My 12 year old son has had glasses ever since he was in 2nd grade . My Dh and I are thinking of taking him in to get contacts .... do y'all think we are rushing this . Does anyone's kids who are not quite teenagers yet wear contacts. What has been your experience ?
I used to help do fittings for contacts as well as teach kids (and adults) how to put them in and take them out and how to care for them. It is a lot of responsibility and it really depends on if you think he is mature enough or not. Have you talked to his eye doctor yet? Usually they will sit with the child and go through everything that is required for taking care of contacts and what the risks are. I saw some chicken out after seeing pictures of what happens when you dont take care of them right. I saw kids as young as 10 getting contacts too though.
Have you talked to his eye doctor? There would be several factors, such as how much are his eyes going to be changing over the next year or so (aka how often will he have to be in for refittings from growing and changing). Is he responsible enough to maintain contacts? Is he comfortable with putting them in?
If the doctor says "go ahead" then I think it's a matter of what you and your son believe he is comfortable with and capable of.
I think I got mine when I was 13 so if he is responsible enough I say go for it.
Does your son want contacts or are you just thinking about getting them for him? My 11 year old has had glasses since 1st grade and has no interest in contacts what so ever. I've had mine since I was 15 and they are a huge responsibility and a lot of work.
None of my boys have contacts. But they haven't worn glasses for that many years.
Is this something he wants.
A lot of kids who are in athletics wear contacts. The big thing is knowing if he is old enough to keep them clean so he doesn't get an eye infection.
MY DS wears glasses only to see the chalkboard, but could probably use them in other sports. If his eyes are worse at his next check up, I will probably let him get contacts.
And with my eye insurance, contacts have better coverage than glasses.
That is a good question. I don't know enough about contacts like what if he looses one how much is it to get a replacement. How is your DS at keeping track of stuff and being clean. When my one son asked for contacts, I wouldn't buy them, I was real sure he would loose them. He is my absent minded proffessor. Very smart, yet he looses everything.
I am an Optometry Technician and in our office the youngest we have fit with contacts is 10. Normally it is up to the parent if they think the child will take proper care of the lenses. If you feel your child is responsible enough, then most Optometrist's should be fine fitting contacts for your child. Now the training part may take some time as it is harder for males than females to learn (males have larger fingers, and aren't used to touching the eye area like females). It also helps if the child has motivation behind why they was contacts vs glasses. If vanity is the only reason, then our Dr. normally wants a better motivation then that, or they may fail the training. Good luck!
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- mommy29x3
on Feb. 13, 2012 at 2:32 PM