has anyone tried contact lenses for 7/8 yr old with lazy eye?

[Gwithianrocks]

hi...my 7 yr old DS has been patched for lazy eye since he was but now been told we can go patch free which is great news He is long sighted (+4 and +5) and with astigmatism in both eyes. If he doesnt wear his glasses then his bad eye still wanders around but he is brilliant at wearing them all day every day so this isnt a problem. He is really getting into sport and whilst his glasses atm dont hold him back at all I reckon that lenses could be great as he gets a little older. Any advice on when is a good time to start talking about lenses? and do you think the lens will stop the lazy eye wandering around on its own accord?!

hi thanks janitor...he's had his glasses since he was 2 and is very happy with wearing them but I get the impression he is beginning to get frustrated with them when he plays sport...swimming he copes fine interestingly enough so maybe he will be OK just taking them off for football and stuff? I have got very used to glasses on his face - he looks lovely with and without them but gives me a jump when I see his little eyes looking at me without the maginifcation!

or even magnification. stupid typing fingers!

I was gutted when we found out he needed glasses. although I think that was mostly due to guilt that I hadnt realised something was wrong before, it was only when his eye was practically pointing at his nose that we took him to the docs. Bad mother! Eyes are wierd I have decided....clever what they can do with patches and so on. Low tech solution but seems so effective. That is wierd that your DS has just the one eye affected...his brain must be clever to figure out which bits to use

I am interested in this!
My soon to be 8 yr old is very sporty, he has sports glasses but only feels comfortable wearing them when he is with his football team, think he has had some comments from other lads.
He is very shortsighted (with astigmatism) in one eye.

My friend in Oz has a DD who wears contact lenses for sport, she is 11, but apprently over there optician's recommend lenses for 7/8 yr olds.

I'm going to ask the optician next appointment, see what he says.

hi lizzy. had a quick google and, like with everything, seems to be that you can find pages that back up every opinion. so you're right I guess its a question for an optician. Am looking forward to being able to just book a regular optician appt rather than having to go up to the hospital every 10 weeks! think school will be pleased too - they were starting to get shirty over time missed - even though I always booked very early or late appts. Where did you get the sports glasses from? maybe thats something else we could look at

Gwithian, we got the sports glasses from the Opticians, we used one of the 6mthly vouchers (and topped up) for them, they are fab. But they do look a little bit different from normal glasses, more goggle like I suppose.
He is just a bit self- conscious in them, even though his mates at football thought they were cool and called him Edgar Davids (or something!).
They are a bit like These, though DS1's are red

thanks for the link Lizzy...they look really good actually. what prescrption does your DS have I reckon something like those may be better than contacts until they are older ...

He is -4.5 in left eye, just a tad shortsighted in right.
Severe astigmatism in left.

The sports glasses are good and the difference in prescription is not as noticeable as in his normal glasses iyswim.

My dd is the same age and also has a squint. We've been told that she can't have contact lenses until she's well into teenage years. She finds it frustrating at times, especially when it rains, but she knows she has to wait and is ok with that.

Sports glasses look good and you can also get prescription goggles for swimming.

I've fitted plenty of children of that age with contact lenses, although I usually fit daily disposables for that age as the infection risk if very low and it doesn't matter if they get lost. Depending on the level of astigmatism they may not be suitable though.
I don't really recommend them at that age for full time wear, but sports fine.
Your son probably has a partially accomadative/fully accomodative squint, so basically he squints because the eye is having to work too hard to see without spectacles on. I find that it does often get a little better in teenage years, but he's likely to squint without glasses on for ever.
You need someone with a special interest in contact lens wear. I'd ring around a few local practices.

thanks for all the advice...will ring round some opticians next week and see what they say. Am not sure whether my DS' astigmatism is bad ( think 75? no idea how to read the prescription!) I think the squint was caused by bad double vision without glasses which caused the brain to turn off signal from one eye to compensate - meant his eye turned in towards his nose. Its bang on straight with glasses..just hope that it remains straight if he is wearing lenses. We may leave it a couple of years depending on what the optician says - after all he cannot reliably get dressed without forgetting an item of clothing so cannot imagine how he would cope with lenses

DS1(11) has worn contact lenses for just over a year now. For sport only & the odd school disco / party & he has got along just fine
He has a daily disposable (he only has it for one eye as the other is a lazy eye.) and was quicker at learning to put it in & out than I was as an adult!
I prefer to see him in his specs as he has worn them since he was 18 months old and they are just him iyswim, but he is happier playing rugby with a contact in than with his sports specs. He does have prescription goggles for swimming too though.

whoops have just seen cheekygingers lazy eye thread. I probably should have posted there
slightlycrumpled It's good to hear that your 11 yo is good at putting them in and out.... Know what you mean about preferring to see him in specs too.

Yes he just looks like himself in his glasses, but it is nice to see his massive brown eyes in there full glory now and again! He also has astigmatism and wears a toric contact lens to correct it. Good luck at the opticians.

Yes with 0.75 he'll be fine with contacts. Just to warn you - the prescription on the lenses will be higher than his glasses, its just because contacts are closer to the eye, the prescription needs to be higher to give the same effective prescription.
Please PM me if you're having problems getting an optometrist to fit him.

thanks for your advice Karoleann, it is very much appreciated. Am going to book to see an optician in next couple of weeks and will take you up on your offer if we have any problems. Do you think kids of 7/8 can insert and remove them by themselves or is it the sort of thing a parent would do for them until they are a little older

Hi gwithianrocks,

Had to write since you even mentioned me in one of your posts!!!

It really depends on each child as to how young they can cope with contact lenses. Ideally he would be taught how to put them in and take them out himself. Sports goggles are also a good option and offer some protection as well! Sorry for hijacking

He'll hopefully be fine insering and removing himself. I uaually get them to practice weekends when there's plenty of time. TBH I wouldn't be happy with just a parent being able to do it especially if there's a problem with them at school. Its also important he takes his glasses to school too.