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 told my DS2 (10) that his eyes wouldn't get better if he didn't wear them. That was his incentive.

Point out role models (famous people, or friends) who wear glasses. Let your child help choose the glasses that suit them. Maybe get 2 pairs, one sensible, and one slightly wackier pair they can wear for fun at home or at parties.

Have a kid with a prescription of -8 who can't see a thing without them!

But seriously specs are cool now. Some of dd's friends have non prescription clear glasses because they want to wear them.

My older two were completely fine with wearing glasses in fact they quite liked the idea-I was surprised about how positive they were about it.
I wear glasses and have done from around age 8-I hated mine , and am a bit ashamed to admit I wasn't happy when my children needed to wear them, although thankfully they didn't give too hoots and were much more mature about it that me! My little one wants to wear glasses too as she feels left out!

The only problem we have encountered is that my children are petite and now that they are 10 and 8 they want slightly more trendy styles but as their head measurements are so small they don't get a lot of choice. My little girl is too big for the Barbie/Dora/princess ones now but that is the majority of her choice sadly.

Dd has always worn them as she can see much better with them on!
Letting the child pick their own specs is a start, then at least you know they like them.
Bribery never hurt either,if you wear your specs for (amount of time) you will get.....
DDS head has always been too big for kids glasses but all the pop stars are wearing the brown and black geek chic ones so she's delighted now as she can get them in the teenage range.
Finally remember to big up your child. If you keep telling them they look cool,give you superpowers they'll believe you eventually!

Like many above have said, glasses are considered pretty cool for my son's age group so I don't have to force him to wear them. His cousin just had an eye test and cried because she doesn't need glasses.
When he was younger I let him choose his own glasses - he mostly chose dark framed square Dr.Who style ones, but one year chose bright red frames! Just grin and bare it as they only last a year at the most.

Both DH and myself wear glasses as well as all four of our dd's. The dd's have to wear theirs all of the time for various reasons including lazy eyes and short-sightedness. The only one who we had problems with wearing their glasses was dd4 (5) when she got her first pair around 6 months ago, they were very strong and heavy on her little face even after the lenses were thinned. She was referred to the hospital who reviewed and changed her prescription and said they would work up to a stronger prescription in time. Since then she has worn them without fuss. We always let them choose their own glasses, they are the ones who have to wear them all of the time so it's their decision what they like. They are very lucky now days as there is such a varied and fashionable range of children's glasses to choose from. So my top tips would be to let them choose for themselves.

My 10 yr old has had glasses from the age of 4 yrs, luckly she always keep on and ever put up a fight.

tip 1. let them pick their glasses (even if it takes half a hour)
tip 2. little white lies sometimes help and don't hurt; only good kids got them, superheros wear them e.g
tip 3. reward chart for remembering to put glasses on in the morning

Dh and I both wear glasses for reading and screens. Dd2 always wanted glasses so was pleased to get a real pair for school (reading and whiteboard work).

The kids I know see glasses as pretty cool. My girls have always had clear glasses from Claire's and so have their friends, so it has never been an issue.

I do think the character glasses are great for little ones. I hated my clear blue NHS glasses with a passion as a child. Perhaps if I had been lucky enough to have Hello Kitty I wouldn't have kept accidentally breaking them!

Use a sticker chart. Let them get involved in choosing their glasses.

My son has had to wear glasses since three, he said they make his lazy eye sparkle!

I think letting children choose their own glasses plays a huge part in whether they want to wear them or not. When I was a child the choice was limited, and the NHS specs weren't exactly fun. These days the choice is so wide. Whenever we visit the opticians my three year old is desperate to try on lots of pairs - they are just so appealing.

Coming from a family where she sees us wearing glasses, it's pretty much the norm, so she wouldn't need much incentive to wear them - she wants to be the same as us.

DS (age 1) has been surprisingly good at wearing his since first getting them, I think simply because they make a difference to him - but also because he sees all of the rest of us (mum, dad, big sister -3) wearing theirs.

I think making a deal of how good and grown up it is to wear them helps.

