Help needed with eye patching

[DebsCee]

Hi

I'm hoping someone on here will be able to help me. I have a 13 month old DS who has limited vision in his right eye due to an hemangioma (birthmark). We need to patch his good eye 3 times a day for 1 hour each time.

Our orthoptist gave us stick on eye patches which he hates and just rips off. He will not tolerate them for a second, to be honest they never stick well anyway, and I am looking for an alternative patch that maybe I can tie on or something?!

I was wondering if anyone else had experienced the same problem and could maybe suggest something clever/inventive or an alternative product. I have searched the net and only found products sold in the States or plastic play pirate patches which will be too big for his eye.

His eye sight is diminishing so I need a solution quick!

Thanks

[jayzmummy]

Does he wear glasses?
DS2 had a slip on patch that went over the top of his galsses...maybe you could get him some baby sunglasses and give one a try?

[jabberwocky]

I had a patient who started making her own patches for her daughter. They were very cute and clever, made of felt with different pictures appliqued (SP?) on. It's also nice to cover the elastic with felt too so that it doesn't pull hair. I always advise parents to let their children help decorate too with glitter, etc so that they have some control and ownership, so to speak, of the whole thing. I have also felt that you get the biggest bang for your buck out of patching if there is some visual stimulus going on such as reading, colouring, etc. Maybe you could have some special things that you do just when patching? Also, you may have better success doing for just one hour a few days and gradually building up to the 3 times. Anything is better than not wearing it at all.

HTH

[Littlefish]

I taught a little girl who had a patch for part of the day. Every time she had to wear it, she chose a small sticker to decorate it. Her mum said it made a huge difference to her willingness to wear the patches.

[anniebear]

My Daughter has SN and had to wear patches when she was very young. She didn't like them and I'm afraid it was just a case of perservering.

We would put one on and quickly try to distract her. For the first week she didnt have the patch on much!!! but it did improve till she would keep it on for an hour.

[mumtosomeone]

think at 13 months stickers etc might not work
Really cant think of a way as they always pull stuff off!

[Littlefish]

Sorry, mumtosomeone - I didn't read your post properly. I didn't realise she was only 13 months old! Please ignore my stupid sticker suggestion!

[scubawoman]

Which type of patch are you using? My daughter had 2 different sorts in the time she had to use them. The ones she found most acceptable were the ones that come with different stickers to put on the front - but she could also get them off easily, and if she got hot and sweaty they would come off anyway. The best ones I found were large ones which are like the thick fabric elastoplast plasters you can get - not as pretty to look at, but VERY difficult to remove. You can cut them down to size as they are quite big. Maybe you could ask if you could try that type instead.