There’s no such thing as too young for contacts. More and more pediatric optometrists are open to putting young children in contact lenses. There are several benefits to wearing contacts at an early age. Contacts can offer better vision because you’re not actually seeing everything with a frame around it and your vision is not limited to the size of your eyeglass lens. If your child is involved in sports they no longer have to worry about glasses slipping off his or her face or interfering with their sport. Another benefit to wearing contacts is your child will no longer have to deal with pressure on his or her nose and behind her ears from wearing glasses all day.
Most eye doctors willing to put elementary age children in contact lenses have a few requirements. It is crucial that the children want to wear contacts and their parent must agree that the they responsible enough to handle it. Before getting contacts it is required that children have a contact lens fitting appointment. At this appointment children will be trained how to properly insert, take out and care for their contacts. The lenses won’t be sold to the child until they show that they can properly take the contacts in and out three times without help from an adult.
Studies show there are even benefits to putting infants in contacts. Babies are not put into contacts just because they pull on their glasses; it is often a situation where contact lenses will offer the infant the best sight to ensure proper visual development. If the parent is willing to take on all the responsibility and fully understands the benefits as well as the risks of contacts for an infant, it is now an option most doctors are open to discussing.
With the advancements in Lasik surgery, individuals are getting 20/20 vision by their early twenties. Due to this, doctors are open to putting children in contacts at an earlier age than in the past.
