Help your child embrace their glasses

Keiron smiling with glasses

 

  • Offer praise and/or rewards for putting glasses on. If appropriate highlight the difference between with and without glasses.
     
  • Try when the child is distracted or engaged in a favourite activity, such as playing on an iPad.
     
  • Use other senses as a distraction as soon as the glasses are on. For example, you could put the glasses on and then immediately touch their hands and keep talking to them.
     
  • Keep glasses on for physical activity.
     
  • Before putting the glasses on their face, give them a massage on the nose and over the ears. You can use a finger or a soft make-up brush. You may need to spend a few minutes doing this before gently placing the glasses on their face.
     
  • The key is to try little and often. Even if they only wear the glasses for a few seconds, that is a success! You can build up gradually from there.
     
  • Try giving your child glasses at times when it would most improve their sight. For a long-sighted child, this might be when they're eating, and for a short-sighted child, it might be when they're watching something far away.
     
  • Make sure parents, teacher and carer are all on the same page. A coordinated approach for home and school can make all the difference.