I wear mine! That makes it normal

Letting her choose them herself, making a day of going to get eyes tested and choose frames, putting up with her choices even when I would have preferred different ones, having a spare pair so when they get forgotten at school etc. it is not the end of the world! When they got broken she really realised how much she needed them as well.

i bought a strap for my daughter's glasses. so she remember to wear it as the strap is pink.

DD1 can't see without them. DD2 can't see much without them... That's those two sorted.

DD3 is longsighted and forgets to wear them. I just need to remind her. It helps that she has two pairs so always has a pair to hand.

Both my DDs have worn glasses since before they were 2 years old. DD1 has never not wanted to wear them as her vision is so poor without them - she even keeps them on in the bath and has to be reminded to take them off at night when she goes to sleep!

DD2, on the other hand, still forgets to put hers on - even though her vision is not great without them (and we are guilty of not pushing it as her vision is relatively good compared to DD1's) but, as I wear glasses too then we have formed the girly glasses gang. We are the only members and DP and DS are not members as they do not wear glasses.

I have always allowed both girls to select their own glasses (even when I have not liked them) as long as they sit correctly at the top of their noses. We pay to have the lenses thinned - to adult spec for DD1 - on the proviso that they look after their glasses; although we allow that they are children (now 5 and 8) and that Specsavers are very good at fixing broken glasses!

The years we spent patching were harder than getting them to wear glasses as their glasses make a positive difference but we sometimes just had to be 'tough' with their patches; school made a big difference as even though DD1 didn't want to patch at school, she would not argue with her teachers and, therefore, could wear the patch for less time as her eye would have to work harder. We had patches to match outfits and teddies with matching clothes!

As a teacher, I simply tell the children in my classes that wearing their glasses is something they need to do as then they can see properly! I just wish they knew WHEN they needed to wear them (i.e. those that don't need to wear them all the time).

DD1 has had glasses for about a year. It was harder before when we thought it was weak eye muscles as her prescription is very weak and she only wore them for reading/writing.

Subsequently her problem has been pinned down and she has to wear them all the time. Letting the child choose what they want (guided to what fits) is probably the biggest tip. But DD1, as a tall 7.5 year old seems a bit too big for one size, but the next size is too big.

Just let them pose with their glassies on for a selfie

After collecting 4 year old DS's first pair of specs we popped into the pharmacy next door, I'll never forget tuning into his conversation with his sister with him lifting up his specs and saying 'look daisy, fuzzy' lower specs over eyes ' not fuzzy' lift, 'fuzzy' lower 'not fuzzy'... oh the heartbreak, how can we not have known what the world had been like for him.

So he never needed cajoling, no reward chart/bribe/threat would ever have that effect.

So my tip, see an expert, get the right prescription, it's life changing :0)

I was worried how Dd1 would take it when she was told she needed glasses. I prepped her for a week before about how many cool varieties of glasses there were for kids- & how adults weren't allowed them. She went with her (glasses wearing) Dad & was quite happy trying loads on & delighted in telling him he wasn't allowed any super hero ones!

When My daughter first found out she had to get glasses, we looked at pictures of her favourite celebrities who had been seen out wearing glasses so then she thought they were cool!!!! It also helped a lot that a few of her friends were already wearing glasses so she knew the style that she wanted. We also had a really good optician who had the patience of a saint and let her try on nearly every pair in the shop until she found a pair that she was comfortable wearing!

We let our son choose his glasses..(easier said than done).
If he doesn't wear them as was told too, he is not able to watch tv or play on his 3ds.this has worked a brilliantly and only once have I had to enforce it!

My dd has worn glasses for a few years now and always wanted to wear them so it wasn't an issue getting her to wear them!

If I had to offer advice to anyone here's some ideas:

• make sure the child is involved in choosing the glasses - they're the ones who have to wear them
• find a book to read about wearing glasses
• refer to the glasses in a positive way
• point out role models who wear glasses
• tell them the glasses give them super powers
• start by wearing the glasses for a short time only
• choose a good time to start wearing them - wear them during a favourite activity so that they are distracted
• don't try them when they are tired/grumpy
• use a reward chart
• buy a really cool case for them
• for toddlers use a glasses strap around the back of the head to stop them falling off & make them harder to pull off
• if a baby/ toddler pulls them off, put them back on without making a fuss of it ... Don't give them attention or it could become a game!