Ready for contacts?

[beth34]

My son will be 11 years old in July and he wants to start wearing contacts after his birthday. (It will be time for his yearly eye exam then.) He's been wearing glasses for 3 years and he hates them. He plays alot of sports, and it seems like they are constantly getting broken or bent out of shape. I just don't know if he's old enough for the reponsibility that comes along with contacts. I've thought that if he does get them, that maybe he can wear them a couple days a week and when he plays sports but can still wear his glasses on weekends and evenings after he gets home from school. Is there anybody else out there that has a child around this age that wears contacts, and if so, how is it going? Thanks!

 

[Cute Tink]

If his prescription isn't overly specific, perhaps his eye doctor has a trial pair of contacts to see how he deals with them. In my own experience with contacts, the first couple of weeks are the worst with problems. After that, they are pretty easy to deal with overall.

 

[ChildByGrace]

I'm not sure there's an age that I'd reccommend wearing them from.
I used to wear them and never got on with them-I didn't produce enough tears so my eyes always got dry.

If I was you I'd speak to the eye people when he has his next exam and see what they say. I'd also check with your son to see if he realises that he must have clean hands when putting them in and out. As he plays alot of sports contacts would be good for him

 

[lucypevensie]

I used to wear contacts. They usually recommend wearing them for a short time at first and gradually increasing the amount of time. Once you get used to one form of corrective lens it can be tricky to switch back to the other. So I think it would be hard for him to have to switch around from glasses to contacts and then back to glasses on a day-to-day or hour-by-hour basis. I think the more he handles the lenses the more likely they are to get lost or damaged - better to learn to wear them full-time or not at all. Just my opinion though. Your eye doc would have more specific recommendations.

Is he pretty responsible with his own belongings and careful with the belongings of other?

 

[suzybeezy]

I loathed wearing glasses, they made me feel ugly. I couldn't wait til I could get contacts. First chance, I jumped! My parents made sure I listened well to the instructions my doctor gave me, and they followed up with me til I had a routine established. I was so relieved to be free to the glasses, and it really improved my self-esteem. I still had glasses to wear occasionally on the weekends or when my contacts were cleaning.

I think, based on what you said, that you should let him try them, just make sure he understands the care involved with having them and established a good routine.

 

[beth34]

thanks for all the advice