Share your top tips on getting your child to wear their specs with Specsavers: you could win a £250 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

The team at Specsavers know all about fitting specs and getting the correct prescription but would love to know from parents how you go about ensuring your child wears their specs when they need to.

They say "At Specsavers we have great deals on glasses for kids: all in our kids’ £64 and teens’ £85 ranges are free with under-16s’ NHS funding. And now, Specsavers will give you a second pair from the £64 or £85 range, free. Both pairs can come with SuperTough Trivex® single vision lenses with a scratch-resistant treatment. Or you can choose to have tinted prescription lenses and UV filter free in your second pair. We also have a fantastic range of children’s glasses to choose from, with fun designs including Moshi Monsters, Disney Princess, Star Wars, LEGO®, The Simpsons and many more.".

So, whether you have a spec wearing toddler, teen or any age in between please share on this thread your tips to ensure the glasses are on their noses when they should be!

Share your thoughts and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 voucher from here

Please note Specsavers may use your comments - anon of course - on their pages on MN, on their social media or possibly elsewhere - please only post if you're happy with this.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

I tell my daughter if she wears her specs her eyes will be like an eagle's eyes - sharp and she can she is the distance. It works :)

D started having to wear glasses at age 7 and because she was instantly able to see the benefits with them on, it hasn't been a problem.

It helped that her dad wears glasses and now I do too, the joys of getting old ha!
But if she had been resistant, I think we'd have used something visual - like a reward chart - and looked at pictures of people wearing them to make her aware that it's nit anything to be wary off. There are some really great funky styles around for children too, her first pair was pink with flowery detail - very D!

Ds1 is 12 and first got glasses 1 1/2 years ago... he at first only needed them for classroom whiteboard work but gradually he needed them more. At his last check up, he got new glasses and was told he needed to wear them all the time - it's been a struggle! He doesn't need them to read, play on the computer but he does need them once he looks up and it's taken a few months to get him to realise that actually he wasn't seeing stuff! I have no tips... it's been a constant "where are your glasses? Please put them on!" He plays a lot of sport and we are now looking at contact lenses for at least some of the time. That said, he likes his glasses which is so unlike me at his age - I hated and still hate wearing glasses!!!

Specsavers NEED to increase their teen range. We ended up choosing from the adult section as the teen section was very small but also didn't fit him.

No problem getting DS to wear glasses, he chose his own pair that look 'just like daddy's'. Finding them when he has put them down is another matter!

My DC don't wear glasses (yet at least) but they were both begging for them after reading a Charlie and Lola book about wearing glasses. They were very disappointed they don't need glasses though DD1 (6) has a go at convincing me that she needs them occasionally.

All three of my children wear glasses and they just know that they have to, we've always been quite firm about it and they got used to them really quickly and couldn't be without them now. I think you just have to persevere for the first hour or so and after that they just wear them. It does help if they have a special theme like lego or moshi-monsters or something but glasses are quite trendy now so it hasn't really been a problem.

There are so many styles available nowadays, I guess wearing glasses is cooler now than ever before. Let them try lots of different styles/colours and choose their favourite.

I let ds age 5, chose which pair he wanted and made it into an exciting treat and told him how lucky he was wearing funky glasses. All my friends told him how cool he looked, so I think that helped.
He had to wear eye patches at the same time as his glasses. We had tears the first night and after that he just wore them, no questions asked.
The glasses are a very mild prescription.
I explained that if he wore them all the time now, in a few years he won't need to, but it really wasn't an option, just like brushing his teeth, he has to do it.

My 8yo is disabled and really struggles with keeping his glasses on. We're still working on it.

My 5yo wears his very well. The rhyme I taught him right away was "on your face or in your case." Basically his glasses should be one of those two places... always. He does very well with that, although there was a lot of reminding the first few weeks. But if he takes them off and sets them down, for example, on the table, all I have to say is "Where should your glasses be?" and he says "on your face or in your case" and he either puts them back on or goes upstairs and puts them away in the case if he was going to be doing something like jumping on the trampoline.

