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 children that if they remove their glasses then I remove the ipad and TV. That works!

My daughter is a teen with moderate LD. The problem we had was with stopping her taking them off to chew the nose pads off or generally bend and twist. Our tip is reward consistently and on a small level to achieve behaviour change and where possible get them ones they will be happy with. Lots of people wouldn't wear the same jumper everyday for a year so if you're wearing glasses everyday for a year they have to be comfortable and what you want so sometimes spending a little extra passed the nhs voucher price to get a pair they will wear. I get people don't like spending money if they get something for free but an extra tenner spent on glasses can make for a happier glasses wearer than a sulky non wearer.

My DD also used to chew her glasses.

Fortunately she only likes to chew hard plastic so fabric plasters round end of legs deterred her.

It's been slow progress with DS (5) and his glasses. He was a total refuser until a much more compliant boy in his class got glasses too. His teachers has been really useful in getting him to wear them as well.

Both DH and I wear glasses, so he's used to people wearing them. I try to emphasise the benefits but think it's important to give him glasses free time, normally when he's running around like a crazy kid (they've been broken umpteen times already). Slow and steady! We'll get there!

As a family we have always had someone wearing glasses at some moment in time,how the styles have changed for the better since I was first "forced" to wear them when you only had the choice of pink or blue plastic frames many years ago,my DGCs look at photo's of me then and compare their "cool" on trend spec's.
We have been right through all the designs at Specsavers over the past 5 years with the 2 youngest DGCs and they have always chosen their own colours and styles which makes for a happy child and they are on first name terms with the assistants in the local shop who are happy to show them the new styles that are on offer.

when my son had to wear them at the age of about 6 i just made a mental promise he would always have the coolest ones we could afford.

He got REALLY cool ones and I always make a real effort to buy stylish frames/branded ones now he is older.

superman wears glasses as a disguise when he is clark kent you could be just like superman!

Ds has worn glasses since age four and I think the relief of actually seeing properly means he has no need to be bribed. He does have a special place to keep them and if we find them they get returned there. The most important thing has been stressing to his brothers that his glasses are off limited and can't be touched or damaged either out of curious ott it when squabbling.

My DD wants to wear specs even though she doesn't need to!

I try to tell them they will have trouble in school and possibly headaches if they don't wear their glasses!

Make sure they pick them (they have to wear them!!) and attach to 1 of those holders that go round the neck so they have them at all times.Last but not least explain to them how important they are

Start your child off by having him or her wear their glasses for short periods of time during enjoyable activities. Hopefully, the child will be having so much fun that they will forget about the glasses. Also, choose a time when the child is rested and in a good mood to start them wearing their glasses.

I think that now there are such nice frames, it is not such a struggle to get children to wear glasses.

My son had all the sight tests when he was younger and past them all. However he started squinting, so we went to Specsavers who tested him and said he will need glasses for life. He loved his glasses for a good 3/4 years as Specsavers had some great funky styles.He now wants to explore contact lenses since he's started high school. Never had an issue with him wearing them as he just put them straight on and never looked back from day one.

My son has worn glasses since the age of 5. He put them on in the opticians & remarked that he could see now! We never knew that he could not see, he had his eyes tested at school & passed, but we were concerned at his squinting, so took him along to get them checked ourselves. It turned out that they are quite bad, so I have no idea how it was missed at the school exam.

Anyway, he was so pleased to be able to see, that he never had to be coaxed to wear them. He enjoys having a say when it comes to choosing new glasses & he thinks his glasses are pretty cool!

After several days we decided to get clear glass spectacles, after a weekend of playing games and watching tv, Tommy was mimicking me and and wearing his glasses, taking them off and putting them back on, pushing the bridge etc, after that no worries

I think with the increase in fashionable glasses, it is much more acceptable to wear specs. I have worn glasses for over 10 years and feel that they are now part of my style, in fact they can be thought of as another fashion accessory along with jewellery and clothes! Deirdre Barlow is not the only spec wearing icon - look at Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Jonny Depp! If your child is still unsure tell them that these highly fashionable people are glasses wearers and it hasn't harmed them! Be proud in your bins! xx

I only have a problem with our son when he gets new glasses - if the style is slightly different he says he wont wear them. So i have to use my best tactic - and that is I tell him if he wont wear them then i wont wear my clothes and will walk round in my knickers and bra showing all my wobbly, wrinkly, stretched marked belly and wobbly bits. After shuddering with disgust he puts the glasses on! And after wearing them a couple of days they dont feel 'new' any more and he doesn't complain.

Let them choose themselves, it always helps if they can make their own choices.

My 11 yo old will wear her glasses, no problem, it's remembering them that takes the effort! I bought two pairs so one is constantly in her school bag, which helps but the whole family is trained to ask her if she has her specs with her!!

Thankfully my DD has not needed glasses so far - but I don't think she would worry at all if she had to. I took her for her 1st Specsavers checkup age 3 and she loved it! The lady was fantastic with her, and made it a really fun experience that my DD actually came out wanting to buy some glasses!! Both me and hubby wear glasses so she is used to the idea, and my DD knows our routine well so I hope we'd be good role models if/when she needs glasses.

By letting children choose their eyewear & combining it with a promise to take great care of them has worked with my daughter. With the trendy choice of glasses available, & the people in the public eye, lol wearing them glasses are not seen as uncool now. Children soon get aware that they see better when wearing required eyeware.

Let them take the time to pick some frames they are really happy with, instead of rushing them along to get the ones you think they should have. Then they are happy to wear them.

Olivia doesn't wear glasses but she does love to try other people's on so I'm sure we'd have no trouble if she needed to wear them