first, it is a good idea to try and get them excited about wearing them by helping them to choose a pair that they like the look of. While that may not mean splashing out on some super on trend Prada eyeglasses like you might choose for yourself, being open to helping them get something fashionable that they like may well stop them feeling so resistant to the idea of wearing them.
Steer Them in The Direction of Something That Will Last
Glasses can be quite expensive, and while your child’s prescription and size needs may change over time, you don’t also want to have to contend with buying new glasses every time their taste changes. For this reason, it is best to steer them away from anything that may be a bit of a fad, for instance, glasses branded with characters that they currently like. It is pretty rare for a child to stay devoted to the same TV show or movie for the long term, and so while they may be all about a franchise like Thomas the Tank Engine now, they may well find their Thomas glasses to be babyish in six months’ time. Try and get them interested in frames that will stand the test of time.
Comfortable and Robust
It is best to have your child try on any glasses that are under consideration, so they can get a sense of how it would feel to wear them all the time. Glasses that feel uncomfortable will quickly become battlegrounds if they refuse to wear them, or take them off when you’re not around, no matter how much they liked the design at first! You should also consider how robust the glasses are for younger children if they will be wearing them while playing or doing sports.
A Nice Case
It may not seem that important, but you can make your child happier about looking after their glasses by getting a case that they like. This can be where they can choose their favorite characters or branding if that makes them happy, because you can replace cases far more easily than frames if they outgrow a fad. A cool looking case with a nice cloth for cleaning their glasses will encourage them to want to take them everywhere and take good care of them.
Getting glasses can seem like a big deal for a child, so let them have some input into their glasses even if they are very young – just be prepared to veto any strange ideas!
