8-year-old son keeps losing his glasses

My son is 8 years old and has had to wear glasses since the end of last school year. He is on his second pair which I now fear may be missing. I am at my wits end. He is supposed to wear them at all times but he keeps taking them off because the prongs that sit on the bridge of his nose hurt him. It is then that he forgets them and cannot recall where he had them last. His glasses are expensive. I'm not talking designer frames and such, they're just expensive. We grounded him before-- no tv, no video games and lots of chores, but I don't think it was very effective. Can anyone recommend an alternative to glasses or some method to keep an 8 year-old boy from forgetting? mary

Kids' UV-filtering Sunglasses

Am looking for recommendations, brands, local sources, for good quality UV-filtering sunglasses to fit kids ages 2 and up. Affordability a plus. Thanks in advance. Damian

Where to find stylish sunglasses

Because I'm so good at not losing things, I've had the same pair of sunglasses for almost ten years! I think it's time to update my look and get a new pair. I'm looking for a recommendation for a store with someone who has good style sense (and doesn't just want to make a sale) to help me pick out a pair of stylish but not-trying-too-hard-to-be-trendy nonprescription sunglasses. Location in Berkeley or East Bay preferred. Sunglass seeker

Inexpensive kids' glasses

My seven year old is on her second pair of glasses since she got them less than two months ago. Does anyone have suggestions on places to get inexpensive glasses quickly for kids? We would prefer to not go to the school of optometry for this. Thanks.

Fab reading glasses?

I had ''that birthday'' and now suddenly need reading glasses! I only need .75, so the eye doc said I could get the off-the-shelf ones at Longs, but they're all so boring. I'm not ready to look like my grandma quite yet. Does anyone know who carries more fasionable reading glasses w/out going the $$$ prescription route? squinty sue

New to wearing glasses: wear them all the time?

I recently got my first pair of glasses, for distance. I began wearing them just when driving, but now see (!) that they are useful for seeing details in things that are just 5-10 feet away. I do not need them for reading, though my eyes are able to adapt to using them for reading, i.e. I can read fine with them on.

Now I have ''heard'' I shouldn't wear glasses unless I need them...maybe it will make my vision deteriorate more quickly? For my vanity, I don't feel I need to wear them all the time. But putting them on and off throughout the day is not too handy either.

How do people manage with the glasses? Wear them all the time or on-again-and-off-again? unclear about the concept!

7-month-old needs glasses?

I have noticed that my 7 month old son very rarely will go cross-eyed for a second before straightening out his eyes. My pediatrician recommended seeing an opthamologist. We saw an opthamologist last week, and he diagnosed that my son has a +4 far-sightedness, and should get glasses. I asked him what would cause this, and was told purely genetics. My husband and I both have 20/20 vision, and all of our parents got glasses in their 40's, which makes me question the genetics of it. It seems that if I had never noticed that my son had these brief moments of cross-eyes, that this would have never been diagnosed, and therefore, never treated. Has anyone had to put their babies in glasses? If so, for what reason and how did you know there was a problem to even get it diagnosed. I would love to talk to another parent who has had to deal with glasses in an infant.

We were fortunate when my oldest son was born to be solicited to be part of a longitudinal study at the UC Optometry School that focused on how the eye grows and changes in children. He was seen by the study from the age of 3 months until he was 6. Through his participation I learned that all babies are born farsighted. As they grow older their eyes grow and by around age three the majority have ''normal'' vision. I also learned that children should all have an eye exam at around one year of age to make sure that everything is going well. Finally, crossed eyes or an eye turning in can be caused by various circumstances. Sometimes eyeglasses are enough to fix the problem but in others children will need to wear an eye patch or through surgury. Usually they try less invasive measures (glasses) first and work up.

At his three y.o. screening in the study we were told it was time for him to get glasses... basically he was still just as farsighted as ever. We went to the Infant/Toddler Clinic at the UC School of Optometry where he was evaluated and they wrote his prescription. At that appointment the professor stressed that it was very good that his vision had been caught because without correction he was at risk of developing ''lazy eye'' and also being unable to develop depth perception.

There is obviously a big difference between 7mos and 3yrs... but it doesn't sound odd to me that your child is farsighted at that age. If you are noticing eye turning, glasses are probably in order. Many children are not caught early but still need glasses. If you are looking for a second opinion call the UC Optometry School (642-2020) and get and appointment in the Infant/Toddler Clinic. We have seen several different professors there and always had all of our questions answered. Hope that helps. Four-eyed Mom

5-year-old needs glasses

My 5 years-old daughter needs prescription glasses. I want to hear from other parents who have kids wearing glasses. Are they teased in school? If they are, what good responses have you come up with? Should we go with bright fun glasses or more discreet blend-in ones? Do the kids that age ressent wearing glasses or enjoy being a little different? What about books for kids on wearing glasses? m

She is now ten years old. We have been going to therapy over the past year, and she has discussed at length being teased mercilessly the first year or so after she got glasses. If I could do it over, I would ask my daughter daily how things are going. I would talk to the teacher(s) and ask them to pay attention to any teasing, and I would follow up repeatedly with the teacher.

You should feel good about recognizing the issue early on, and asking how to handle the situation. Lastly, regarding styles, it took several years to hit upon the right style for my daughter. Make sure to get sturdy frames and protective coatings! anon

I would like to comment on one thing that I would have done differently. I figured that since she was young and active that I didn't want to spend a great deal of money on glasses (which at most boutique frame stores can be quite pricey) assuming that they would probably get broken. So we went with a relatively inexpensive pair at Lenscrafters. For 7 months we have been going back and forth to get them adjusted as they have never fit properly (slide down her nose, seem a bit too wide). Last week the frames finally broke so today I went to a local frame store and ''invested'' in a much more expensive but flexible/bendable frame and received much more individualized attention. I believe it is worth it in the long run to get a frame that can hold up to the energy of an elementary school child.

