is your child ready for contact lenses?

There are a lot of styles, designs and colors to satisfy just about anyone’s desire for a pair of glasses, but there will come a time when your child is ready to ditch glasses and switch to contact lenses. As a parent, you may be wondering when your child is ready for the switch.

Whether it’s because of age, active in sports, or just the discomfort that now comes with masking and foggy glasses, your child has asked you for contact lenses. Here’s what you should know:

age

Four million American children under the age of 18 wear contact lenses. Physically, a child's eyes can tolerate contact lenses at a very young age. Even some infants are fitted with contact lenses due to congenital cataracts or other eye conditions present at birth.

A recent study showed 90% of kids ages 8-11 had no trouble applying or removing one-day disposable daily contact lenses without assistance from their parents.

Kids and contact lenses are not always the best fit. Especially children with seasonal allergies. The lenses may only increase the itching and burning caused by their allergies.

responsibility

You may also want to look at how well your child handles other responsibilities, especially personal hygiene. Poor hygiene leads to injury and infection. Common behaviors that can result in injury and infection include:

• Wearing another child’s lens
• Using saliva to moisten a lens
• Not following the directions of an eye care professional
• Wearing cosmetic or decorative lenses purchased without a valid prescription from flea markets, beauty supply stores, the internet and other sources

what else should you know?

Contact lenses should only be used be used under the supervision of your eye care professional. Children also need to be responsible with their contact lenses. If children do not following the proper safety precaution serious injury to the eye can result, particularly if the contact lenses are not removed at the first hint of a problem.