Welcome to Little Four Eyes!!
Glasses are not the worst thing that your kid may need to deal with, not by a long shot, but as we faced getting glasses for our children, we found ourselves wishing there were some way to connect with other parents who have dealt or are dealing with with a variety of situations involving small children with very expensive (and breakable!) equipment on their faces. Little Four Eyes is aimed at parents of kids 5 and under, though any one is welcome! We’re run by parents.
If you just found out that your child needs glasses, you may want to take a look at our post on just starting out. Just looking for general thoughts and opinions on glasses? Read through our Open Thread on Glasses post.
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Join in the conversation!
Please read through our posts and pages and leave us a comment on anything that catches your interest. We like comments!
If you’re interested in contributing to this blog, either as a regular contributor, or just posting one time, please leave a comment or email Ann (ann @ shinypebble . com – remove the spaces). No commitment or experience necessary, we’re just looking for people to share their thoughts and experiences. Check out the bios of our current contributors – we’re all regular parents like you.
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Layout of Little Four Eyes
- Main blog – the blog is updated by our many contributors. We write about a wide range of topics related to our kids and their glasses and their vision.
- About – the page you’re reading right now
- Contributors – bios of our regular contributors
- Badges – love this site? Get one of our badges to add to your blog or website
- Archives – an index of all of our posts, you can find posts by date, author, topic, or age range.
- Photo Gallery – a gallery of pictures of babies, toddlers and young kids in glasses. A great place to visit if you are wondering what young children in glasses look like (beautiful is the quick answer), or if you want to show your child how great they’ll look in their glasses.
- Books for Kids – a list compiled by Ann W, a children’s librarian, of kids’ books about having glasses, vision issues, or patching. There’s a short list at the end of kids’ books that feature children in glasses, but aren’t specifically about wearing glasses.
- Resources for Parents – if you’re an obsessive researcher, this list of links to other pages with helpful information about children’s vision, glasses, and other topics is a great place to start.
- Collected Wisdom – tips and tricks for dealing with kids and glasses based on the experiences of our contributors and readers.
- Ordering Glasses for Your Children Online – a guide to ordering glasses for young kids online.
- Doctor and Optical Shop Recommendations – a collection of doctors and glasses shops that readers recommend.
- Gear – links to sites that sell things for kids with glasses (mostly t-shirts and other accessories).
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About Commenting
I hope you’ll take the time to read any posts that interest you, and leave your thoughts as comments (even if the post is old). Your comments are essential to this blog and this community. We have all learned a great deal from reading about other people’s experiences.
In some cases, a comment may be copied and made into a blog post if I believe it merits additional discussion – generally this happens when a commenter is asking a question and I believe that it will receive more answers by being its own blog post. In those cases, I will make every attempt to notify the commenter before doing so, and will always credit the commenter.
Comments are open on all posts and pages on this blog. Comment moderation is extremely light, however, hateful comments and personal attacks will not be tolerated. I do use a spam filter, and spam is not posted to the blog. If you left a comment that does not appear on the site, it may be temporarily caught in the spam filter. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly (ann @ shinypebble . com) if you have any questions about commenting on Little Four Eyes, or if you believe your comment has been lost.
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Illustrations
The wonderful illustrations on this blog are done by Scott Donaldson, who began wearing glasses at age 5. Please visit his website if you’d like to see more of his work!
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Obligatory Copyright and Disclaimer Information
All written content on Little Four Eyes is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
All photos are copyright of the photographer. Use of these photos is strictly prohibited without express written permission of the owner of the photo. Contact Ann, ann @ shinypebble . com, for more information.
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The information provided here is based on our own experiences and the experiences of our readers. It is not meant to provide a medical opinion about your child’s specific case. The problems of every patient are unique and should be addressed by their optometrist or ophthalmologist in a face-to-face conversation.
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Badges and other paraphenalia
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Dear Ann & Ann,
Thank you so much for this blog – it is exactly what I was looking for!! I found out a week ago that my 2-year-old daughter, Eliza, needs glasses. Her left eye is 4x as far-sighted as her right. We’ve been talking it up BIG TIME and emphasizing that everyone in the family wears glasses, but she is having none of it! We can’t even get a pair of frames on her for sizing!
