Childrens glasses

[Chozzer]

My four year old son needs glasses....can anyone recommend an opticians that have great styles for children?
Thanks.....I am a bit sad for him, but he is pleased to look like Daddy....hope this lasts!

[FluffyMummy123]

Message withdrawn

[3andnomore]

It feels weird to think that you know your child so well, and then find out that you never noticed something like that was effecting your child, isn't it!

[lucykate]

i was gutted when we found out dd needed glasses, the optician at the hospital told me quite bluntly 'your dd needs glasses, she has very poor vision and has been struggling to see at all. they will have very strong lenses in and she will have to wear them all the time!', i left in tears.

but within a few weeks, we all got used to them and now, she looks odd when she's not wearing them. we've also had to do patching, there's a pic on my profile. dd keeps her's on during sport, it's more dangerous if she takes them off tbh as she has double vision and can't judge distance at all without them.

[tortoiseSHELL]

TMMJ was same with dd - exactly the same thing - she is long sighted, but more so in the right eye so that was turning off. The teacher said she was really surprised as it didn't seem to affect her at all. I was gutted - cried so much!

But the glasses are quite cute, and she will probably grow out of them, and we are patching to bring the right eye up to speed with the left.

Interestingly when we went to the orthoptist, they tested each eye separately, doing the right eye first, and when they got to the left she said 'this will be easy with this eye' so she was obviously very aware of the differences.

I do wish she didn't need glasses, but there are worse things. But at the time I was not able to say that!

[tiredemma]

Tortoise- we are now 'patching' aswell! How many hours are you doing?
Im so glad we are in the school holidays as its easier to encourage DS to do it. Im worried about him going back to school though.
How do you think dd is doing?

[tortoiseSHELL]

We just do one hour a day, and she has a box with 'close work' things to do - Hama beads, threading beads, reading etc

TMMJ - that's really good!

[tortoiseSHELL]

Dd is actually really good about it - she knows it has to be done. Not sure what the sight is doing - she didn't appear to have any problems before, so not sure how I would know if it was improving! But we're back at the orthoptist in September so we'll see then.

[tiredemma]

we have to do 4 hours a day. Its so hard because he gets really frustrated with the patch.

We go back to the eye hospital just two days before school starts, I hope his eyesight has improved because he will find it really hard for four hours at school.

( im getting really peeved at adults asking him questions about it all the time aswell- other kids are great, adults are bloody nosy!)

[LynetteScavo]

Tiredemma, what do say to the adults?

People used to say to me "Oh, what has he done to his eye?"

I'd snap back "nothing" and march off.

I didn't handle it well, and was very sensitive about the whole thing.

[tiredemma]

Im sensitive also. I cried when they showed me how to put the patch on, mainly becuase I thought other kids would take the piss.

Im still trying to think of a witty answer to the adults.

[tortoiseSHELL]

We get the 'What have you done to your eye?' and dd explains that she has to cover her good eye, because her naughty eye has gone to sleep, so she has to wake it up by covering the good eye.

Which is her explanation, and I think a pretty good one!

When people ask her why she wears glasses she says 'because I can't see things when I am close to them'.

[tortoiseSHELL]

I actually find the patching easier than the glasses concept was - she doesn't have to do it much, and it feels like we are 'taking action' to correct the eye - more like taking medicine - rather than the glasses which feel more of an imposition.

[Chozzer]

Thank you so much for everyones responses. Had further tests today and we also need to do four hours a day patching, I was not expecting and have a shed a few tears as I do worry how he will be starting school and running around the playground with glasses and an eye patch.....any experiences of patching ...I would be grateful of any advice.

[slightlycrumpled]

Hi, my DS has worn glasses since he was 2 and was patched shortly after this.

4 year olds can be quite difficult to get to patch and the reward charts are great. He can tick a box when he has done the four hours, and a treat when he has filled x many boxes.

I would also try and patch first thing in the morning, you may be able to get a couple of hours done before you have to be anywhere iyswim.

When my DS was patching he was nursery and the staff were fab at making sure he kept it on.

It is difficult though, I empathised totally with DS because with his patch on he really couldn't see much at all, even with his glasses on. He would hide them everywhere, flush them down the toilet, peel just the tinniest part away and spy through the gap! Had to be quite strict in the end!

I was really upset about it, and I had worked as a dispensing optician/ manager for years, dispensing childrens glasses. It's true - it's totally different when it's your own!

Still, in the end it all worked out and although he will always need glasses, his vision is much improved because of the patching.

Good Luck.

[Chozzer]

Thanks SC