Archives
Looking for particular posts on a specific topic, or wanting to browse the archives? Check out the links below to get into the posts on Little Four Eyes.
just starting out?
If you just found out that your child needs glasses, and you’re looking for some information and reassurance, you may want to take a look at our post on just starting out.
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(post counts in parentheses – counts are updated monthly, new posts are linked to these categories automatically)
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- Patch Challenge: Amomofelly reviews a different patch each week (10)
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My son is 4 and we had no idea he has any problem with his vision. He was tested at school and we recvd a letter suggesting we have further testing. Well we did and were shocked with the news that he was near-sighted and dbl stig. Stunned I demanded a second opn and was told pretty much the same thing. However the Dr said we should gradually increase the lenses. We got his first pair today and he says he sees dbl and doesnt want to keep them on…. what do we do?
I would definitely call the PO or opthamologist that prescribed these lenses. I am not an expert on this, but generally when our children see double, it’s because they cross their eyes in order to compensate for poor vision. If he is nearsighted, the glasses should really make a difference in his vision. Maybe he needs to have the prescription that he really needs rather than a gradual increase in the lenses. I have not heard that they do that for nearsightedness. I can tell you from my own experience that if he has an astigmatism that has never been corrected it takes some time to get used to the glasses. I remember feeling like the ground was uneven when I first got my glasses. Maybe getting him to keep them on consistently for a couple of days and seeing if it gets better is a solution? Hang in there. The first few weeks are the hardest as there is so much to take in! Once he gets used to his glasses, he will want to wear them as it helps him see so much better!
Hi Tanya, I definitely agree with Corrie – I would call his eye doctor and ask especially about seeing double. When kids see double, they will often suppress the vision from one eye which can lead to amblyopia. I do know that prescriptions can take a while to get used to – I remember one change for myself where for 2 days things that I knew were straight looked curved.
I’m going to post your question on the main page and ask if anyone else with nearsighted kids has run in to this.
I just stumbled onto this website and love it. We found out that our 18 month old daughter needs glasses and patching. I’m completely overwhelmed, worried, and of course, blaming myself. It was great to read the starting out section and advice from others, I feel slightly more at ease. I’m sure that I will continue to refer to this website in the next several months.
Welcome Courtney – sounds like you are an awesome parent and your daughter is SUPER lucky to have you =) Hang in there and keep us updated! Hopefully I’ll get the starting out patching page done soon!
My son (aged 5) has just been told he needs glasses. He was excited initially and tried on some with superman decorations on the wings, but then in the car on the way home asked – What if people laugh at me with glasses on. I told him if they did, it would only be because they were jealous and wished they had them too. However, it struck a chord with me. I remember distinctly the day I got my glasses. I was 5 too. They arrived in a cardboard package. Little pink National Health ones with wire bits for around the ears. My parents marvelled at how lovely I was and I felt like the bees knees… and then I walked into the class to taunts of “Specky four eyes! Ha Ha” and I was heartbroken. I avoid wearing glasses when I can myself because I feel very unattractive in them and have a real thing about them after growing up with horrible glasses until I was 16. I am within the visual limit to drive without glasses – just – so I avoid them. Trying hard to protect my son from a similar experience. I’m worried about how he will adjust. Children can be very cruel….
Here is our unraveling story. We have a 4 year old who we just found out is very farsighted. The doctor also says she has slight lazy eye in both eyes. So I have since scheduled an appt with a pediatric opthamalogist but cant get in until September. So for now we are left with a +8.25 both eyes prescription for her first pair of glasses. (which are not in yet) The doctor did say the glasses will make everything very blurry until she gets used to them and gave me drops to put in to dialate her eyes if she wont wear them. I am just wondering if this sounds at all familiar to anyone here. Is this common? It sounds extreme to throw these glasses on her that are so strong, but I am so ignorant to glasses and eyes that I thought I could get some words of advise here. I just want to be sure I am doing the right thing to help her.
Welcome Megs, That is a strong farsighted prescription, though I know there are many parents on here whose children have stronger prescriptions. The difficulty with farsighted prescriptions is that children can use their accommodative reflex to help them focus and overcome their farsightedness. That’s why so many of us parents (myself included) never had any idea their child was farsighted. This also means that if they’ve been using that to focus a lot, it can be hard for them to relax their eye muscles and let their glasses do the work for them. But I do know a lot of kids who took to their strong prescription glasses right away, so don’t be too discouraged. The dilating drops will stop your daughter from being able to use her accommodative reflex, which is why it is sometimes used to help introduce farsighted children to glasses. If she absolutely refuses the glasses, then the drops can make it so that she does see much better with her glasses. But the drops are not always easy, they sting, and I would try introducing the glasses without them for a week or so first. It will probably take her a while to get used to those glasses in any case, but if she needs that strong of a prescription, then it’s good that she’ll have those glasses now rather than waiting until September.
