Children who are prescribed eyeglasses by their eye doctor need to get used to wearing them. School becomes much more difficult for children who struggle with their vision, so is is important to find strategies to keep your child’s glasses on. For children who won’t wear their eyeglasses, the key is to remove the negative associations a child may have with glasses and replace them with positive ones.
Keep a Spare Pair
You know that your children need to wear glasses. However, once a child is of school age, it is simply impossible for you to be around him every minute of every day. When he is at school or out with friends, if a child doesn’t like wearing glasses there is a good chance he will take them off once you’re not around. Stick to affordable frames and have an extra pair around in case the first ones get misplaced or broken.
Selection
Let your child pick out her own glasses. If a child is continually either forgetting or refusing to wear her glasses, then you should make sure that she gets to help pick the next pair. If you let your child choose frames that she likes, she is going to be more likely to wear them. For many children, the difficulty in wearing glasses is the fear of embarrassment. If your child likes her frames, it helps alleviate this problem.
Basic Discipline
You need to make it clear to your child that wearing glasses is not an option, but a necessity. If he fails to wear his glasses, you should use consistent discipline techniques that work for other areas of your child’s life. In most cases you will have more success by praising your child rather than by rebuking him. Encourage him when he remembers to wear his glasses.
Explore Minimalism
Big bulky glasses are definitely not appealing. Opt for high-index lenses made from plastic that will be much lighter and easier to adjust to for children. If you are dealing with teenagers or pre-teens who don’t want to wear glasses, you should discuss the option of contact lenses with an optometrist. Contacts are an effective way to correct vision in a less intrusive way. If recommended by the optometrist, this can be an effective compromise for teens.