Sunglass for children who wear glasses

[PuffofSmoke]

What age can kids get prescription sunglasses? Although prob not worth it for all the sun we get and how quickly kids prescriptions change...

Is there anything available to clip onto children's glasses, like sunglasses IYKWIM?

DD is particularly sensitive to the sun (maybe something to do with her eye problems) and screams blue murder if she is in the car or pram and the sun gets in her eyes. She is obviously used to wearing glasses all the time and would keep them on, I suppose if she didn't wear glasses already I wouldn't even think about it as I would presume she wouldn't wear them like the thousand or so sun hats I have bought her

Just thinking out loud really - anyone else in a similar situation found a solution?

DD is almost 2 btw

DN is 3 and is getting prescription sunglasses but they are having to pay for them as apparently sunglasses arent covered under the NHS vouchers. I would go to the opticians you get the glasses from and talk to them.

DS got those reaction type lenses. He was 2. Can't stand the sun in his eyes and wears a hat most of the time when it's bright but I think his specs help him a lot too.

Those won't help in the car with tinted windows so i found out to my cost!

My ds is very sensitive to the sun and we have had to buy prescription sunglasses for him from the age of 3.

Recently our opticians has carried a range that actually look like sunglasses and wrap around the head a bit more, cutting out more sun. He loves them. They cost about £40 though and the prescription and size of glasses he needs will have changed by next year.

We have also had to buy him prescription goggles for swimming as he couldn't see his instructor.

It is expensive when your child needs glasses, despite the free prescriptions. Thank goodness the initial glasses are free.

Thanks for the replies, very interesting. Hadn't thought about goggles, DD I expect, will be the same. Will pop into the opticians over the weekend and see what they recommend. £40 isn't much to pay if it helps her enjoy the summer more.

Our optician is a Duncan and Todd if that is any help.

The proper sunglasses frames and lenses are much more effective than just putting sunglass lenses in normal frames. They also look much more fun and encourage ds to wear them more.

The goggles are by Leader and come in kit form. You can buy prescription goggles online. You just need the nearest prescription possible for each eye and the bits to put them together. You then need to teach your child to put them on the right way up so the right prescription is on the right eye iykwim.

Only just seen this so bit of a late response!

My DD is light sensitive because of her eye condition. We had a bit of a heated argument with a locum childrens eye doctor about it and had to get her cornea specialist involved but we did get sunglasses on NHS prescription and these are repaired/replaced as necessary free of charge.

I would have gladly paid for them but it was the principle of it, as I explained to the locum - My DD needs to wear glasses but is light sensitive so should she take her glasses off reducing her vision and wear non prescription sunglasses or should she continue to wear normal lens glasses and be in pain/unable to see/distraught? It seemed only fair to provide her with sunglasses to me!

We have some lovely Hello Kitty sunglasses that look like sunglasses rather than ordinary glasses with tinted lenses. We go to an independant optician which is based in the hospital she attends regularly, they have a fantastic range of girls and boys sunglasses frames to choose from. I have seen other independant opticians with good ranges of childrens sunglasses too.

If your DD is light sensitive due to her eye condition I would say push for sunglasses on NHS!

Hi Puffofsmoke,

You can sometimes wangle a free pair of prescription sunglasses from the hospital eye clinic but it has to be clinically necessary i.e diagnosed as photophobic or have ocular albinism....so worth a try if she has a particular eye condition.

I have to add sun hats are a great cheap way of keeping the sun out of their eyes.

The other thing is that prescription sunglasses dont need to be updated as regularly as normal glasses. If the prescription has changed only a small amount then the sunglasses can wait. This will not cause any long-term damage, i promise.