Glasses that fit my DS DD properly - any ideas/experiences?

[GGwhinny]

My 13mo DD has just been prescribed glasses. Specsavers offers a choice of 1 frame that's not a brill fit and she's not very happy about keeping them on - as soon as I look the other way they're in her mouth! Any advice on keeping specs on such a little one or where to find frames that fit a DS face/head better would be much appreciated!

when my dd3 was little we couldn't get her glasses on the high street, it was impossible. The eye unit at the hospital has it's own optician, a branch of Collisons that we always use, still not a massive choice at that age but better and a good optician should adjust the arms and nose bridge so that the fit is good. Do they have anything similar where you are? Do you have any independent opticians nearby, sometimes they can have a better choice than the big chains, or they may order something in especially for you.

as for keeping them on, I'd recommend all forms of bribery and corruption You have to remember that she doesn't know she can't see as well as she should so these glasses probably make everything look a little funny at the moment, especially if she has a strong prescription, it'll take time. Once she realises she can see better with them on then it gets a little easier.

Try getting her to wear them at times when you know it will make a difference, depending on whether she's long or short sighted, looking at a book or watching the ducks on the pond etc. You may well find she won't wear them when she's tired, dd3 sometimes still takes hers off when she's tired, although she will sometimes want to wear them in bed Singing action songs can be a good chance to keep them on, her hands will be occupied. We got a sports strap at one stage, that helped keep them on for longer, it had an adjuster at the back so they were held in place and didn't slip down her nose so much and annoy her because they were always bent out of shape

My dd has curly sides that go round the ears.You have to ask for them and some places charge for them.I know that specsavers and boots do them.hth

i work at a private opticians and we offer a good range of glasses with curly ear ends - and also give the parents the option of ordering a selection of pairs on approval so that they can choose - we can also get really tiny sized
stretchy bands to keep them on
if you go to the a good independant opticians you will get a better service -
where are you in the country

We have this issue too - my daughter has DS and has had glasses since she was 2 (she's just turned 5). I would agree that independent opticians are generally much better and will be more willing to look 'outside of the box'. Curly backs have been vital for us, plus a built up bridge.

There is a website called www.seeability.org which you might find useful - it has tips and you can also find opticians local to you who are experienced with people with learning difficulties.

Good luck!

Thanks for all your responses. The glasses she has do have curly ear ends and a built up bridge. I asked about a strap/band to keep them on and the optician suggested it would be better to try without first as the curly ends should help them to stay on! Ha!! she had them off in seconds! The optician did adjust the fit (the splay) so that they didn't dig into the sides of her head, but they do seem to squash the tops of her ears a bit.
Mollymole, I'm in the northeast - Middlesbrough is the nearest big town. I'll also contact the hospital again and pester them, although you'd have thought they'd have given me suggestions of possible opticians when they gave me the prescription...! However, I am learning that I can't assume information will be passed on unless I specifically ask for it - at least when it's information I need as opposed to the general overload that seems to come from all sources these days. Sorry, little rant just spilled out!

curly sides and a silicone nose bridge will help enormously. small private opticians are often better than high street chains for service - we have used a few. the local optician kept a box of of all the broken bits we went through so that we could get emergency patch-togethers whilst the new ones were on order. it was quite a big box by the time we moved. i thinkwe went through about 7 pairs in the first two years...

(on that note - the next time you see the hosp, get a form for a spare pair. if dd isn't moving yet, she may well be soon, and glasses get crushed and waylaid by everything for the next 2 or 3 years. especially if piedros get involved. or puppies. ).

a neoprene band round the back might help, but sometimes littlies won't tolerate it - dd2 had friend with very complex needs and little purposive movement, but she could still lob her glasses across the room by two . iff dd looks like she will tolerate a band, our local optician offered to put a prescription into 'babybanz' for dd2 - usually sunglasses lol, but he was definitely a 'think outside the box' kind of guy.

hi,
ds1 wears glasses and has had the same pair for 2 years (he's now 3), the website is www.solobambini.com and they are called Como Baby. The strap they come with was a bit rubbish but I replaced it with some elastic and they stay on all day. There's no metal in them and they can be moulded to the right shape as they are v bendy. We got ours from an independent optician and I would highly recommend them for little ones. hth.

jo, those are the ones my dd3 had up until she was about 18 months! She had the round ones in pink, the worst you can do is pop the lens out, totally unbreakable and very chewable. Just not the best looking, people used to ask if they were real glasses all the time, I was tempted to glue a fake tache on them in the end