6 year old needs glasses

Just jumping on to say look up Tomato glasses & find a nearby stockist if possible.
They are customisable for the best fit, absolute game changer for mine whose glasses were constantly slipping & resulting in them peering over the top.

I was 12 and at secondary school before it was picked up that I needed glasses.
I couldn't see the white board and my friend's reading wasn't very good so she would spell out the words for me.
My first prescription (short sight and mixed astigmatism) was so strong that I was given a half strength prescription for I think the first three months. I don't think I have suffered particulary with it not being picked up until quite late.
I believe, but not totally sure, that children can have two pairs of glasses on the nhs and the dispensing optician should have taken measurements to ensure the correct size frames were ordered. They will then adjust the frames to get a comfortable fit on collection.

I have astigmatism and wasn't diagnosed til my teens. I wear glasses all day and you will find the degree of effects can change. Over time one eye improved while the other worsened. You also can't have standard contact lenses with astigmatism as they can rotate in the eye as it is the wrong shape but you can get special ones made up for astigmatism. He's a bit young yet but I found bifocal glasses life changing. One thing though, he won't have known any different because this would have been his 'normal' all along so don't beat yourself up too much over this, he will be absolutely fine x

If it helps my mum is still cringing at the memory of our optician rounding on her for telling me off for touching things with "Madam! The child is touching things because she CAN'T SEE!"

That was thirty-three years ago. Nobody noticed I was spectacularly short sighted until they did the screen at the end of P2, and it wasn't like I knew the world wasn't supposed to be blurry!

He wont hold it against you and as everyone else has said, it happens or it doesn't, it's not something you do. Also, it's extremely weird how it turns out, husband and I are both very short sighted, and the kids all seem to have the eyes of hawks.

You have done nothing wrong. These things sometimes come out of the blue. I looked after a 4 year old sibling of my son's friend for one afternoon about 8 years ago. Just to give his mum a break as she had a cold. I noticed the little one was squinting. As we all wear glasses in our family I told his mum to take the boy to the optometrist. Next time I saw him at the school playground he was wearing glasses. No one in the family needs glasses according to his mum. The boy played football, did taekwondo and swimming etc. I am very doubtful your son's shortsightness will decrease. I have done a lot of research as both my husband i are very shortsighted. I have always insisted that our children (now teenagers) read in good light, take 5 minutes break every 25 minutes of near work (reading, computer, TV) and spend as much time outdoors as possible. These things are proven to slow down the progression. Once children stop growing the shortsightnes usually stops progressing. Please don't beat yourself up. We can't predict and prevent everything. The glasses will help your child at play and school- this is all that matters

Has anyone else in your family had specs? You seem to be blowing this up out of any proportion. I’ve worn glasses since 16. I have astigmatism. 🤷‍♀️ it’s no big deal.

My husband was accidentally kicked in the back of the head when he was 7, both eyes were damaged and has needed glasses and later contact lenses ever since. He is now 40 and cannot see out his left eye if he tries to focus on anything but he can if he keeps it moving. Despite this he passed his car driving test at 17, his class 2 driving test and at 25 his class 1 driving test which allows him to drive HGVS. Children’s bodies are truly amazing, because the accident happened when my husband was young his eyes learned to adapt in a way an adults never would.

Only time will tell if there is any improvement but your son will manage even if there isn’t with your full and continued support behind him.

My daughter was 5, nearly 6, when diagnosed with astigmatism. It’s only in one eye and the other eye was compensating. I really wish it was picked up sooner but there was no way for me to know. I was told there is still time for
the eye to improve. I’m expecting a follow up appointment soon and I’m very hopeful.

Ds has worn glasses since he was 5 he is now 17. He was under the eye hospital for 18 months due to one eye needing a much stronger prescription than the other. They would have patched him but he wore his glasses religiously, all the glasses wearing teachers at the school big up any child who starts wearing them, and of course Harry Potter wears glasses.

Ds's eyesight has massively improved but he still has a decent prescription. Ds could see tiny lego pieces so we never thought there was something wrong plus he "passed" the eye sight test in reception. I think they tested his good eye first and he just remembered the letters for the bad eye.

As an adult you should get your eyes tested every 2 years, children is every year and free. Eyesight is so important, it is good that you have booked your own test.

Been through the mum guilt myself.
Eldest daughter was given glasses at age 6. Severely short sighted and a massive prescription. Under hospital until age 9 then signed off to usual opticians. I felt terrible I didn't have any idea her vision wasn't tip top - especially being a glasses wearer myself.

No one picked up an issue, not my self, family, school, nursery, doctors etc. She passed the school vision test but the nurse who administered it noticed she had a slight squint and asked if i was happy for her to make a referal - as her mum I also never notice a squint either.

