Advise on Child Wearing Glasses

A.,

My son has amblioplia, though we didn't catch it until he was 7 and he was learning to read. We never did a patch, as his doctor felt the drops would be a better route. If it works to do drops only-do it. He will probably fuss about putting them in, but once they are in-arguement over and he will be getting all day eye strengthening. As far as wearing glasses, I thought my son would battle me about those, but once he saw how clear and bright the world was with them on, he wouldn't take them off (accept to sleep, wrestle with sister, or swim.)

Whatever route you take, you must be consistant and firm. Once kids are 12 their brain will not do much changing in that area. Now is the time!!! The more progress you make now, the better.

If you have to patch, let him pretend to be a pirate oe something and really play around with that. Maybe you could wera a patch, too if you are just hanging around the house anyway! I don't know how long each day he has to wear it or how many times a day, but maybe reserve special favored activities for "patch time".

Jen

Hello, my daughter was diagnosed with this at 18 months. We did the patching for about a year, with little success. Around 3 she had surgery to tighten the muscle, it went great and she was a trooper. She is pretty much blind in her one eye, so needs the glasses for protection only. Since her surgery, she has worn her glasses and has always been very good about it. We find getting glasses that she likes and picks out herself makes it more successful in her wearing them. Pearl Vision has a pretty good kids selection. The best I could say is be patient and keep trying, he will get used to the glasses in time.

My son started wearing glasses at the age of 2 for Amblyopia. We too had to patch his good eye. He struggled at first. Then, we tried my mother-in-law's suggestion. She said to take the emphasis off the patches and put it on a timer. So, we would tell our son that he had to wear the patch until the TIMER went off. We had him help us put his patch on and set the timer. Then, everytime he tried to pull it off, we'd stop him and say, "oops! I didn't hear the timer yet. You need to keep it on until the timer goes off." (If he'd already pulled it off, we'd put on a new one.) When the timer finally did go off (beep), we'd make a big production about it. "Oh! Did you hear that?? It was the timer!! You can take the patch off! Let's go do it!" etc. Then added all the praise and positive affirmations while taking it off.

We started with a much shorter time at first (for success), and then built up (over the next 2 weeks) to the prescribed time by our eye doctor.

We didn't have issues with the glasses. Since it sounds like you are struggling with both the patch and the glasses, I'd tackle one at a time. Maybe the patch, because it's worn for a shorter length of time during the day.

I know it may be a little more difficult trying this with a 1 year old, but you can modify it to his ability.

Good luck, keep trying, and let me know if you have any questions.

My daughter was similarly diagnosed when she was 3. In the past year we have been through 5 pairs of glasses (she destroys them), lots of patches, even the drops. The drops weren't terribly successful with my daughter, she fought them worse than the patches. We have a variety of patches - cloth and BandAid type - so she can change them often, play pirate or princess or whatever. She likes to decorate the BandAid type patches - I've found small stamps and scrapbooking inkpads work best, stickers don't stick well.
The best advice I can offer is to be persistent and consistent. And try to make it fun.
Good luck!

Hi A.,

My oldest is now 11 and he began wearing a patch/glasses when he was about three for the same issues. We also had a lot of problems with him wearing the patch and would try to have him only wear it at home, etc. Eventually that stopped working and we went with the drops. That helped A LOT! It was much easier to do and we didn't have to constantly worry, "where is the patch" "the patch is dirty, we need a new one" "the patch fell off, he hates the patch" Bleh.
We stopped doing the drops when he was about 8 years old as the eye doc told us that they were no longer useful and that if the problem wasn't fixed by that age, it never would be. For some reason my son was not a candidate for surgery......not severe enough?
The great thing about my son is that his actual vision has always been 20/20, just the left eye would "shut off" decide not to work and turn in.
Anyway, about 6 months ago his glases broke and we didn't have the $ to fix them, and he wasn't eligible for ins. again yet. I watched him very closely at first while we tried to come up with the money, and his eye never turned in once. He has had no vision problems, and has not worn his glasses for aobut 6 months. We will take him back in when ins. kicks in again just to check on things, and this doesn't mean he will never need glasses in the future, but for now, it looks like the therapy and glasses finally worked.....3 years later than the docs said.
Keep you chin up, it's not impossible, just frustrating!

Hi, My daughter wore a patch for a long time when she was a toddler. For some reason, she would let her daycare/preschool teacher put it on her and then she would wear it. My best advice to you is to get the best pediatric medical eye doctor you can find. We drive 2 hours one way to see our daughters. Our Daughter is 11 now and wearing the patch has made a huge difference, both eyes work well together etc. One other thought, you can get contact lenses for any age. Our Dr. has told us that they put 1 year old's in contacts. As for glasses, the best place to get them is Rainbow Optic's. Their policy is that if the glasses or lenses break for any reason, just bring them in and they will be replaced for free for up to 12 months. Also there is no limit on how many times you can bring them in broken! This is a life saver when you have little one's in glasses.