If you have any tips for getting them on the first time, I’d love to hear them! I am starting a sticker chart, but she just gets mad when I say she can have the sticker if she puts on her glasses. HELP!
Thanks & I look forward to following your blog.
Katherine
PS How to I “subscribe” to this blog?
By: Katherine on March 28, 2008
at 3:12 am
Welcome Katherine! I hope this blog ends up being helpful. I will definitely try to post more on thoughts about getting Zoe to wear glasses at the very beginning. I think what worked the best was not to push it too hard or make a huge deal out of it. We just kept putting the glasses on her whenever she was calm, and tried to always stay positive, even if they only stayed on for a few seconds before she took them off. Getting them on her for sizing was absolutely the hardest thing we did. I’m glad we worked with people who were so used to screaming children. Basically we held her in a bear hug to keep them on for the time needed for sizing, while still trying to show her how happy we were – easier said than done!
You should be able to subscribe to the blog by clicking the “Entries (RSS)” and your browser should connect you to your RSS reader. If you don’t have an RSS reader, I use Google Reader and have been very happy with it. Let me know if you have more questions and I’ll send you a quick email with more information.
By: Ann Z on March 28, 2008
at 3:29 am
Hi there. I happened to be reading an article on Parent Hacks website about eye exams for infants and saw a comment you posted and then followed your comment to this website.
My daughter has strabismus and farsightedness, first diagnosed at 6 months and has been wearing glsses since then. We also do patching on her eyes. She is 13 months now. I will bookmark your site and just wanted to say hello. I look forward to reading more posts on your site.
By: motherhoodandpotatoes on May 5, 2008
at 10:31 pm
Hello! Our son Michael started crossing his left eye at 5 months when we took pictures. It gradually got worse, and we started to wonder about his vision becuase he had zero interest in TV (which we were not all that concerned about), he had no interest in colorful toys and books unless they were right in front of him, and he would get scared and cry if we were more than 10 feet away.
At 8 months the pediatric opthalmologist determined he had a perscription of +12 in his crossing eye, and the other eye was +10. He was perscribed glasses. The eye still crossed. ATwo weeks later we were patching the good eye (with glasses), but he figured out how to rip off and eat the patch soon-there-after. At 10 months they had us use atropine drops instead of the patch for the right eye (again, with glasses), but the left eye still crossed. At 12 months they surgically corrected the strabismus.
With glasses, his eyes are straight, but the left eye still crosses without the glasses. He looks great, and he loves his glasses! He cries when we take them off, and runs to us when the come off to put them back on.
By: Brian on June 12, 2008
at 6:26 pm
Hi Brian! Thanks for the comment, you guys have really been through a lot. How did the surgery go? Was it difficult?
By: Ann Z on June 13, 2008
at 4:23 am
My little angel is almost 11 months old and we just found out she needs glasses, she has strabismus and is farsighted. It was a shock when I found out, and has been quite the emotional experience. I felt like getting glasses and trying to think of questions to ask was all cramed into a few hours. I cam home feeling so confused. I nor anyone in my family has ever had glasses so I have had to do alot of research. Thank you for this awesome blog! We don’t feel so alone.
By: Kim on July 31, 2008
at 3:36 pm
Welcome Kim! I’m happy you’ve found our blog to be helpful. Please let us know how your daughter is doing with her glasses, and send us a picture once she has them so we can add her to the gallery.
By: Ann Z on July 31, 2008
at 4:14 pm
Hey Ladies!
My little miss is almost 19 months old and was just diagnosed with strabismus (accommodative esotropia) this week. I stumbled upon your website as I feverishly googled the terms that will now be part of my vocabularly. I can’t thank you enough for the resources, stories and all that have been posted on this blog. I have been perusing it’s contents and have found it so helpful, informative and reassuring to know that we aren’t the “only” ones going through all of this with our daughter. Plus, some of the feelings you have written about once you discovered your kids needed glasses really hit home with me. It has been a rollercoaster couple of days since we found out about her condition, but we are settling into the idea of seeing her in glasses. After all, everyone she is surrounded by wears them…so, in theory, it was only a matter of time.
