Glasses for a 1 year old - any advice on what type?

[proudmum74]

Hi - my dd has just turned 1 and as part of her annual check ups at the hospital they have confirmed that she has a squint and is long sighted. She had a 3hr!!! examination with the opthamologist yesterday and was given a prescription for glasses.

As neither myself nor dh wear glasses I'm completely clueless as to what I should be looking for when I have to choose some frames at the opticians (apart from the obvious of something that will hopefully help keep them on). Does anyone have any advice they can give me on what I should be looking for? e.g.

1. what style of frame is less likely to get broken should she choose to use them as her latest toy for bashing things with
2. Any advice on the most effective method of trying to keep them on, do the straps work?

Thanks!

That must be a bit of shock for you. Fortunatly there are some gorgeous styles around now. I am out of date (ds is older) but the best type of side will depend on whether the child is lieing down or active and head shape. Repairs and replacements are likely to be part of life - and the NHS used to help pay for these. I am not sure of the situation now so you should ask about it - it might be the some styles are easier(and fund) to repair than others. Go to a dispenser with experience of fitting glasses to very young children hopefully locally. Getting a spair set as soon as possible will be wise although the NHS will not always fund this so perhaps ask at the next visit.

depending on how big she is you may find you have trouble finding ones small enough at the big chain opticians. I've always found the independent or small chain ones to be better. Dd3 had these frames in pink to start off with, completely indestructible and have a strap on the back but not the best looking. All frames will get broken so I wouldn't worry too much about that, just get the free ones rather than the ones that cost a lot and definitely ask about repair policies, we've always had them done for free, even to the extent of needing a complete new frame, no problem at all.

You can ask for the curly ear bits rather than the hard plastic ones but they do tend to break more easily, depending on how she pulls them off, they don't work for dd3 but are fine for some of her friends. We used an adjustable sports strap for dd3 that worked well but thankfully hasn't needed it since about 3 when she learnt to push them back up her nose! The problem was that she would bend the frame and they wouldn't stay on.

She loves her glasses now and looks odd without them but it did take her a while to realise she could see better with them on, don't worry if she's not keen to start with, you can always build up on the time she wears them.

Awww, the picture in the link was so cute!

Thank you both for your help, the opthamologists at the hospital did warn us that we needed to go to a specialist opticians (apparently my dh suggestion that we could take her to tesco's opticians on the way home was greeted with horror! ). She probably sensed at that point we had no idea what we were doing when it comes to glasses, so she's recommended a good optomolgist nearby. I've just called them & they were really helpful, they've even offered to get some specialist frames in for dd to try at the weekend.

I'm a spec wearer and just took ds to my opticians. There werent many choices in NHS styles and some of those were just variations on size or colour, buit a decent dispenser should be able to advise. I asked about breakages/replacements and they said the NHS does have a limit but they seemed to think it is rarely applied. THat said, not all repairs are "major" and many opticians will do small repairs free or just ask you to pop something in whatever charity tin they have on the counter.

thanks starfish - one thing that is still confusing me is the voucher.

DH was given a HES 3 form with dd presecription on & it talks about it also being a voucher (type A if that means anything), but there is no value on it. Does this mean we get some sort of discount off the price of her glasses then? DH forgot to ask at the hospital, but in fairness to him he had just spent 3 hours trying to entertain dd whilst various opthamologists performed a whole host of tests on her...

The voucher is for a fixed amount towards the glasses. It should in theory cover the cost of the standard machine finished lenses (some frames need hand finished lenses or unusual sizes so cost more). Many opticians will supply a basic frame and lenses for the cost of a voucher for children. The voucher was originally intended to cover a basic frame and lenses but usually isn't really enough.Type A is the lowest value voucher (the higher ones are for stronger prescriptions or more complicated lenses like bifocals). There used to be an extra amount for very small frames/faces ( cant remember what this was called). I think an A voucher is about £36 now - not sure exactly. HTH

OK, thanks Magso

My DD2 started wearing specs at 18 months. We chose completely flexible frames which was v wise! I'd advise choosing an optician that's close by - we're on first name terms with ours due to the number of repairs. We've found it a good idea to keep a stash of nosepads and the teeny screws (off ebay) along with a glasses repair kit from £1 shop for the tiny screwdrivers.

Getting her to keep them on is the next challenge! We started off making sure she wore them for her favourite activities at first (story time, meal time) etc and then nursery would do same and gradually built it up. Getting her to wear a patch a few months later was a breeze after this! She's now 3 and goes off to find her specs in the morning of her own accord!

Good luck!

PS I don't think they like under 2's to have glasses with the curled arms as it can distort their ears. We've never used the bands as thought that would bother her more than the actual glasses. They tend to stay on (on trampoline, at park etc) unless she falls over. They tend to get thrown in temper though!!

I have two DDs who are both long-sighted and have squints. They were both diagnosed at the age of 1 - and DD1 has worn a patch for 3 hours a day since diagnosis too.

DD1 never had any problem keeping her glasses on - but has a very strong prescription. DD2 was a slightly different matter - she will still take them off during the day (but we pretend we can't see her properly without them which she finds really funny so puts them back on and shouts, "Here I am!")

We have always found the dispensing opticians very helpful when it comes to choosing glasses that fit and stay on properly so that the girls are looking through the centre of the lens correctly. We always have one pair from a large chain of opticians and another pair from an independent chain - and are on first name terms with them all as we are back there so often for refits (and occasional repairs). We have never had any problems with repairs and replacement glasses - when DD2 started wearing hers we were back 3 times in the first 4 weeks to have her glasses bent back into shape. We have now paid extra to have the fully flexible ones and they have not needed repairing at all in the 6 weeks she has had them!

The voucher covers the cost of most of the glasses that my girls want to select so far - they are always clearly labeled in the large chain and the people in the independent place are always happy to show us the 'free' ones. We do then pay extra to have the thinner lenses for both girls (although DD1's are still like milk bottle bottoms!)

For patches and headbands to keep glasses on little people I have found framehuggers.com great - and the patches have really impressed out optometrists with the success they have had for DD1.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone. We've just been to get her frames fitted; half an hour of trying to persuade her to keep them on her face for long enough to see if they fit & £80!!! Later we've chosen the frames & the glasses will be ready in a week.

Now we just need to get her to keep them on rather than wave them above her head whilst giggling :)

£80! OMG! Are they private glasses? If so you might still be able to get some NHS ones as spares.

I thought that was ridiculously expensive too!

We went to the opticians that the hospital recommended & they only had 3 frames to choose from, the cheapest of which was £80. I asked if they were sure they didn't have any cheaper ones, but they told me they were the cheapest available. I was so shocked that i ended up just agreeing, as i had no idea if that was a good price or not, but we will definitely be going somewhere else for her next pair

wow that's a lot of money! I've never paid a penny for any of dd3 glasses and she's always had nice ones, free is a decent price May be ring round a couple of other places first when she gets the next prescription. Don't worry about her being not keen on them, just go for short bursts to start off with, try to find things that require her to use her hands for distraction, row your boat is always a good one

I took DS to boots, which is where I go and there wasnt a lot of choice with the NHS ones, but there were some that suited.
As Ninjagoose says, free is a decent price especially when they are likely to get broken or lost.