Hi A., we are experiencing the patch and the eye drops both right now with our six year old daughter. The patch we use is the kind that slips over the glasses because we couldn't imagine her wanting the adhesive kind on her eye (mainly having to take it off would be dramatic!). The brand is Patch Works, I'm sure they could be found online or you could ask your eye doctor about them. My daughter's doctor sold them in their office for $8 for two patches (both are for the eye that needs to be patched). We just started the drops last week and so far so good because her doctor recommended if she fights them that we should put them in at night while she's sleeping and it totally works! I just lift her eyelid a little bit and pop the drop in and she doesn't wake up! I so wish we had known she had this issue when she was much younger as I fear it may be too late, but we're trying everything we can. Obviously your son is so much younger and doesn't understand things like "We're doing this so your eye can get better, etc.", plus the fact that he doesn't want to keep his glasses on, but I hope you get lots of helpful advice from parents of younger children who are also going through this. Best wishes!

not sure what type of patch you are using. we had more success with the stick-on kind. you can plain ones at rite aid or order fancier ones from http://www.fresnelprism.com/.

my daughter was older so she was easier to reason with tho it was a struggle for awhile. she always complained about putting it on but would get over it for the most part.

i know a woman who had to patch her baby and, like yours, kept taking it off. she tried everything. she was about to give up and the doctor said to just keep doing it and eventually the baby got used to it. it's just a matter of outlasting your kid. of course if you have a stubborn one, that might be a long time!

30 mins is better than nothing. maybe you can let him do something he doesn't normally get to do (like watch tv?) but he can only do it when he has the patch on. turn it off as soon as he takes the patch off.

good luck. i hope your son's eyesight improves so you don't have to deal with this when he's older. my daughter started off her school career badly because she wasn't able to do things and has low self-confidence and get frustrated easily. her eye therapist says this year should be better tho.

Hi A.,
My 3 year old also is farsighted and recently began wearing glasses. It was a struggle at first to keep them on him but at our last appointment the doctor dilated his eyes which forced him to wear his glasses (because he couldn't really see well without them). She also gave me a prescription for the dilation drops and said to do them every other day, again, forcing him to wear the glasses. Fortunatly I never had to fill the prescription. After that one appointment he began wearing them and even asks for them now.
My son, love him to pieces, is a very outgoing, fearless child so when we bought his glasses we spent a little more to make sure we had the best quality, scratch resistant lenses and a great warranty. So far we have not had to replace them at all even though in a bout of temper, they have flown across the room (they are the Nike brand).
Needless to say, your child is a little younger, so maybe a headstrap is something you might consider using to keep them on.
Just know that eventually he will wear them but it might take time.

Good luck :)

Yes i have. My 2 oldest not only had a severe case of crossed eyes but one was almost blind. We had to put patches and drops in there eyes.. Finally we had 5 eye surgerys. It started when they was 3 and it stopped when they became around 12 years old. After the surgerys once again we had to do the patches and eyedrops. Nothing worked besides me dressing up the patch and playing the pirate game. What worked best for me was to put it on in the morning while they ate breakfast that way later on in the day they didnt have to wear it. My 2 oldest are now 16 and 17 and now doesnt need glasses anymore unless they are reading or driving.
I know he is only 1 but you encouraging him over and over will eventually suceed. Good Luck

Hi A.,

Our 2 year old is farsighted and has to wear glasses. The trick that I found worked for us was we would tell him that he couldn't read without his glasses because he LOVES for us to read him a book. Then, we moved onto eating and then watching tv. It worked great. It only took about a week two and now he wears them all the time. We will put them on his dresser after we put him to bed and in the morning we'll tell him he needs to put on his glasses. He'll take them off sometimes during the day but we've tried to teach him if he's going to do that then he needs to set them on a table. We've lost them a few times! He didn't like the patch either so we now have the drops but haven't put them in yet. I'm sure it will be a challenge! uggh!

Good luck and I hope this helps you.

My son was 10 months old when we found out about his eyes! He had to ware a patch over his eyes for 1 year! Even though he was so young he could talk very well and he was ontop of every thing! if I picked out the patch he would not ware them but if he did it he would never take it off! So you might try that if you already not tried it! I also gave him some sort of dollar store toy at the end of the day right before he had to take it off, to show him how good he did! By the time he went through surgery he knew all about the patching and when it came to wearing glasses he was the one who picked them out!He has to this day never taken them off or lost them! He is know 6 years old! I know that he would feel like he was not cute, but I told him every day how beautiful he looked I think that helped!I hope that you can get your little one to keep them on! Best of luck to you!

Keep putting the patch on! My niece and another friend of my daughters are nearly blind because their mothers (single mothers) didn't keep the patches on and didn't put the drops in when they were supposed to. They were babies when they discovered their eye problems. Now they are 10 years old and my niece can not even WALK with her glasses off! If she has her glasses off she holds her hands out so she doesn't run into anything or fall over. It's very very sad. I BEG YOU TO STICK WITH WHAT YOUR DOCTOR ADVISES YOU TO DO, YOUR SON NEEDS THIS FOR WHEN HE IS OLDER. He does not understand now, but will understand when he is older and he will be thankful to have his sight when he is older.

I don't know about the wearing of the glasses, my sister and niece have just always worn thiers.
Eyedrops, my youngest has eyedrops for allergies. It was easier to just have him lay down on the sofa and I would have him look at the top of his head. Put the drops in, have him blink for a while, then in a really happy voice tell him he did a great job and to go play. After the first week we had no problems.