advice needed please on how to get DS aged 4 to wear his glasses

[Numberfour]

My son has to wear glasses because one of his eyes is very far sighted. We have been referred to an opthalmologist but he has an interim prescription and a pair of glasses to wear.

We picked up the specs yesterday, but he refuses to wear them.

How should we approach it? Not keen on Force! Tried bribery. Tried sweet talking. Tried playing nonchalant.

DH and I both wear contacts or glasses, but even that will not convince DS to wear his.

Does anyone have any advice for me please? He was initially SO excited to be getting glasses, but now that he has them he won't put them on. He says it makes him look different. I obviously told him how gorgeous he is (it is a fact so no need to over inflate there ) but to no avail.

Help!

My son also had to wear glasses when he was 4, because he is shortsighted. He didnt like them at first because they made him see normally for the first time, but he slowly got used to it. He is nearly 9 now and wears them from when he wakes up to when he goes to bed. Im sure if you just persevere then he will get used to it. Good luck x

thanks, keels26. i am sure that he will become accustomed to them. but right now he point blank refuses.

will have to perservere! poor little thing will be having an eye patch too, in a few weeks. that won't be easy......

thinking back now i was lucky lol,
my lo has wore glasses since she was 11 months,which was tricky at first,but at least she doesnt know the difference now (age 3) and at the time she couldnt really argue back lol,
stick with it,you will get there,

good luck xx

Maybe they are giving him a bit of a headache? Or if one eye is different to the other it might be affecting his depth perception or something - maybe when he says he looks different he means that the world looks different - I'm not sure how articulate the average 4 year old is. I know when I first got glasses to correct my astigmatism they really affected my depth perception and made me feel almost seasick.

Could you try saying he has to wear them for a certain activity - for example when you are in the car, but he can remove them when he gets out, then add when he is watching TV/reading with you/eating dinner, gradually increase the amount of time he has to wear them (and if he decides to carry on watching them after said activity, don't remind him he can take them off unless he asks) - gradually he should get used to them and will be able to wear them all the time without feeling uncomfortable.

wearing them, not watching them lol!

Thanks, Sazm and Cherrychoc! Yow! specs since 11 months. That must have been hard.

Cherrychoc, your suggestion is great. Thanks. I will certainly try that. I had wondered if DS saying that he "looks" different means that he sees things differently, but he first made that comment when when he looked at himself in the mirror at the optometrist. I have also found the things are very wonky and that depth perception is effected when I have my prescription changed. I was prepared for the odd tripping or falling over by DS, but I don't really know how to handle the outright refusal to wear the glasses. When I was young, about 13 or so, my father would shout at me to put my glasses on. I don't want that to be the case with my son!

thanks again - i appreciate the help!

LOL! I read it as wearing and not watching! had to read and read again to find the slip!

Cherrychoc, DS is playing computer games and is wearing his specs! Hooray!!!
thanks.....

Yay glad it helped!