I think it’s really too bad that you’ll need to wait so long to see a pediatric ophthalmologist, though! How frustrating! Will you have a follow-up appointment with the doctor that prescribed your daughter’s glasses?
Best of luck to you and please keep us updated on how things are going!
Already I feel better. Thats so much for giving me confidence that this is a normal approach and information so I better understand whats happening with her eyes. We do have a follow up appt with her doctor after she has worn the glasses for 3 weeks. Thanks again and I will update on whats happening, and with future questions which I am certain will come up!
I love our pediatric opthamologist, but they are hard to get into too. I would call them every morning and ask if they have had a cancelation for that day. I am always upbeat, cheerful and insistant to see the doctor as soon as possible. Hopefully you will be able to see a specialist sooner than later. My neighbor had the same issue with the office and did this. She was origionally given an appointment 6 months away, but ended up having her girls seen in just a few weeks.
Just an update.. Isabelle is doing awesome with her glasses. We got them 1 week ago and she has not taken them off. I am so proud of her. Thanks again for the help.
Hooray! Thanks for the update
My little girl is 9m old and we knew that she had a lazy eye a borth i seen it right away!anyway her DR. sent her to a P.O so he told her dad and i that she needed glasses she in 50+ in both and f.s and she has a lazy eye in one ! so now we got her glasses but i cant get her to keep them on at all not even for a min she pulls them off then they hurt her nose and then all she will do is cry ! so can any one HELP ME !
Hi Crystal, and welcome! How long has she had the glasses? There are some stories of babies taking to their glasses right away, but most of them take a few weeks to even a month to get used to them. Can you get her to the glasses shop to just make sure that they’re adjusted correctly? She won’t wear them if they hurt, so that’s probably the first thing I’d check. After that, it’s really a matter of patience and staying positive (even if you want to scream, and believe me, when we started Zoe on her glasses, there were days I wanted to scream). Just be sure you’re putting them on her face with a smile on your face, tell her she looks great, and then try whatever you can to distract her. You’ll probably have to repeat that many times. It just takes time until they get used to their glasses and will wear them.
Good luck and keep us updated on how things go!
she has only had them about 2 1/2 weeks ! but she had her kidney taken out a week ago ! i think they hurt her i have a hard time geting them on her face and on her ears! we take her to the P/O on the 8th so i hope we can get somthing done with her then i seen some frames on here that i realy like the miraflex ones the good thing is my eye place has them .
thanks and i will !
Oh goodness, that’s just a lot for her to have gone through in such a short time – I can definitely imagine that it might take her more time to settle into the glasses.
I’m glad you have another appointment soon, I’d definitely ask about whether they can adjust the frames to hurt her less. You might even try taking her in earlier for adjustments if you have the time. Are her glasses leaving any marks? Zoe’s were leaving dark marks on her nose, I thought it meant we’d need new glasses (hers were 1 1/2 years old), but they were able to adjust them to fit better.
i will look in to all that when we go to the appointment ! yes she has alot ing on with her she has been sick since b4 i had her and it just keeps adding up its like every time we go to the doctor they are sending me to a new one !
ANN I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU EMILY HAS HAD HER GLASSES ON ABOUT 15 MIN NOW AND DNT EVEN CARE THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP
Hooray!! I hope she continues to do better – I bet she will!
she had them on for about 2 hours she did so good! i was so happy still am im going to try again here in a little to get her to keep them on again!
well emily has to have a surgery on her eye on june 30th so nw we knw why can want ware them
Hi! I have a question…
What do you do for your swimming lessons? My little one is glasses free for 40 minutes, but it really bugs me because she goes cross-eyed to accommodate for her farsightedness (+4 both eyes). She’s only 19 months old.
Do any of you have prescription goggles for your little ones? Or do you just let them wear their goggles in?
She’s only had glasses for a week and a half, and it only took her two days to get used to them. Now she cries when we take them off, and says “better” when we put them on. We’re so relieved! Now it seems strange to see her without them!
I don’t want to get prescription goggles until we know for certain whether the prescription is going to change.
Personally I have nothing against her wearing her glasses in once a week for 30 minutes. They only go under the water a few times during the lesson. Do you think the glasses would rust?
Thanks,
Jade.
PS: Loved this site for it’s advice and other articles, and Little Chiara loves looking at the children in glasses… every time I walk past the computer she says “glasses, glasses!!!” and wants me to open the gallery! So cute. She takes delight in looking at others with glasses. It warms my heart.