When younger we didn't push wearing them, we just discussed glasses a lot. Chatting about how nice the waitress' glasses were, what sort of design would be nice when the current pair were too small, how I'd a bit of a headache as I really should have worn mine to watch that program. Just sort of drawing attention to how usual it is to have them rather than anything else.

It's probably easier that DS came relatively late to glasses at 11. He had been getting increasingly bad and frequent headaches at school, and when we finally got a proper eye test (although completely freaked out by the drops to relax his eyes) he was given glasses for reading and other concentrated work. So no tips as such, except that he was very involved in choosing the frames and I let him take his time (we looked once, took lots of photos of him in various ones, went away, showed the photos to DH and looked online, then went back and he chose). The only thing I did to make them "cooler" was to get this glasses case to replace the boring one they came in. Fingers crossed, a few months in, he has yet to lose or damage them, and they seem to have helped the headaches.

If the specs drastically improve the child's vision (dd2) then they don't need encouraging to wear them.

If the specs marginally improve vision (dd1) then it is harder.

• Let them choose the frames
• Tell them how amazing they look
• Wear your own glasses more (instead of contacts) if you wear them yo make it seem more normal.
• Comment on famous people who wear glasses and talk about it.
• Bribery/reward.

Neither of mine wear them but we both do so I don't think there would be any issues. They are always trying ours on, they are quite cool these days.

dd was approx 18 months old when she started wearing glasses.
I started by telling her that she was a big girl now she was wearing glasses like mummy! We started off wearing them for short periods and gradually lengthening the time.
We started off wearing them in the house and then outside.
I remember being scared when she first wore them at toddler group as I remember young children grabbing them when I was a child, but it was a great hit with the other children who all announced that they wanted glasses too.

Definitely let the dc choose a pair that they like and see as 'cool'
Also helps if a friend or family member of a similar age has the same pair!

My DS is 3 and I was really worried when we got told he needed glasses but by me involving him fully in the process of going to the opticians to choose them and letting him have complete control over the ones he wanted it has been a success! It also helped having character themed for glasses which I think makes them more appealing to young children. My DS loves lego so was chuffed when he got a lego themed pair.

Talk about glasses as a piece of exclusive jewellery rather than a medical appliance. The huge range of modern styles means most children are only too happy to wear them.

My two DSs both wore glasses since the age of about 10. Both their dad & I started wearing glasses around the same age so it wasn't unexpected - we'd prepared our boys that one day they would need glasses too.

The Charlie and Lola episode on specs - and the Peppa Pig one too - are both useful.

Let the child choose their own frames and let them see how stylish people they look up to look good wearing glasses.

Let them choose their own! :) (but try not to get a faddy pair they wont like in a month

I think getting your child to pick out their own frames would be a good start, as the sense of ownership is there from the beginning. Plus let them personalise the glasses case as they wish.

My two DC don't wear glasses, but given both myself & hubby do - it maybe only a matter of time.

Ds was 4 when he got his. I wear glasses and used to wear contact lenses - I stopped wearing the contacts as a show of solidarity! Ds saw that it was totally normal to wear glasses, and he never made a fuss.

Also, yes yes yes to all the people saying how cool children's glasses are these days. Dd2 had her eyes tested yesterday and I coud see she was a bit disappointed she didn't need specs!

DS was 9 when he got his, 14 now. No problems with wearing them as he sees so much better with them. He does wear contacts on the days he does sport which means he only wears his specs a couple of days a week. He chooses his own and thinks he looks pretty cool in them which I'm sure helps!

Both my 12 yr old dd and 9 year old ds have had to wear glasses for a while. My daughter since she was 4. There is no real piece of advice I can give other than letting them have the pair they want. My daughter has always liked the designer ones as the children's ones were always too small on her face (same with my son). I begrudge having to pay for them but put money aside for them when an appointment is due as know they'll be much happier wearing them if they're "cool" and comfortable.

My son was very self conscious when he was told he needed glasses, I encouraged him by telling him about my experience of getting my first glasses, how sharp the world became, how much easier school was because I could see properly. Of course the Ace in the pack was telling him how much better his computer gaming would become and his football. We let him take his time and choose the frames he felt comfortable with. He was great and has worn them faithfully. Thank God for Harry Potter!