I look forward to using you all as sounding boards for this adventure we are about to begin!
Thanks!!
Amy
By: Amy on August 13, 2008
at 3:21 pm
Hi everyone,
New mother of glasses-wearing kid alert! My 3-year was just diagnosed with an astigmatism in both eyes and moderate hyperopia (far-sightedness). Yes…I cried, but I’m ok with it now. I love his new glasses…2 pairs so far and one on order. Perhaps overkill? My baby now looks like a little man. He keeps them on pretty well, likely because he is so thrilled to actually be able to see. No amblyopia detected, but the opthalmologist is watching him closely. They are dying to see his 5-year old brother, since this is apparently quite hereditary. I can’t imagine he has it too, but every optical place from here to tokyo (yes, shopping for eyeglasses has been quite an adventure) has tried to get us to let them test his brother! We shall see…
By: KittyMarcy on August 18, 2008
at 5:43 pm
I somehow stumbled across this site today and can’t tell you what a wonderful site it is! Talk about just what I needed!
My daugther, who is 19-months old, was diagnosed with Farsightedness in her left eye (+4.00) with her right eye being in the normal range. I have been struggling with so many of the issues on this site, and it is comforting to know that I am not alone. We have finally gotten a pair of glasses, but now I can’t get her to wear them for even 10 seconds, let alone 10 minutes. I have a very spirited child, and by reading your posts, it has helped me realize that I shouldn’t give up and need to keep trying. We’ve been at it for about a week and I have renewed optimism after reading your experiences. Thank you for putting them out for folks like me to read. If anyone has any suggestions for things I can try, I’d welcome them! (She actually closes her eyes when I put the glasses on now…stubborn, stubborn)
By: Rachel on October 7, 2008
at 5:33 pm
This is a great site and I’m glad you’ve all found each other. I work with the Children’s Eye Foundation (www.childrenseyefoundation.org) and we’re in the process of revamping our site to be more of a resource for parents of children going through treatment for Amblyopia and Strabismus. We’ll have treatment guides, videos, blogs and a number of other resources that I hope are useful. Once the site is live, I’ll post a note to this board and I welcome your feedback: t.rogers @ childrenseyefoundation.org.
By: Thomas Rogers on October 23, 2008
at 2:08 pm
Hi Ann,
I am looking at all these postings and its so awsome when people say that their kid have had surgery and they did great.
My daughter has strabismus as far as we know, and the dr too, she doesnt have vision problems.
He recomended surgery and we are going to do it on friday 11/14/08 I am frecked out and starting to imagine things..I guess I am more scared of the annesthesia than anything. My husband is so calmed that I am going to rely on him big time.
I noticed her right eye was going out-up. We took her for the first time at that age and recomended the patching. I guess it didnt really worked because her nanny told me he had her on the patch and then months later she told me that she pulls it and conclusion…The patching didnt worked. My last appointment was around 2 months ago and they told me she needed surgery. I freked out and started the patching again.. she said glasses were not a good option for her. Last thrusday was our last appt with the main doctor and he checked her and told us that she needed the surgery. Its not a lot because the twisting in her eye but moor because of her alightnment. He told us that it was becasuse of the poor control she has.
I hope we took the right choice and I just want the best for her. She is 22 months now.
Keep us in your prayers.
You have a great blog!..
By: Veronica Echols on November 10, 2008
at 9:44 pm
Hi Veronica Echols,
Please take heart!! You are in our prayers and I hope that your daughters surgery was a success. YOu are right in that the scariest part is the anaesthetic. Please keep us posted on her progress.
