Eyeglasses for Infants and Children

Having a successful visit to the eye doctor is only half the battle of improving your child's sight. Convincing your child to wear their prescription glasses is the other and quite possibly most difficult. Here are some suggestions from doctors at The Cleveland Clinic to help you find the right eyeglasses for children, and to help your child adjust to wearing them every day.

1. Make sure your child's eyeglass frames fit. Your child's eyeglass frames should fit properly, without pinching the ears or nose, or weighing down the face. Check points of contact periodically to make sure that there is no skin irritation.
2. Make sure the prescription of the eyeglasses is correct. If your child is looking over the eyeglasses or complains that he or she cannot see with them, the prescription may be incorrect. An optician or eye doctor will be able to determine the optical accuracy of your child's eyeglass prescription.
3. Start gradually. Start your child wearing eyeglasses in only small amounts of time, gradually increasing the length of time.
4. Make them routine. Putting eyeglasses on and taking them off should be part of their daily routine. Encourage them to put them on in the morning when they dress and taken them off at night before they go to bed.
5. Offer positive reinforcement. Be sure to use positive reinforcement when the child does wear the eyeglasses.

What Do I Do If My Child Refuses to Wear Glasses?

If you child refuses to wear his or her eyeglasses, make sure the prescription is correct. If the prescription is correct, try using positive reinforcement and explain why it is important to wear eyeglasses.

What Should I Do When My Child is Playing Sports?

Thousands of injuries happen to children's eyes each year while they are playing sports. Almost all of these injuries could be prevented if protective eye gear is worn. Protective eye gear comes in both prescription and non-prescription lenses. Children should wear this gear if they participate in any number of sports including:

• Baseball/softball
• Basketball
• Soccer
• Hockey
• Tennis
• Karate
• Racquetball

Your child may at first be reluctant to wear protective gear, especially if the rest of his or her teammates are not wearing any. Some ways to persuade children include allowing your child to pick out a style he or she may like or to wear protective eye gear yourself when playing sports.

Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute.

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Edited by Charlotte E. Grayson, MD, WebMD, November 2004.

Portions of this page © The Cleveland Clinic 2000-2005

Last Editorial Review: 6/21/2005