5 ways to boost your child’s confidence with new glasses

How to build confidence with kids in new glasses

Finding out your child requires glasses can spark a variety of emotions in any parent. A common feeling among parents is a fear that their child will feel embarrassed or poorly about themselves needing vision correction.

We’re here to ease that fear for you and your child. Below are five ways that you can encourage your child in their glasses journey and build their confidence when picking out their new specs. 

1. Prepare your child for getting glasses 

Before you take your child in to get glasses, discuss the shopping and trying-on process with them. If you or your spouse wear glasses, talk to your child about how he or she might get to wear them too and let them try on your glasses.

Preparing your child for the glasses-selection experience will make the process go much more smoothly. 

2. Make getting glasses a fun experience for your child

Treating the day your child gets glasses as a celebration will help your son or daughter to feel better about wearing specs. Block out enough time to allow your child to try on as many pairs as he or she wants to choose a favorite.

Allowing your child to develop preferences and ultimately pick out their favorite frames will help your son or daughter feel more confident wearing glasses after you’ve left the optical shop.

Opticians will often have a child wear a pair the youngster or teen likes for 20 to 30 minutes, then inspect the child for any pressure marks or signs of discomfort that the glasses may cause.

Because young children often aren’t able to verbalize that the glasses are pressing behind their ears, or pinching their nose, it sometimes takes a while for opticians to adjust the frames to comfortably fit your child.

Allow enough time for your child to try on and select a pair of glasses. Rushing your child or the optician can leave your child feeling bitter about the frames they end up with and those frames might be uncomfortable because the time wasn’t taken to properly adjust them.

SEE RELATED: Are there any advantages of being myopic?

3. Praise your child's new look 

Once your kiddo has chosen frames and had them adjusted to fit properly, tell your son or daughter they look great in their new glasses!

Even if the frames they picked weren’t quite the look you had hoped they’d choose, reassuring your child that they look cool, smart, stylish, etc., is important.

If your child feels hesitant about wearing glasses in public, try telling your son or daughter that you’ll wear your glasses, too, in solidarity. You may have to positively reinforce your child's wearing of glasses for a while — talk with your child about how glasses are now a part of their everyday life and how that’s not a bad thing.

4. Show your child that they aren’t alone

It can be difficult to help your child feel included when they need glasses at a young age. To a child, there is no greater impact than to see other children their age wearing glasses than it is for them to see mom or dad wearing them. 

Truffles, the glasses-wearing cat shows children that wearing glasses is cool, even for a cat. Truffles has videos on her social media pages that can be used as a resource for helping your child not feel alone in needing vision correction.

Other online communities are dedicated to supporting children who need vision correction and their families. One example is For Little Eyes, which shares stories, pictures and videos of other children who wear glasses.

Having trouble finding a community of glasses-wearers? Start your own! It’s likely that there are local families with glasses-wearing children who are looking for a way to connect with others who have similar stories. 

SEE RELATED: 16 Best children's books about wearing glasses

5. Celebrate your child's new ability to see clearly 

It’s possible once your child realizes how much better they can see with their glasses, they’ll never want to take them off. Children love being able to see because it allows them to see words clearly and not as a fuzzy outline.

It’s also likely that they’ll improve in schoolwork because they’re finally able to see clearly and are able to learn more effectively. Reminding your child and celebrating how much their eyesight improves with their new glasses, will help them place value on the glasses and develop a desire to wear them more often.

Practice these tips when searching for your child’s glasses and notice how a new pair of specs leaves their vision clear and their self-esteem soaring. 

READ NEXT: How to get kids to wear glasses

Page published on Monday, May 4, 2020