Glasses for children

dollydoodah

My daughter has worn glasses since she was 8mths old - she is now 5 - and will need glasses / contact lenses for the rest of her life.

My advice would be to go to a good, independant opticians. If your son needs glasses, getting onboard with a reputable, friendly opticians will be worth your weight in gold. Although my optician doesn't do my daughter's eye tests (she has to have those done at the hospital) they know her well and she has seen the same person to fit her frames for years and she is very comfortable with going there now.

About 2yrs ago we got her prescription from a well known chain of opticians as they had a pair of frames that she loved. All I can say is never again. They didn't fit them properly, charged us extra for thinning down the lenses...all in all it cost us an additional £78 for a pair of glasses. Our normal optician never charges for extras like scratch-proofing, thinning etc on children's glasses as they are what they consider to be essential.

Our normal one is happy to send off for replacements free if they get broken or scratched and we are in at least once a month to have some part adjusted.

Your son will get his eye test for free and will get a voucher for a pair of glasses. There is usually a good range of 'free' frames but some do require you to pay - I think we paid £25 for a pair of 'Supergirl' frames so cost really shouldn't be an issue when looking for somewhere.

Personally I would go somewhere smaller where the staff are friendly and will get to know your son; if he is going to need glasses for a while, somewhere he will be seen by the same optician every time he goes. I'd go into a few, have a look at the frames and get a feel for the place before you decided.

Best of luck.

jackomdj

No advice but this is what we did:

Both DD's wear glasses. The youngest is only 2 & we took her to Asda (eye test done at hospital) as it is close to us & we expected to be back & forth if she played with them (luckily she does not). It took about a week to get them (which was a pain as it was her first pair) however at her last hospital appointment the specialist actually commented on how well they had been fitted & asked where we got them from.

Eldest we took to spec savers, mainly as we wanted her tested before starting school due to her sisters problems. The optician said she needed them for reading, writing & TV only. We got them the same day. However when I asked at the LO's hospital appointment if they would want to see the eldest they told me that they disagree with opticians & at her age she should have them all the time.... she is going to the hospital for her first appointment in a few weeks.

oystercatcher

I second the vote for a local independent opticians. My now 20 year old son started wearing glasses at the age of 4, he still see's the same staff who know us all by name. We've had umpteem repairs and replacements at no cost at all. The glasses have been mostly free or occaisionally a small charge (£25 ish) to upgrade to more trendy frames.
The big superstores who offer these buy one get one free offers charge twice the price for their glasses and I have heard so many stories of incorrect prescriptions and fittings and also charging for replacements and repairs.

Skintslimmer

Ditto Dolydoodah.

Independent opticians only, and build up a long and long term relationship with one (get a recommendation from a friend if poss). I have fond childhood memories of my opticians. At that time there was a voucher they got which you could use towards any frame. This meant that the bog standard NHS ones were completely free (Although not recommended, as the kids at school who wore these DID get bullied) and a huge range of others were very affordable. Naturally, I always wanted more expensive ones than my parents were prepared to pay for, but the ones I settled for were always fine.

As an adult I have had added expense for this that and the other etc from one of the well known high st chains, and ended up with a 2nd pair I don't need and never wear. I actually went to a private one because I was told by high st chain I wouldn't ever be able to use contacts again. Guess what, private one were lovely, have worn contacts for months no probs from them, and found out that they would have done thinning, scatch resistance and anti glare for nothing extra. Also found out initial prescription from the high st chain was wrong. Great, not what a girl who has headaches everytime her vision changes even slightly needs!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Independent everytime. Mine sent me to the midwife to get checked out for pre eclampsia as he spotted something during my eye test, compared to the other times he had done my exam. One safe baby, one safe (and grateful) mum.

DD2 says he is the only person she trusts with her eyes, as he has let her sit in the chair with me and try things out since she was tiny - she got punched in the eye so badly at school one day, she couldn't see a thing through it - she insisted that we went to him first rather than the hospital. He agreed to look at her as an emergency and got her to promise to go to the hospital if he said she needed it. Co-operative child then turned out to be fine (but optician was beaming with the thought of a 7 year old demanding his attention).

Same optician came in over Xmas holidays when I mentioned to his receptionist the GP thought I had a scratch in my eye. Turned out it was a retinal ulcer from an ingrowing eyelash and I could have had problems had he not 'popped in' to the practice.

Then, to top off his list of accomplishments, Ex OH went for an eye test after 4 years, he remembered his first test and took some (not funded by the NHS) tests for free...next thing Ex OH knew, he was being referred as an urgent case for rapid onset, premature glaucoma. So he probably has saved Ex OH's sight in the long run.

I don't think I should have gone to Specsavers now...

Jo_Mc_2

Thanks for all of your helpful replies - he's being tested at a small independant opticians this afternoon

nedmundo

How did he get on?

Jo_Mc_2

Thanks for asking. He's short sighted and has been prescribed some lenses with a slight blue tint, the optician said these will brighten things up too, and he wants to re-check him in 6 months time.

He typically showed no interest whatsoever in any frames apart from the Star Wars ones which were £35, so not too bad, and we should be able to pick them up at the weekend.

I'm just glad he told me - my 12 year old keeps anything like this to himself - and my husband thought he was perhaps faking it simply because he wanted a pair of glasses (he does love his accessories lol).

oystercatcher

Jo_Mc wrote: »

Thanks for asking. He's short sighted and has been prescribed some lenses with a slight blue tint, the optician said these will brighten things up too, and he wants to re-check him in 6 months time.

He typically showed no interest whatsoever in any frames apart from the Star Wars ones which were £35, so not too bad, and we should be able to pick them up at the weekend.

I'm just glad he told me - my 12 year old keeps anything like this to himself - and my husband thought he was perhaps faking it simply because he wanted a pair of glasses (he does love his accessories lol).

Ohhh I want Star Wars glasses !!

Glad you got on OK !

nedmundo

Glad you got on fine.

Star Wars are cool!