Baby needs glasses - advice please

[prm]

Hi all,

I just found out my 15-month old is going to need glasses.

We have a hospital appt to get his eyes tested and tney will give us a prescription to have them made - that's all I know!

Has anyone been in the same situation recently and can give me some advice on which opticians (local or not)have a good selection of baby glasses, any tips on which kind / what features did u find useful, are the NHS options good enough or did u choose to pay extra (are repairs covered by nhs then?), do they give you a spare, any tips on how to get them to wear the glasses etc etc

Lots of questions, any advice gratefuly received.

Thanks!!

[east-of-the-Rye]

my son needed glasses at 3 years old, which is a bit older, but maybe some of what I can say may help:

- he was very badly behaved in the tests (or possibly behaved in a totally rational way, i.e. "I don't want to be here, so I'll make a fuss")- I don't have much advice about how to help there.

- the first optician that we went to had a toy box in the waiting area, that he settled down to play with, but then we were asked to go through to see the optician, so he made a fuss. we agreed to come back later.

- then, when walking along Nunhead Lane at the weekend, he saw a picture of Superman in the local optician's window, advertising glasses. we went in, and Carol, the owner, was great, she suggested we just come, sit down and look around, and don't touch any glasses this time. we went a couple of times before we finally got some glasses on the boy, and once he received glasses with real lenses, that he could see well through he kept them on. that optician has now shut, but perhaps the tip is, to ask a local optician whether they are happy to let you come in and get comfortable a few times before trying lenses etc.

- I say "local" optician, because you may become quite regular....

- NHS glasses are fine as far as I'm concerned - they are free if you choose from several frames, but they are all o.k., it's not like the old "NHS frames" that my sister wore in the '60's.

- the NHS kindly mends & replaces broken ones, I suppose there may be a limit to how often before you have to pay, but we didn't reach it. Accidents included glasses being stuck behind a radiator, another boy (who wore glasses himself and had behavioural problems) stamping on them, and lenses coming out.

- the NHS will issue 2 pairs, especially if it is essential that they are worn all the time.

my son got used to his glasses very quickly and even now (he's 16) feels they are part of him in some way.

The eye patch for the squint was another matter though...

[prm]

Thanks so much for your reply East of the Rye - we are now wearing glasses and so far it's going better than I expected. I guess when they realise they can see so much better they stop taking them off. Will ask the opticians about the second pair because neither them or the hospital told me I could have a second pair (and I think we may indeed need them as they do come out flying every now and then!)

[Halley68]

Thanks for sharing.

[cellinenicky]

Maybe a pair of polarized glasses is suitable for your baby, for which can give a sharp and natural view as well as the UV and glare protection at the same time. I am not sure, but my nephew is similar to your baby and what he gets is the type.

how-to-choose-best-sunglasses-for-kid.html