By: Anita Frassetto on November 27, 2008
at 1:13 am
Hi all,
My daughter had surgery on nov 14th and it went ok. She did very good after anesthesia…she was a little cranky but ok. She was super active all day and eating a little but eating. Next day she woke up as another different person, she was cranky, she cried and cried all morning…i got so dessperate that I cried too…it was horrible…later on we call the doctor because I noticed her left eye (good eye) was getting puffy…he said it was normal..etc…next day it was horrible…she had so much swellnes..it was a very puffy eye and she was less cranky but her eye couldnt open at all. We went straight to the dr’s office and he said he had never had a child with an infection so, he said..this is weird..so he sent us straight to the hospital…oh well, after a day or so, they figured out she got a STAFF INFECTION!….what are the chances of that!…MRSA ….it was the most horrible experience Ive ever had in my life….my poor baby was poked for around 3 times..her IV got out of place and needed to replace etc…not a good experience. But, I am happy she is doing better after antobiotics and having a hard time at home to give her the medicine…..:(
At the hospital drops every 2 hours day and night and so tired her and me.
She is doing much better now. Still have red eye and a little bit of swellnes..but she returend to daycare yesterday and she is very happy!..God was with us the whole time!…
About the operation, I think it was a sucess but not sure yet. Her lazy eye is not lazy anymore..and her other eye points towards the center since the begiing but Dr says its normal. She is starting to straighten that eye and focus as normal.
I really pray for this surgery to be a success because it scares me to death that she will need another one!….
Thank you for your prayers!
Veroncia
By: Veronica Echols on December 2, 2008
at 6:19 pm
My 2 1/2 year old son, Luke is going back to the doctor next Thursday to see if his strabismus, amblyopia, farsightedness has improved, changed, etc. If his glasses have made his eyes perfectly straight he will not have surgery, but if any misalignment then we will be scheduling surgery…this waiting is killing me. We’ve already done this once. We were first dx in June and waited until Sept to see if glasses and 10 hours a week of patching were helping, and had surgery scheduled just in case we needed it. We were able to cancel surgery because he was much improved and glasses had almost completely straightened his eyes, but the waiting continues from Sept 11 until our Dec. 11 appointment. An added stressor is that we are also going to take my 16 month old daughter to have her eyes checked, just in case. I am increasingly paranoid and thinking I see something when I look at her. Even though nobody else sees any problems with her eyes I am not comforted because nobody saw any crossing when looking at Luke’s until all of a sudden it was very obvious. Even the pediatrician said that his eyes looked fine at wellness checks when I mentioned that he seemed to squint and that I thought that his eyes were crossing. ANYWAY, the saga and waiting continue until next Thursday when we find out if surgery is in our future and if my daughter’s eyes are ok.
I’m so thankful for sites like this because it does feel like we are the only ones in the world that have to worry about patching and crossed eyes.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as the countdown to the verdict continues.
By: counselorjb on December 4, 2008
at 11:36 pm
councelorjb: I understand perfectly. I really dont know if my daughter’s surgery went ok.. cause her left eye its still pointing a little bit in..so..I dont know..but I really hope not. This MRSA infection she got at the hospital was the worst, i am paranoid if she has another surgery she will go throught the same…thats tha chances you take in having a surgery its not the surgery itself..its crazy!…
I think everything will be ok with your children!..I will pray for you!
Veronica
By: Veronica Echols on December 8, 2008
at 4:34 pm
Veronica, your story about your daughter’s surgery is chilling. I’m so glad that she’s better now, but the idea of the MRSA infection just scares the heck out of me. I completely understand your paranoia about future surgeries, and I hope you don’t need to make the decision about more surgery. I know that I look at Zoe’s eyes every day, and closely inspect every picture of her, trying to figure out if they’re turning in at all.
Counselorjb, best of luck tomorrow with Luke’s eye appointment.
By: Ann Z on December 10, 2008
at 3:06 pm
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Our doctor said that Luke’s eyes are crossing a little with this glasses, but not enough to do surgery and that he is actually starting to favor his left (crossed) eye more so we may have to alternate and patch his left eye later on. He said that his eyes are much stronger due to the religious patching we’ve been doing. We do not have to go back to the PO for six months! He did say that 10-15% of kids will all of a sudden start crossing with the glasses, like the glasses stop working, but other than that he was pleased. We are to continue to patch ten hours a week…getting harder by the week. We have now been patching for six months and when we go back it will be a full year of patching. Doctor said that he has to be monitored to make sure that Luke’s eyes stay ‘balanced,’ since he has learned to use one eye over the other before, it is difficult to use both and not favor the stronger one. Also, Addison’s eyes are good, she had a slight astigmatism which he said was normal for her age, and one of her eyelids droops slightly, nobody noticed it but me and the doctor when he was looking, so this is probably what I saw when I thought her eyes “didn’t match.”
