IS MY CHILD READY FOR CONTACTS?

Are you thinking about getting contact lenses for your child? Perhaps you’ve replaced enough pairs of glasses that you’re ready to switch your child into contacts. Maybe your child is even asking you to wear contact lenses. Truly, there’s no magic age when a child is ready to wear contacts. So, how do you know if your child is ready for contact lenses? The experts have weighed in, and here’s what we’ve determined.

Does Your Child Manage Their Own Hygiene?
Personal hygiene is a telling sign that your child may be ready to wear contacts. Daily upkeep and keeping contacts clean are an essential part of both maintaining contact lenses and eye health. Contact lenses need to be handled only with clean hands. And contact lenses should not be worn overnight.
If your child still enjoys getting dirty, they may not be mature enough to handle this responsibility. Your child may be ready for contacts if he/she is doing the following things regularly.

• Brushing teeth
• Flossing
• Bathing/Showering
• Keeping hair clean and brushed

Does Your Child Take Good Care of Their Belongings?
Does your child keep track of where they put things? Or are they constantly losing their belongings or breaking things? Your child will need to be able to keep their contact lenses and solution in a clean, convenient place. So, consider how responsible they are when deciding to try contact lenses.

Does Your Child Follow Instructions or Take Direction Well?
Children who show responsibility as well as the ability to follow directions are good candidates for contact lenses. If they can keep up with their daily chores or follow directions in school without a fuss, you may want to consider allowing them to step up into some contact lenses.
There are a variety of options when it comes to selecting contact lenses: daily disposables, bi-weekly or monthly lenses. You may want to start your child with a daily disposable contact lens to prevent wear past the recommended period.

​Does Your Child Play Sports?
If your child is involved in recreational or organized sports, such as softball, baseball, football, basketball, soccer or volleyball, wearing glasses can be a hindrance as well as a danger. They’ll have better vision when playing and won’t have to worry about the glasses slipping or falling off and breaking. In this case, we would highly recommend switching your child to contact lenses, so they can be safer when participating in sports.

Is Your Child Asking to Wear Contact Lenses?
If your child is ready to give up glasses and make the switch to contacts, then they may be motivated to keep track of them and keep them clean. He/she may be tired of looking in the mirror and seeing glasses. And they may be ready for a more grown-up look. You can start with a trial pair and see how it goes before ordering a longer-term supply.
If you’re not sure if your child is ready for contacts, we’ll be happy to meet with you and your child to help make that determination.
 
Call Dr. Fruchtman TODAY to schedule your Contact Lens fitting!
​​