If you have/had a young child in glasses

[J'etudie]

Dd started wearing glasses last summer at age 2.5 (bilateral accommodative esotropia). We chose a pair with cable temples, the ones that wrap around behind the ear, because it seemed like they'd be less likely to fall off, and she has done well with them. She'll be getting new frames soon, though, and I'm wondering how to decide between cable temples and regular (not sure what the word is) ones. Hopefully she'll be wearing them from ages 3.5 to 4.5. 

 

I'd love to hear other people's experiences and preferences with either kind to see if I can come to a decision. 

 

Thank you!

[solascriptura]

Check out Miraflex. They are the absolute best. My kid was even able to use one pair of frames for 2 years! With her wire frames, she needed constant adjustments and had little scars around her nose and eyes from falls. :(. No longer. Miraflex has been the best option for you kids with glasses.

[solascriptura]

 

Check out Miraflex. They are the absolute best. My kid was even able to use one pair of frames for 2 years! With her wire frames, she needed constant adjustments and had little scars around her nose and eyes from falls. :(. No longer. Miraflex has been the best option for my kids with glasses.

[BlueTaelon]

My oldest started wearing glasses at about 18months and we just used regular plastic frames since her script was pretty high and wire frames would give her pop bottle eyes. Never had a problem with them. Dd7 finally got glasses when she was 4 I think and the Dr reccomended the Miraflex ones but tbh I think they look terrible. She also started out with cute regular plastic frames and did fine. We didnt have any issues until she started public school and then we started having issues with broken glasses. I think shes broken 3 pairs in the past year at school. I say go with what looks good on your child and teach them to take care of them. I was worried about broken glasses and injuries with both kids but it was never an issue.

[J'etudie]

Check out Miraflex. They are the absolute best. My kid was even able to use one pair of frames for 2 years! With her wire frames, she needed constant adjustments and had little scars around her nose and eyes from falls. :(. No longer. Miraflex has been the best option for my kids with glasses.

I'll look into those and find out if our HMO stocks them. When we go through our HMO, we pay for the frames and they cover the lenses. If we go outside of them, it's 100% us. If Miraflex frames are that wonderful, though, it could be worth it! :)

[J'etudie]

My oldest started wearing glasses at about 18months and we just used regular plastic frames since her script was pretty high and wire frames would give her pop bottle eyes. Never had a problem with them. Dd7 finally got glasses when she was 4 I think and the Dr reccomended the Miraflex ones but tbh I think they look terrible. She also started out with cute regular plastic frames and did fine. We didnt have any issues until she started public school and then we started having issues with broken glasses. I think shes broken 3 pairs in the past year at school. I say go with what looks good on your child and teach them to take care of them. I was worried about broken glasses and injuries with both kids but it was never an issue.

 

That's good to know. I did talk to a mom who had had two young dc in glasses and she felt it was all about fit. In her opinion, if the fit was good, the cable arms weren't necessary, and she said they'd been through a lot of pairs over the years. 

 

I was worried about broken glasses with a toddler and was relieved it hadn't been a problem. It makes sense, though, that there could be more opportunities to break/lose glasses with school age kids. Ack!

[Mom23Boys]

My youngest started wearing glasses 3 months before he turned 3. We used regular frames because his prescription was/is so bad (only one eye, the other is fine). He has never broken a pair of frames.

 

He has however had them fall off his face:

in the potty, while he was watching himself poop (really?!?!)

in a parking lot, where he then stepped on them, sliding the glass across concrete

while swinging upside down from a tree branch

 

He is now 7.5 and we average 2 pairs of glasses a year, bc of the lenses being scratched, even with protection on them. We bought sports glasses for soccer this year. That was worth it bc he moved up to U8. We get the first pair each year from the eye dr (insurance covers 1 per year) and the 2nd pair from Walmart.

[Matryoshka]

My dd had glasses starting at 18mos.  I think her very first pair might have had the things that wrap around behind the ear?  But after that, they were just regular glasses (metal frames).  She needed them so much that we never had  a problem with her wanting to take them off, so as long as they fit well, on they stayed.  Most kids' glasses come with a 1-year warranty so if they got broken or scratched up, they'd be replaced for free - we did have to invoke that a few times.

[J'etudie]

He has however had them fall off his face:

in the potty, while he was watching himself poop (really?!?!)

 

 

Oh, dear! I could see that happening here. That's one point for cable arms.  :lol:

[J'etudie]

My dd had glasses starting at 18mos.  I think her very first pair might have had the things that wrap around behind the ear?  But after that, they were just regular glasses (metal frames).  She needed them so much that we never had  a problem with her wanting to take them off, so as long as they fit well, on they stayed.  Most kids' glasses come with a 1-year warranty so if they got broken or scratched up, they'd be replaced for free - we did have to invoke that a few times.

 

Dd is uncomfortable without her glasses now so I'm not too worried about her taking them off just because (although the cable arms did help with that in the beginning). Definitely worried about the falling off the face while flinging herself around. I suppose I just have to get used to it.

[SKL]

My daughter began wearing glasses before she was 3.  I took her to the optometrist and tried on regular frames.  I had her do a flip to see if the glasses would fall off during gymnastics, and they stayed on.  I did buy a strap to secure them, but that was just an extra hassle and I soon got rid of that.  It made no difference.  My daughter never lost or dropped her glasses (except once when she fell asleep on a road trip - and that was the adults' fault).

[bettyandbob]

We had miraflex for ds. He did fine with them until they got lost. He attends a ps sp ed program--sometime between home bus and school the glasses disappeared. 

 

I replaced them with sport frames from Target Optical (who knew Target did glasses too). They are working just as well. The frames have a strap that goes around the back of the head. The strap can be tightened--that takes care of any sliding issue. ds has not had issues with comfort. 

 

The frames were about half the cost of the miraflex and dh likes them a lot better. dh thought the miraflex looked cheap and dh does not want ds wearing anything that looks cheap (dh is very protective of ds and as part of that wants to makes sure ds's outward appearance always looks good). 

[Donna]

I work with a number of toddlers in glasses and the soft plastic, flexible frames (miraflex?) with a strap around their head seems to be the norm.

[Pamela H in Texas]

We've started multiple kids wearing glasses.  Our three were 3, 4, 5.  The last fosters were 2 and 3.  Another, years ago, was 5.  

We were told that the wrap around the ear kind were really for under 2s.  So we have never gone that way.  We started with a strap for three kids til they got used to it (and one had a behavioral issue at school).  But that was very short lived.  Really, within a week or two, kids are used to the glasses and learn how to deal. 

 

We get the ones medicaid will pay for at the eye doctor and then we get a second pair at Walmart.  The Walmart ones are better so those are our main glasses.  Also, whenever we got to Walmart (way too much, though less now that we have a Kroger!), we can get them adjusted if necessary.  We love our people there (and they like us even if we take forever to get through with so many people sometimes).  

 

Anyway, so I would just find a good fit.  Oh, one thing?  We liked the Ti-Flex (sp?) but then the quit carrying them.  We tried the ones that allowed the ear pieces to lie flat (ie, kid wouldn't break them by pulling them off sideways), but we found that kiddo just couldn't keep them up.  Really, we seem to do better with cheaper frames.  

[J'etudie]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I feel better prepared to make a decision.