Good luck!

Kids look cute in glasses, and he gets lots of compliments on them. Yes, he has gotten teased a little from peers, I think, but it hasn't seemed to bother him. He is not the only one with glasses in his class, either. Oh -- and I have to say -- one thing that probably helped was Harry Potter. Harry is so cool, and he has glasses. If your child hasn't seen the video, you might consider it. There's also an Arthur book about Arthur getting glasses, too. But Harry, alas, was a really strong influence. Good luck - I think it will go better than you expect. Also, in case you are concerned about damage - kids' glasses are very well constructed - he's never broken them. Fran

I hope this is of help for you. Good luck and have fun looking at all the great frames!! Susan

Now he's 14 and is trying contacts which he likes but doesn't like putting in so we're not sure which way he'll go. I doubt your daughter will be the only one wearing glasses in her class...you and she can make it an exciting cool thing so that she feels good and feels that she looks great in them, rather than setting her up for the expectation that she might get teased which could put the idea in her mind that glasses are not cool, OK, etc. Hope this helps. anon

3.5 year old will be getting glasses

My 3.5 year old was just diagnosed with amblyopia and farsightedness and will be getting glasses in the next week or two. At this point, he isn't very enthusiastic about the fact that he will have to wear them. (I've been wearing glasses since I was three for the same problem.) I'm looking for advice on getting him to wear the glasses, children's books about kids wearing glasses (suited to a preschooler), and advice on how to deal with any teasing that may arise. When I began wearing glasses more than 30 years ago, and all through school, kids weren't very nice to those who wore glasses. I'm hoping this attitude has changed but just in case, I want to be prepared. Thanks in advance for any advice on the above questions! Dylan

susan

Wearing glasses has never been a problem for her since it improved her vision. Here are my recommendations for whatever its worth... I found a place with a great selection of glasses and allowed her to pick them. She picked out a pair of pink frames with Mickey Mouse on them. She loves them. She takes care of them and has never lost them (yet).

Two other things that I would recommend if you could afford it is the polycarb lightweight lenses and wrap around temple frames (most glasses can be retrofitted with these hooks that go around their ears). The polycarbs are thinner and lighter which make them more comfortable and less distracting when people look at your child (they don't have that coke-bottle look to them). The wrap around temples keep the glasses on through most 3-4 year old play activities. My daughter is quite active and swings upside down at school on the climbing bars and has never had problems with her glasses. The only times she takes them off is for ballet (I'm not sure why she does...) and for swimming.

Two places that I found that had a great selection of children's glasses were:

UC Berkeley Optometric Center on the UC campus Arts & Science eyewear in Lafayette. Fred Weisner has been great with my daughter and really takes the time to make the glasses fit well!

Good luck. Email me if you would like to discuss further.

P.S. I was not impressed with any of the childrens books written for kids to address the issue of glasses primarily because they all start out from a very negative slant to the whole idea of glasses. I never gave my daughter the impression that wearing glasses was a negative event (it helps that both her father and I wear glasses). The last thing I wanted was to read her a book that told her that people thought that wearing glasses was negative. I just told her that the glasses were 'medicine' or 'tool' for her weak eyes. This gave her the words to use when other people including kids asked her about her glasses.

P.P.S. There is a yahoogroup email list for people wishing to discuss Amblyopia called LazyEye@yahoogroups.com. berg

My neice has been wearing glasses since she was about 1 yr. old to correct her crossing eyes. My sister-in-law drew glasses onto all of the characters in her favorite books so that they were ''getting glasses too''. They also spent the weeks between ordering the glasses and the glasses ariving emphasizing people who were wearing glasses so she could notice how normal it was. For the first few months it was touch and go keeping the glasses on. I think she lost a few pairs. They eventually bought a strap to keep the glasses on her (the kind boaters use to keep their glasses on while sailing) and that, and time seemed to help. Now she wears them happily.

Of course you and I will be dealing with older children. I am hoping that means that we will have an easier time of it. I am told that usually older children are so happy to be able to see clearly that they don't take the glasses off as much.

As far as books go, I don't know of any specific ones that have a character getting glasses. Arthur does wear glasses (he is also on TV on PBS) so those at least have a character who is wearing them. (But now that I think about it there may be a Berinstein Bear book where some one gets glasses... I can't remember for sure.) I haven't looked too hard. We just had our second child and I bought a whole bunch of ''_______ gets a baby brother/sister'' books and my son was totally uninterested in reading them. I think he was feeling a little too pressured to enjoy the story.

As for future social/peer comments about wearing glasses, I can't really comment about elementary or pre-school. I teach middle school and that is not one of the popular slurs I hear thrown out, so it definitely isn't a very big problem by that age. I do have a few students who have been prescribed glasses and refuse to wear them in school because they think they will look like nerds, so the mentality is still out there, I just think it isn't as fun to call someone ''four eyes'' when you can be much meaner by calling other names.

Good luck with your son and glasses. I am sure it will be fine. I got my first glasses at around age 5 (I was supposed to have them at age 3,) and I remember how exciting it was to finally be able to see. At that point I could read and was taking piano lessons and it was amazing to be able to read everything clearly all of a sudden.