Have you been struggling to convince your child to wear their glasses?
Many children struggle with getting used to glasses, whether it’s because they fear being teased or because the glasses feel strange on their faces, so how can we as parents make our children more excited to wear their glasses? Here are a few tips to help you do just that!
1. Make Sure The Glasses Fit
No child wants to wear something uncomfortable, and that holds just as true with glasses as with an article of clothing. Children are always growing, so glasses that fit perfectly a few months ago might be starting to pinch now. At your local Vision Source® member practice, a team member can adjust the fit of glasses to make sure they stay in place without being uncomfortably tight.
2. Let Them Choose Their Frames
Jeers of “nice glasses, four-eyes!” might be less common today than they once were, but children can still feel self-conscious about how their new glasses will impact their peers’ behavior towards them. A great way to counter this self-consciousness is to let them choose their own frames! Don’t let your own sense of fashion get in the way of your child’s delight at wearing brightly colored frames. If they get to wear frames they think are cool, they’ll feel much better about leaving them on.
3. Make Sure The Glasses Are Age-Appropriate
Even if a pair of glasses is your child’s favorite color, they will lose a lot of points in the coolness department if they are glasses that look like they’re for a younger child. Likewise, glasses for an older child won’t be very comfortable for toddlers. Let your child show off what a big kid they are by wearing glasses in the right style for their age group.
4. Set Goals And Take Your Time
If your child doesn’t like wearing glasses or they often forget to wear them, it’s okay to take it slow. Gradually work your way up from expecting them to wear their glasses for half an hour a day to wearing them for the whole day, or start out with having them wear glasses while reading or watching TV only, then expand to wearing them all day. If they need more motivation, you could incorporate treats and prizes.
5. Don’t Let Them Slack Off!
If you’re setting glasses goals, then make sure to stick to them. You can recruit the help of your child’s teacher, but you need to be a stickler about it too! Be supportive, but hold them to those goals. If they need more encouragement, you can remind them of all the cool characters in their favorite stories who have glasses, like Harry Potter, Superman, and Supergirl!
We’re Here To Help!
Your child might not believe glasses can be cool if you’re the only one saying it, but along with fitting their glasses and helping them find the coolest frames, your optometrist can give them their professional opinion that glasses are awesome! Vision Source® is proud to be your partner in ensuring your child’s lifelong vision health.
We can’t wait to help your child see clearly!
Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