Her vision has massively improved, even now aged 12 her presciption went down again this month. She wasn't keen on glasses at first. Her presciption was beefy and going straight from seeing the world as she had always known it to now seeing it in completely different way she disliked, it also made her feel sick. But she grew used to it and we had to slowly transition. She now loves wearing glasses, it's one of her favourite days of the year going to the optician to pick a new specs. Ive worn glasses since i was a child too and also love it. I hope your son loves wearing glasses too

Children are entitled to have an annual eye test.

My dd (19y) has had glasses since she was 18 months old due to being long sighted and had a squint too. Ds (16y) had glasses for a very small prescription for a short time for long sight and now has a small prescription for short sight.

I took Foster Son to opticians for a check up as soon as he came to live with me and I was told he was virtually blind in one eye and very poor sight in his other eye. He had to be patched on his good eye for about 4 years. His bad eye did improve but slowly. In his bad eye he went from having 1/30 of normal sight to about 1/8 of normal sight. His good eye didn't change as much but over time improved slightly. He's now +8.5 and + 6. He has poor depth deception because of the differences in his eyes so maybe not always working together. When he's older we'll try for lazer treatment if they think it will help him. In the beginning when they patched his good eye he was walking into things and falling over a lot. I don't think he could see much for 6 months.

Glasses are nothing to worry about; I've worn glasses since I was that age and I'm 68 now. Modern frames even for children are much more stylish and fashionable than the horrible NHS frames I had to have sixty years ago!

I'm very short-sighted - it runs in the family - and if I'd not got glasses I'd not have been able to do my schoolwork.

My sister was diagnosed with issues at 7 and her reading was falling way back. Big print /easier text were OK but as the print got smaller they believed she had a learning problem .
At the time eye test every year in school, no problem picked up . My mam (btw a nurse) eventually took her to a local optician who could not believe the school service had not picked it up.
She's worn glasses since. She's early 40s, working in her chosen field, has held some great jobs she loved , has degree and masters

A friends daughter got glasses sometime in y3/4. When she came home she noticed
Her wallpaper had small flowers on,
When you use the remote numbers came on the screen
During piano lessons , that the lines had little notes on to shoe what key to use! (Everything by ear upto that point!)

I think as parents we often ask how did I miss that, but remember specialists miss things too

My daughter has had glasses since 3 she is 8 now, I had no idea she needed them until nursery pointed it out, she was under the hospital for a little whilst but just sees the optician every 6 months, her prescription is currently stable and doesn’t seem to have gotten any worse unlike me, I needed glasses from age 4, my mum knew I needed them as used to sit and squint all the time and my eyes gradually got worse up until my 20s and they have been stable ever since

Maybe this is a sign that everybody in your family should get their eyes tested and attend checkups regularly.

We found DD2 needed glasses at the same age for astigmatisms. They’d improved at her last appointment but she still needed glasses. It wasn’t picked up at the school sight test - I don’t think that one is thorough. There’s no need to feel guilty - you took him to the opticians and he needed glasses. Chances are it wasn’t that bad if you hadn’t noticed before.

I have astigmatism in both eyes and I didn't have glasses until around 7. Even then, I hated having them and avoided wearing them whenever possible. My dad has astigmatism and had glasses from 4/5. His eyesight is very marginally better than mine. What I'm trying to say is, there is very little you could have done and being close to a TV definitely didn't cause it.

My DS had his first sight test at hospital aged two. The HV booked it in as my DH has astigmatism too. The optometrist said that eyesight problems connected to astigmatism can often take a while to actually emerge anyway. So while DS did pretty well in his test, he still has to go back in 6 months. I'm saying this to reassure you that your DS may not have had vision problems his whole life, despite being born with astigmatism.

The optician will check the fit and heat them up to be moulded to his ear shape if needed.

My nephew just got glasses at 7 years old, quite a strong prescription too. He looks great in them and has got a cool brand as well. It's really not a big deal, lots of children have them.

I've had glasses since I was the same age. Never had a problem. More children wear them now so there is a better choice of frames compared to when I was young.

My DD was diagnosed with an astigmatism while in reception. She was the only one with glasses in her class. By the time she got to Year 1 half of her class had glasses. Her vision improved after about a year. She carried on wearing them until secondary. She's 21 now and hasn't worn them for years. Don't worry, they soon get used to them.

The dispensing optician will check the fit of the glasses. Did you get a copy of his prescription?

It is fine for kids to have glasses but ask if check up is every 6 months or yearly. Booked those appointments.
Not sure if your child is into swimming but powered goggles was great.