A child friendly approach to glasses
Post on 14th September 2020
Like getting children to eat their greens or swap screens for fresh air, the right approach makes all the difference.
You don’t need to be an expert in child psychology to appreciate that finding effective ways to help your children to do the right thing makes sense.
It applies to many of life’s lessons and that goes for encouraging them to wear glasses if they need help with their sight.
Here are some simple tips from us to help make it easier for children to wear glasses;
– Make sure the glasses fit properly and are comfortable. No child is going to wear glass that feel tight or pinch behind the ears. Also, children are always growing, so glasses that fit perfectly initially may need adjusting in a few weeks’ time.
– Let them choose their frames. Playground name calling might be less commonplace, but children can still feel self-conscious when it comes to wearing their new glasses. A great way to help them overcome this feeling is to let them choose their own frames.
– Consider if the glasses are age appropriate. While letting your child choose frames is a positive step, they may need some general guidance on what style is going to be age appropriate and fit them properly. We would recommend asking branch staff for help and presenting a selection of styles and colours for your child to choose from.
– Keep glasses clean. Children get mucky and so do their glasses. Dirty glasses can hinder rather than help their eyesight. Make sure that they clean their lenses frequently, so they have one less excuse not to wear them.
– Be positive, reinforce confidence and remind your child how great they look in their glasses.
The range of frame designs and colours available means wearing glasses is often seen as a fashion statement too and more likely to appeal to children and young people.
It doesn’t mean a hard hit to parents’ bank accounts either. The range of free glasses offered to those with an NHS voucher have come a long way since the less appealing ones of the past.
Being able to see properly is vital to a child’s learning and undiagnosed sight problems can be detrimental to a child’s achievement, behaviour and enjoyment of school.
We recommend that parents get their children’s eyes tested every two years. Eye tests for children are free of charge, as are prescription glasses if required.