Thanks Jade! My daughter goes without glasses for her swim lessons. It bothers me to see her cross her eyes, too, but she doesn’t seem to have trouble seeing, and like you, I didn’t want to buy prescription goggles until her prescription settled. I do know a lot of other parents here have ordered prescription goggles, and I think if the prescription is off a little, it’s probably not too much of a big deal. There is a post about goggles if you are interested in links to places where you can order some: http://littlefoureyes.com/2009/07/02/reader-question-prescription-swim-goggles/
Hi, i’m new to this site and just wondered if anyone one had any knowledge they could share with me.
My daughter is 9 months old and has been prescribed her first set of glasses her sister was 19 months before she got hers. She has no lazy eye or squint but eye drop test gave her a prescription of right +2.0 and left +3.0. The opthamologist said this wasnt quite as high as needed but would start her off.
Has anyone else had a similar expeience and know if having glasses so young helps or if its worth waiting until they are older?
Many thanks Bev
My little girl will be 2 here in December. A year ago I took her in for an eye exam after her pediatrician mentioned strabismus. Turned out she did not have strabismus, but she was nearsighted; however, she was not prescribed any glasses. We went in today for a follow up appointment, and it was a disaster. My daughter fought the doctors incredibly hard, and they concluded that her nearsightedness had gotten better. I would like to believe this is true, but from my understanding myopia does not typcially get better on its own. I have also noticed in the recent months that she simpily cannot always make out what common, familar objects are that are at a distant. Even at the office today she was insisting a fishy was on a shelf on the wall, which was not there, and I had to pick her up and take her closer so she could “see” for herself no fish was up there. Should I get a second opinion, and if so, how can I get her to be calmer when they go to check her eyes so a good exam can be done?
Oh, from your description, I would recommend a second opinion, especially if you feel that she’s not seeing as well as she should be. When you make the appointment, ask what testes they’ll do and talk to your daughter about what’s coming up. We found that playing shape matching games helped a lot at that age since our doctor had her look at a chart with different shapes and then either name the shape or point to its match on a board. I’m guessing they’ll also do dilating drops, which are what my daughter really hates. You could pretend to give a doll or animal eye drops leading up to the exam, though my sense is that nothing makes eye drops easier.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Took my four year old daughter to the eye doctor last week and he diagnosed her with being really farsighted. He sent her a prescription of +4 in both eyes. The doctor told me that he was putting her in 60% of the prescription so her real prescription was going to be +6. I took her to a second opinion and that doctor said that her true prescription is going to be +10.5 and that he would start her at an +8. I don’t understand how the diagnosis can be sooooo different. This doctor said that with that prescription we should start considering contact lenses in the near near future. I made an appointment with another doctor for a third opinion because I just don’t know how both of those prescriptions are so different. Can anyone tell me how thick glasses with a prescription of +10.5 are? I’m just concerened how the other kids are going to treat her now. I guess I’m just scared and concerned for her.
Welcome Natahalia. How frustrating to get such different opinions! I know that our ophthalmologist told us that getting a prescrition for young kids is as much art as science, and so some changes are expected as you work to get the prescription right, but that big of a difference is really hard to justify. Let us know how the third opinion goes!
There is a post with pictures of kids in strong prescriptions that should answer your question of what a +10 looks like: http://littlefoureyes.com/2009/12/15/pictures-of-kids-in-glasses-with-a-strong-prescription/
Thank you for the quick response. It’s nice to know that I can talk to someone about my daughter. I go Dec 7th to the other doctor so I will keep you updated.
My son was born with caracts and had to have surgery at 2 months old. He is know 18 months old and is needing new contacts and glasses to see close up and far away. He will need bifocals beside the contacts. Does anybody else have to do the same?
So I just found out that my 2 1/2 year old daughter is farsighted and has astigmistim. She has a prescription of +4.00, I just ordered her glasses yesterday and liked how cute she looked in the frames but now I’m worried that the lenses will magnify her eyes, I did get the thinner lenses that get thinner on the edges. Does anyone hav a child with a similar prescription, how did their eyes look with glasses? Thanks for any advice
Hi Kim, Zoe is a +4.75, and I don’t notice any distortion or magnification. I’m sure there’s some, but it’s pretty subtle. Here’s a recent picture of her:
http://littlefoureyes.com/2011/01/18/patching-in-the-pre-k/
My daughter was just diagnosed with amblyopia in her left eye. Glasses and patching for 2 hours a day is the plan… her left eye is +4.50 , her right eye just says PL.
My huge concern is that one eye is going to look magnified and one eye isn’t. That she will look funny or weird since they don’t match. Can anyone calm my fears? PICTURES would be great!! : )