How to Get a Toddler to Wear Prescription Glasses

Improvements in technology have allowed optometrists to assess the vision of children at younger ages. The result is that vision problems are caught earlier on and younger children are wearing glasses. One of the greatest challenges of this, though, is the fact that many toddlers are reluctant to wear their glasses.

Instructions

1. Make a big deal about the fact that your toddler will be getting to wear glasses. Talk about all of the people in his life who also wear glasses and discuss how he will soon be just as special.

2. Let your toddler help pick out the glasses she will wear. Even young toddlers may have very specific preferences so getting your little one's input can help you in the future.

3. Choose durable frames with spring hinges for easy off and on. You might also want to consider frames that have malleable wire temples that loop around the back of the ear. This gives a more secure fit and makes the glasses more difficult for a toddler to remove.

4. Ease into wearing the glasses. Start with just an hour or so at a time with breaks in between. Even when glasses are the correct prescription, eye strain or even headaches can often result when the wearer is getting used to new glasses.

5. Get a strap to help keep the glasses on your child. If the glasses fall off or he pulls them off, the glasses will just fall to his chest rather than to the ground.

6. Talk about the proper way to take care of glasses and where to put them when she takes them off. Get her involved by letting her help put the glasses into the case and take them back out again when it’s time to wear them.

7. Offer lots of praise and encouragement for wearing the glasses and taking good care of them. Talk about how nice he looks in them and how he can see so much better than before. Let your child know that the adults in his life are excited about his glasses and approve of the fact that he’s wearing them.