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Original poster

How to get a 9 month baby to wear his glasses.

18 replies

west3 · 22/03/2006 11:17

Ds gets his first pair of glasses tomorrow and I coukld do with some handy hints as to how to get him to keep them on. All suggestions considered, thanks in advance.

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mumeeee · 22/03/2006 12:37

DD2 had glasses at 13 months. We were able to have an extra voucher to get her very small galsses and we also were able to get a pair with an elasticated strap which went round her head.
I don't know if they still to this type og thing (it was a long time ago) and it seemed to work. Also her older sister had galsses at the time and she was happy to be like her.

Original poster

west3 · 22/03/2006 12:52

DD also wears glasses but she is 5 and we could explain things to her when she got her glasses at 3 1/2.
Will ask about the straps cos it could really help when we are out and about. DS has habit of throwing everything out of his buggy at the moment.
Contacted local optician and they said that although he has the NHS voucher we will have to pay something towards frames. Going to try Vision express and Specsavers this afternoon.

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Uwila · 22/03/2006 13:32

AW... your 9 month old needs glasses? Just a thought, if you can't get an elastic band, maybe try a ski shop and see if they have something that you could attache. You'd probably have to have it made smaller. But it might work.

I wore glasses when I was 3, but can't help much with 9 months.

chipmonkey · 22/03/2006 14:24

The elastic bands work well but after a while when they begin to appreciate how much easier it is to see with the glasses, they are less likely to fling them off! Specsavers used to do a "kids go free" in the UK, probably still do?

LunarSea · 22/03/2006 16:24

Can't really held with hints (though I think Uwila's right about trying a ski shop for \link{http://www.simplypiste.com/ProductDetails.aspx?StockID=80084\these}) - but how on earth do they work out what glasses a 9 month old needs? Obviously not in the same way as eye tests for older kids and adults, which rely on a lot of verbal input.

Original poster

west3 · 22/03/2006 17:02

Hi Lunarsea
I was amazed that they could tell he needed glasses, it is something to do with the way a light hits the focal part of the eye. Basically they dilate the pupils using eye drops, shine a liht into the eye, put various lenses in front of the eye until the light hits the spot. Something like that anyway.
He was referred for a different eye condition and they test their sight as part of the assessment.
Going to try and get a sports band - hopefully that will do the trick

OP posts:

chipmonkey · 22/03/2006 17:25

It's called retinoscopy. You put drops in to stop the baby from focussing, then you shine a light in and move it from side to side. If the baby is longsighted, the reflected light from the back of the eye moves "with" the doctor's light, if the baby is shortsighted (rare for a baby) the reflected light moves "against" the doctor's light. You keep trying different lenses until there is no movement and that gives you the correct prescription. Can be difficult but a small baby can sometimes be better than a stroppy 2 year old who wants nothing to do with the whole process!

misdee · 22/03/2006 17:28

my dd3 has a different eye test with a camera which came back as she needs glasses. we are waiting for an appointment for the tests with the drops etc. she is 13months now.

Original poster

west3 · 22/03/2006 17:47

DS was a total star. After screaming the place down when he got the drops put in, he fell asleep and the optician was able to the complete assessment with him snoring away.
Not looking forward to tomorrow, but only because I suspect I will have a fight on my hands at vision express/specsavers cos DS is full of cold and just a miserable little sausage at the moment.

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Miaou · 22/03/2006 17:50

Aw bless... I will mention lucykate here - her ds is about 8 or 9 months and he wears glasses - not sure how much success she has had with keeping them on but if she searches on her name (like I do ) then she will find this thread and may have some advice....

NomDePlume · 22/03/2006 17:56

gosh, I remember that scrummy pic lucykate posted of her DS with his specs on. Unbelievably cute.

Not v helpful, I know, but none of my kids wear glasses and I've only had them since I was 12 so don't know about specs on tinies

sparklymieow · 22/03/2006 18:22

My DD1 has wore glasses since she was 4 months old. I brought a sport band from the optictions, she also had the curly sided glasses. It took a while for her to get used to them, but after a few months she realised she could see better with them.

figroll · 23/03/2006 14:53

My little one had curly sides on her spex and she never took them off, unless they were dirty!

madchad · 23/03/2006 22:11

I do sympathise west3
DD2 got them at 15 months (not the same I know) as she developed a sudden squint and is severely longsighted in both eyes
We had 10 days of hell, keeping replacing them as she tore them off each time.I lost count of how many times we did this-must have been hundreds, and we were terrified that she would break them.She was at F/T nursery too, so I was lucky to have some excellent nursery nurses who backed us up with the same.
Anyway, she got used to them , realised she could actually see things better, and then we had the syndrome of her crying when they were removed!!! (as she reverted to double vision)
We had a fab orthoptist who prescribed the ultra thin lenses (she is + 5 and + 6!). No curly arms-my optometrist cousin told me about these but the orthoptists said they weren't needed and she was right.
Cute frames, all on the NHS (the hospital wouldn't ) we are on our 6th pair in 6 months as we have had several frames warp/lens fall out the prescription was changed up after a few months, so do see if you can get them fully paid for -we used the non-chain optometrist that the ophthalmologist recommended (They are not supposed to, but I begged ) as the owner lectures on child optometry. You will need a spare pair, again we got this on the NHS!
On a bright note, she looks really cute in them, and people talk to her all the time because of them!

Original poster

west3 · 24/03/2006 10:03

Well we have survived the first 24 hours. DS is doing really quite well - screams when the glasses go on but quick distraction and he is fine. Manages about 40 mins to an hour at the moment before he goes to rub his eyes or touch his face and realises they are there and pulls them off.
Ended up at local Vision Express and can't praise them highly enough. Spent lots time playing with DS and introducing frames slowly. Ready in 1 hour exactly and told to go back in a week to re-adjust and get second pair. All completely free.
Looks so cute - smaller version of the Milky Bar Kid
Will try and post a photo when I work out how to download from the camera.

OP posts:

figroll · 24/03/2006 17:01

I always found that people loved to stare at my poor baby in the glasses, so I developed a knack of staring back. They are quite cute though and she had some lovely Noddy glasses with little curly sides. She then went onto some pink ones with blue spotty bits - very trendy.

The glasses also correct her squint, so wearing them is much more comfortable than not wearing them. He will get used to them. Good luck!

lucykate · 04/04/2006 21:45

wow, for the first time i've done a search for my name, and it appeared!, i'm impressed . can't believe i missed this thread. how is the glasses wearing going west3?, i'd be very interested to hear.

both my ds and dd have glasses, dd since 18mths (she's now 4), and ds since 6mths (he's now 10mths). yes, ds did look like an angel in his, but the little tinker will not wear them anymore. they both have squints although ds has better sight than dd. the optician has told us not to worry too much at this stage, 12-18mths is a more realistic age to try again with them.

handy hints for getting him to keep them on, tie his hands behind his back and sellotape the glasses to his head let me know if anything has worked for you and i'll gladly give it a try with my ds.

Mamo · 04/04/2006 22:39

Am in on the very end of this!! Love to hear how your doing!! My Ds got his at around the same time, nightmare to begin with then spoke to someone who said her son just clicked! Sat mine down in front of TOTP, had never really watched TV till then but loved music!! It was a hoot watching him peek over the top of the glasses then through them! Still throws them off to this day if he doesn't like what he's being told but will put them back on again he's now just 4!!

Told not to use straps by specsavers! Also make sure the hospital put curl tips on the script, the NHS don't pay for them on repairs!!

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