Childrens glasses

[Rowgtfc72]

My dd who is four has just been diagnosed with a squint and long sight. We have trawled round loads of opticians today and cant find any glasses to fit. The kids ones all nip the side of her head and the adult ones are all too big on her face. Any ideas would be really welcome !

They usually measure the head and sizes between the front of the face and ears etc and make them to fit.

I don't mean make them to fit I mean alter and adjust them specially

Thats good to know. Shes seen three special pink and purple pairs in specsavers and was a bit upset because they didnt fit.The assistant was really good and told us to try other shops but if we couldnt find any to go back and see what they could do.Shes as big as a kid two years older and we always have a nightmare buying clothes for her but never thought this would be the same with glasses ! Thanks .

The childrens glasses come in all different sizes.

When we go (to an independent optician), they take stuff off the selection saying that they are either too big or too small and there are still plenty of NHS choice ones left.

IMHO - I wouldn't be prepared to get any from Specsavers if they say things like that.

Have you tried Boots? or an independent? - they might be a bit more willing to sort your dd out with a pair.

Kids come in all different shapes and sizes my ds had glasses aged 3 1/2 far smaller than now aged 9 1/2, so I don't quite get what specsavers are on about.

my dd has had no problems getting glasses to fit and has worn them from 18 months till now (aged 7) - we use a local independent optician

We have this problem - I had to deal with it yesterday. If the glasses fit the width of the side of ds's head then the lenses look massively wide on him.
The optician we went to was brilliant - recommended when we were discharged from the hospital.
What they suggested was getting the pair that nearly fitted the side of his head, with lenses that didn't look too wide for his head, and then they would gently heat and bend the corners before the hinges so that they don't grip the side of his head.
You could try asking your local children's hospital which opticians they recommend when they discharge children from their care.

Frames come in different sizes. When dd was around 10 she was getting some new specs and the ones she liked in the opticians were too small for her face but the optician got a brochure out and said that the frame came in different sizes so he ordered them for her. I think it took a couple of extra days but the colour & shape were what she wanted. They were still free on nhs voucher too. I would try a different optician

Be careful though - the frame size might be the right size for the child at the temples but too big across the eyes. The proportions need to be right, not just the width from ear to ear.

Vision Express seemed to have lots of different sizes but we asked to speak to the optician rather than the front of shop lady re finding the right size for DD2 as she didn't seem to have a clue and just seemed annoyed that we hadn't gone with her first suggestion

NoodlesMam - on the arms of the frames they will have the size of the glasses, for example 12-34-56. The first two numbers are the size of the lenses, the next two are the bridge, and the last three are the arm length.

Kids glasses are normally 42-44 lens size so I would try looking for a pair that have a lens size of 46 - 48. I know glassesdirect.co.uk do that size, you can order I think 4 pairs at once and send back ones that don't fit. You would just need to find out her bridge size. You can do this by trying on glasses that fit her bridge and then noting the middle numbers down in the measurements (12-34-56) I think a good size for your daughter would be either 46 lens size or 48 lens size. It might be worth ringing your opticians and asking if they have any with those measurements your daughter can try on. 46 to 48 lens size is normally a bit awkward to get though as it's in between kids and adults.

Also don't forget that it's your legal right to obtain your prescription from your opticians and take it somewhere else.

I hope this post actually made sense! :)

An Optician writes....

Hello there.

Don't worry about any child being 'too big' for childrens frames - any decent optician will have a range of frames that will fit - they may need extra adjustments - mainly the sides shortening as sides on non-childrens frames will be a fair bit longer.

If your childs prescription means that the lenses may be thicker in a larger frame, then again they can be thinned down - this does not always mean a more expensive lens - I'm an independent optician and my glazing lab will surface certain prescriptions down for a minimum cost.

NB the NHS issue vouchers for childrens lenses at a set amount - depending on prescription strength. Each optician will probably use that in a different way - some will let it cover all the cost, some will make a small additional charge for frames - don't be afraid to ask what you are getting for your voucher.

Thanks eveyone. We trawled round loads of opticians and still found nothing. We went back to Specsavers and a lovely lady helped us pick some teenage frames and is going to bend the hinges out so they dont squeeze her head and make the arms shorter. We pick them up next monday . And they were one of the frames she originally liked which was a bonus !

i have had this problem my whole life. have small face /and strong lenses/ but wider head. some opticians plain refuse to widen the frame for me, some do try after a bit of talking to.
it is perfectly ok to bend the metal frames and yo can do it at home with a bit of luck. optiocian hate hearing it by if they refuse to do it, i dont see antoher option. i always thought they have a special way to heat up the frame before bending but apparently they dont!

i dont understand why teh opticians cant understand, that not everyone has a fce as wide as the head. there must be loads of people like that.