daughter

[derekhiden]

we have just been told that our daughter who is three years old is very long sighted and will need to begin wearing glasses. Any parents had the same and could give us some tips. How to keep them on her, best frame to buy ect. She may also have to have her weak eye patched for a period each day. How on earth are we going to manage this, again any help very much appreciated.

[andy-hughes]

You will find your little girl far more accepting of this change than you are - which is natrual. As her dad, you worry about this new development, but as athree-year-old, she will simply accept it without fuss, if you do a little groundwork.

Start talking to her about people who wear glasses, explain to her that some people have a little problem with their eyes, and the glasses help them. Tell her how nice glasses look, especially if you see a child of a similar age wearing them. Tell her that little girls like this are special. That way she will be more accepting of her own pair when she comes to wear them.

Don't make a big deal out of it, and don;t worry, she'll be fine.

[kick3m0n]

There's a wee girl at out Mothers and Toddlers group who has worn glasses since she was 2. I know her really well and she's had no probelms whatsoever with them. Her parents didn't make a big deal about it, just explained to her that the glasses would help her see better and that's it. No big hoo haa. The wee soul has accpeted them really easily and just gets on with things. She seems to keep hers on easily, without any special requirements, depite the fact that she runs and jumps and plays like a normal 2/3 year old. Your optician will advise on the best child frames. As for the patch, I'd just make it as matter of fact and no-big-deal as possible and see how your daughter copes. At 3, she shouldn't be too worried about appearing different than her classmates, unless she picks up on your anxieties (eg "how on earth are we going to manage this" - easily, no big deal, don't think of it as a problem, and it won't be).

[Whickerman]

luckily when my daughter needed glasses, the whole Harry potter thing was at its peak, so she thought they were cool. it really helped, and she really looked after them.

[Eeeek]

There is a 4yr old at my daughters nursery who wears glasses and he has a "band" that fits over each leg of the glasses and then goes round the back of his head (kind of like swimming goggles) so that he can be as active as he likes weithout them falling off.

[EssJay1]

Great answers from everyone but one more thing to bear in mind. When my children began wearing glasses I was warned that because the brain is suddenly seeing things as they should be, the kids would be likely to suffer from headaches. And they did. Somehow, by not panicking and by just staying calm, we got over the problem and my 16 year old and 13 year old have been wearing glasses since they were two-ish.

good luck.

[spudqueen]

My son was 4 when he was diagnosed as being long sighted. I find that the opticians will help you with the best frame for your child. We used to get the optician to choose a few frames and then let my son choose from those. He soon got used to wearing his glasses, though I did emphasis that as he was long sighted he didn't need to wear them when playing football ! We have always gone to Specsavers as children get free glasses, they are very helpful and it's never any bother to them if you need to get the glasses mended (it did happen quite a few times when my son was younger - he's 14 now, still wearing glasses but they don't get broken as much now!).