We are SOOO happy to not have to schedule surgery for Luke or patch a very stubborn sixteen month old girl.
Thanks again for caring.
By: couselorjb on December 12, 2008
at 2:52 am
Ann, and others who contribute,
I just have to say that I am amazed at how much this blog has grown in the last 9 months since I found it when I was looking for information on infant glasses. I was so nervous and clueless on what to expect with my son, Reid, all the sudden needing to wear glasses. It is such a relief to be able to read about moms/parents that are going through some of the same struggles that we are. And the other places that you have linked are very hepful when I am looking on information about other types of glasses, apparel for my family who is proud to have a baby with glasses. I love it. So, THANK YOU for getting this started!
By: Melinda on December 18, 2008
at 10:53 pm
Thank you for a great informative web site. I found it about a month ago after my 23 month old son, Frank, was diagnosed with Strabismus. Right before Thanksgiving we noticed his left eye turning in. We took him to the doctor immediatly because there is a family history of Strabismus.
The opthamoligist said his eye sight is +3.50 in both eyes. He said patch and get glasses. Thankfully Frank has never been bothered by the patch and has never pulled. We ordered his glasses and they finally came in last week. He has been good wearing them so far, but the past 2 days he has become extremely clumsy. Yesterday he fell and scratched his face all up and scratched one lense very bad. Thankfully we got insurance on the glasses and they will replace the lense for free. Then this morning the babysitter calls me at work and says that he fell again and his glasses are completely bent and the lense fell out. Not only that, but the nose piece went into the corner of his eye and he has a cut.
This has made me a little stressed out since he has suddenly become so clumsy. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to help him out and not be so clumsy?
By: Anna on December 30, 2008
at 6:48 pm
Does anyone else have the problem of their child looking over the top of their glasses. My daughter was 2 when she got her glasses and has looked over the top of them since day one. Shes wonderful about wearing them, but I worry that somethings not right.
Any suggestions?
By: Anna on January 12, 2009
at 2:24 am
My son the does the exact same thing. i am constantly asking him to push his glasses up or I am constantly adjusting them for him, but he returns to the same thing. i do not know hwy he does this either.
By: Alexandra Diaz on August 8, 2009
at 3:54 am
Hi All,
I am having an post op appointment tomorrow and I am nervous wondering if her surgery was a success or not, her right eye is perfect (lazy eye) but hte left one is still pointing a little tinny bit in..so..I dont know if it will correct itself or what?…keep me on your prayers..I dont want to go through another surgery..
She is doing great!…she doesnt have any cysts anymore!…I wondered if Dr..did something because I mentioned to him, so..I am happy for that too..so I will keep you posted!
Thank you for your prayers
Veronica
By: Veronica Echols on January 14, 2009
at 6:44 pm
Veronica, how did the appointment go? I’m hoping for good news for you.
By: Ann Z on January 15, 2009
at 6:42 pm
Veronica,
Have been thinking of you! How did your follow up go? Trust in your doctors and your mummy instinct. Keep us updated and hope all went well at your appt.
Anita
By: Kaelen's mum on January 22, 2009
at 10:27 pm
Hi we just found out my 3 and half yr old needs glasses to correct an astigmatism pof approx 1.75+ in each eye.
I am going for a second opinion because, while I am confident the doctor was correct he admitted he had to guess on her prescription value because she was not interested in the examination. Any comments on what i should do from here. I had poor vision but not an astigmatism as a child…my other son who is 5 is okay for now…i took this a lot harder than i thought…she seems to be okay but we have not got her frames yet…we shall see how that goes
By: Alison on March 1, 2009
at 12:38 am
Hi Alison, I think this always hits us a lot harder than we expect. Good luck with the second opinion, it sounds like that’s a good idea if only to confirm the prescription. Let us know how it all goes!
