Children wearing contact lenses

Cherry_Bomb

My 6 year old has worn glasses since he was a baby. He absolutely needs them so its not a quetion of getting rid of them but lately he's been asking me about contacts.

There doesn't seem to be a minimum age more of a recommended age (which seems to be around 10) but i think DS would be ok with them.

Anyone have any experience of quite young children wearing contacts?

mshappy

He would to have very good hygiene levels so he doesn't pick up eye infections, best thing would be to talk to an optician

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

My kids are 16 & 14 so hate wearing their glasses especially my daughter who i've caught numerous times leaving her's at home when she goes out despite the fact she is blind as a bat without them.

Our optician said it's best for them to wait until they are older as you can only really wear contacts for about 30 years.

I've thought about buying a few one day pairs so they could perhaps just wear them for special occasions.

quinechinoise

No experience of young kids wearing contacts but I wish my mom had let me wear contacts from a younger age!

Hygiene and risk assessment aside, the other consideration would be swimming lessons. Perhaps he already has prescription googles? I'm not sure if you could just wear regular swimming googles with contact lens. (I don't swim, although I know how to.) Perhaps your optician would know?

sweetsheep84

Hi OP. I have been wearing contact lenses since I was 12. The only thing I was told is that I have to wash my hands thoroughly before I put them on/take them off and regularly change my case every 2 months or less (I wear permanent ones which I get a new pair every 2 to 3 years). However, I was not allowed to wear them any earlier than that is due to optician suggesting that my eyes are not fully developed till then (dont know if its true or not but mum followed this).

FBaby

The daughter of a friend started wearing them when she was 9, and even though she had the maturity to look after them and parents who watched her closely, in the end she found it all too much and hardly wore them until more recently at 13, but even then, it isn't every day.

I would think 6 is way too young to even consider it, but speak to his optician and see what they say.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Don't babies wear them?

I'm sure I read something about that.

pigpen

My 2 y/o just got her first glasses.. yesterday actually.. she will follow the same rules as my others.. she can have contacts for her prom/special occasion and if she wants them after that she gets a little job to cover the cost.. OH and I are already looking at laser treatments for when she is a fair bit older..

Lozzy88

I wore contacts from being 11, from geeksavers and to be honest I think I was too young then, I didn't take care of them, I didn't clean them properly, I slept in them, swam in them and then would not wear them for days on end because my eyes would get so dry they would just fall out!

Then when I was about 20 I changed optitions to vision express and they diagnosed a neuro condition that I had symptoms of for well over 2 years and geeksavers would just brush it off, they also told me that I should have never been allowed contact lenses because my eyes were the wrong shape for them.

Basically its a lot of effort but if your little one would like to try them then please watch them like a hawk so they get the best results from them.

Lozzy88

Can I just say I don't know why there is a angry face above my previous post.

Cherry_Bomb

We're definitely going to go to the opticians but just thought I'd ask about before then.

I would obviously help him until he's more confident (and able) doing it himself. He's so desperate to get rid the glasses so it's worth a try