How to Keep Glasses on a Baby

Keeping glasses on your baby requires giving your child time to adjust to them.

Babies occasionally need to wear glasses for a range of medical conditions, including refractive errors such as near- or farsightedness or correctable issues such as a lazy eye, notes the KidsHealth website. Keeping glasses on your baby can be a challenging task, especially while your child is getting used to wearing his new glasses. However, there are several steps you can take to make the glasses wearing experience more pleasant for your baby and help him wear them successfully throughout the day.

Things You'll Need

• Eyeglasses
• Glasses strap

Instructions

1. Ensure that you have proper frames for the glasses. Take your baby with you to select frames and try out several different pairs of child-safe frames. Select a pair that your baby seems comfortable in and have the frames sized to fit your child properly. When ordering the glasses, request that plastic lenses be placed in the frames to prevent breakage and scratching.

2. Add a strap to the glasses. Once you have your baby's glasses, attach a glasses strap to the back of the earpieces to make it more difficult for the glasses to fall off her head and make it more challenging for her to take them off on her own.

3. Introduce the glasses to your baby when he is distracted, such as play time or meal time. Keep him busy while the glasses are on and remove them after a short amount of time. As he becomes more comfortable wearing them, leave the glasses on for longer periods of time.

4. Replace the glasses on your baby when your baby takes them off. If your child grabs her glasses and takes them off, calmly retrieve them and place them back on, with a short statement such as "keep your glasses on" to remind your baby of what is expected. Avoid becoming upset or angry with your baby when she removes her glasses to prevent her from taking them off to get attention.

5. Create a routine that includes your baby's glasses. Help your child learn when he is expected to wear his glasses by building putting them on and taking them off into his daily routine. For example, if your baby must wear glasses all day except when he is sleeping, place his glasses case next to the crib and make taking off the glasses one of the last things you do before you put him in the crib. Put the glasses back on your baby as soon as you take him out of the crib.

References

• KidsHealth: Your Child's Vision
• Boulder Eye Surgeons: Eye Glasses for Children
• Kids Growth: Getting Kids to Wear Their Glasses