By: Ann Z on March 1, 2009
at 3:46 am
Luke’s eye surgery is scheduled for May 29th at 11:45. They are going to tighten the muscles in both of his eyes. I’m tense and worried. I’ve been thinking about and planning out the day so that it goes as smoothly as possible, especially since he can’t eat after 5:45am and can’t drink after 7:45am. He usually get up in the mornings around 7am. So, I’m thinking that I will wake him up around 5:30am for something special(donut holes) that he will eat, so that hopefully he won’t be starving all day. He is going to miss breakfast and lunch and I can’t imagine how that is going to work out. Then we are going to have to get him out of the house so he isn’t focused on not getting breakfast, but we need to go somewhere that he doesn’t get hot and sweaty and need a drink. I’m thinking the pet store and/or toys r us if they are open..hopefully that will distract him from no food and drink. We have to arrive at the clinic at 10am and wait for an hour and 45 min for his procedure. They said that the procedure will take 45 minutes. During the wait I plan to give him new books that I’m saving for the occassion, markers (a fave of his) and I’m also bringing bubbles. I have told Luke that Dr Hunter is going to fix his eyes. I plan to tell him that we will eat after Dr Hunter fixes his eyes. I think that’s enough explanation for a 3 year old.
I’m concerned about when he comes out of the anesthesia because when he had the tear duct surgery at one year old it was very upsetting to see him so upset and unable to be consoled. Plus, I worry about him being in pain. The nurse said that little ones don’t hurt too bad, but their eye muscles feel tight, its sore when they look quickly from one side to the other, he may be sensitive to the light, and may see double for a few days. ALSO, we will be putting drops in his eyes 3 times a day and ointment after the surgery.
I feel like I am preparing for battle and have to be strong and ready to take care of him and make things ok for him. I’m praying for a quick recovery and most of all COMPLETE healing so that this will be the end of his eye issues.
When we went in to see the doctor last month after his eyes started crossing with his glasses on, I was completely blindsided when they told me he needed surgery. We have avoided surgery for almost a year now with patching and glasses. Dr Hunter said that after surgery he may need glasses without the bifocals, like he has now, or may not need glasses at all. Wouldn’t that be amazing!! I hate to get my hopes up, but that is my hope…
Thanks for letting me process all of this, and most of all thanks for your prayers.
By: JenniferBrown on May 24, 2009
at 9:29 pm
Hi Jennifer! It sounds like you have it all very well planned for your little guy! I know it is a very big thing (we went through this about two years ago) and very scarry for us parents as we are just by-standers! Definitely ask for the eye drops versus the ointment. It is way easier to get in his eyes! We will be praying for you! Keep us updated!
By: Corrie on May 26, 2009
at 12:26 am
Oh Thank God! I am so grateful to have found this site! i have gone through sleepless nights and depression over my six year old son’s strabismus. I am so happy to here that there is hope for my son, and that there are other options for him.
Thank YOU!!
By: Alexandra Diaz on August 8, 2009
at 3:51 am
Welcome Alexandra! I’m glad you’ve found us. There is absolutely hope for your son. I hope you stick around and keep us updated and share your son’s photo if you’re comfortable. I know it can be so hard to watch our children struggle with vision problems, but we all do the best we can.
By: Ann Z on August 8, 2009
at 10:32 pm
Hello,
We think your site is wonderful!
my wife and i would like to start a non profit christian foundation for needy children all over the world thats in need of glasses that there parents can’t afford to pay for. there are so many children in this world needing our help, all we have to do is reach out and give them our love and support…recently i found out just how much a person can change someones life with just a 20.00 pair of reading glasses..my pastor recently went to Africa to share the lords word and there in africa there are so many children that wants to read but can’t without reading glasses,, i recently found out that the 20.00 i gave in support to help buy glasses for these children in need was well spent,, one little girl was so happy to be able to see the words in her bible she told my pastor to thank the man who helped her see,, when i got this praise of word i broke out in tears, i made someones life awhole lot brighter..this has inspired me so much to now want to start a foundation to help children in need of glasses, at this time we are researching on how to make this happen and to get it started. if you have any info you would like to share we would greatly appreciate it ,, god bless!
Tim in Louisiana.
By: Tim on September 6, 2009
at 6:31 am