How hard is it for a 4yr old energetic boy to wear glasses?

[Lizzylou]

DS1 had an eye test today, I knew he was short sighted in his right eye from his initial eye test but it seems he has a severe astigmatism which will mean he will always need glasses/lenses.
We have chosen some lovely lightweight (bendy) glasses, (had to stop him from the shocking pink ones he chose as he may have had a problem when he started school in september!) and he seemed fine.
But next week when he has to start wearing them all the time I am worried the novelty will wear off.
Will he be OK at school/playing sport.
I am very shortsighted and have worn contact lenses since I was 13, I remember being teased about my glasses and not wearing them when I should have done.
Just need some positive glasses wearing stories tbh!

Sorry for bad grammar!

DS has worn glasses since he was 4.4. He really wasn't keen at first, but has gradually accepted he needs them. We do get through a LOT of pairs, though! Think 12 a year! I can't praise Vission Express enough,though, and they never ask questions.

Is your DS likely to nead a patch?

Thanks for the reply, Lynettescavo
No, he won't need a patch.
I am worried about replacing them all the time tbh! It is a small local opticians which we were referred to by the hospital, not a chain. I think we may have to switch if it all gets a bit silly on the replacement front!

Teh hostpital reccomended we went to a small independant opticians (funnily eonugh owned by the optician who aslo works in the hostpital) but it would take 2 weeks to get a replacement pair,and we had to pay for each replacement. Vission Express can sort us out in a cuple of days (Ds's glasses need to be sent to the lab for thining, usually it's an hour) and don't make me pay each time. We find it's good to have 2 pairs at a time, just in case.

my ds is also 4 and has been wearing his glasses for about 3 months now. He does take them off when he is wrestling or playing outside, eg football, but he also has the habit of hiding them whenever he feels like it..

Thanks all, so will get DS's prescription and go to a chain (think Visionexpress is in next town) and will try and think up where he may hide glasses!
Luckily he is heavily into "Where's Wally" books at the moment, so have told him he will be like Wally!

My DD1 is 4.2 has an astigmatism. She has worn glasses since 3.5 and we have had no problems whatsoever until about a month ago. I think she was self conscious because of all the new starters at pre-school.

Explain to him why he needs to wear them, make sure he thinks they are really cool, and remind him to put them back on if he takes them off.

Oh and my DD has been on bouncy castles and trampolines with hers with no problems.

If your ds has NHS glasses then you don't have to pay for repalacements. Its only if the glasses cost more than the NHS voucher that you should have to pay.

Most opticians will repair bent out of shape glasses if you ask. My dd1 (5) has been wearing glasses for 2.6 years now and we have only ever had to pay £2 for a repair (for a new screw).

We used to have weekly visits to the opticians to get her glasses straightened at first but now we rarely go (unless her and dd2 have a barney and dd2 pulls her glasses off).

We use Boots Opticians for DD's glasses as when we were getting her first pair they were the most helpful at persuading a 2.3 year old to even try on the glasses (they bribed her with choc buttons!!!! at their expense)

Thanks, FunkyGlasssplipper, I have told him they will make him see like a superhero and at the moment he is obsessed with his sunglasses, so am hoping all will be well.
I just don't want him to be teased/feel different. I know there are so many worse things than wearng glasses, it's just a bit daunting, I guess.

Ds has had glasses for about 8mths and he has always been fine. He is 4.6yrs and starts school in sept but wears them for nursery and doing whatever..he will sometimes take them off if playing very rough things which is fine as thats his choice.

Really Elk?
There were no glasses in the opticians that cost the same as the voucher, so I paid extra for the "bendy", lightweight ones. There were ones which cost £10 more, but they seemed very heavy and I know from experience that heavy glasses can be really uncomfortable if worn all day.
Think will get prescription from Opticians and do a bit of shopping around!
DS1 actually loved trying on all the glasses, he was fab

That is very reassuring, Nemo.
Thanks, this is exactly what I wanted to hear!
Have just felt very worried for him.

I've 2 glasses wearers and once they got used to wearing them they never take them off: they can see better. One also has astigmatism. I went to Specsavers with one and local optician with the other and found Specsavers a complete PITA: we got 2 pairs for the price of one and we needed them because they were lousy quality and broke easily. The more expensive ones from local optician were much more robust and also guaranteed for a year so when they did break (she had a nasty fall) they replaced them without quibble. I also found that they made sure they fitted better (bent the arms around the ears, adjusted nose pads etc) while Specsavers arms were too long and slid down her nose all the time, even with constant trips back and forth for readjustment.

Only get one pair at the beginning with astigmatism: DD2's prescription was correct and she wore a patch but because it wqas quite strong she developed a squint and had to have new prescription after a few weeks and again a few weeks after that so 2 pairs were unnecessary. We've got by with 1 robust pair and an understanding optician; After 7 years of glasses weraing between the two of them, we've never had a day without glasses (ie repairs done on the spot) once we moved away from Specsavers

Thanks Pofaced.
The opticians did seem good, when I pick them up next week I will find out what the replacement situation is. Was just a bit worried about paying £40 a month for new glasses!

Lizzylou, My DD has never had a problem with teasing or anything although she is only at pre-school. Some of her friends wanted glasses too!

We use Boots. We've been back 3 times for new nose pads and once for altering as the arms were rubbing her ear (she had grown). Never paid anything for this. Didnt pay for the initial glasses either as they were covered by the voucher.

Thanks FGS. This is all making me feel better!
I had a quick peek in Boots this morning and the frames were nearly all covered by the voucher and looked good.
Thanks again

No problem Lizzylou. Hope he likes the pair he ends up with. They looks so different at first. I was quite upset about it at first but now she wears them all the time she loods odd without them....

We get ours from Vision Express. Huge chioce of frames that you can get witht he voucher and lots more that are another £20 or so. And they can make them in a couple of hours.

My ds's best friend has worn glasses since ha was 2, and he does everything that the others do.

My dd is 12 and plays hockey, tennis, rides, canoes - the only sport she takes them off for is trampolining. And she has never been teased - I think glasses are just normal nowadays. Not mike in my school days, when I had hideous national health horn rims!