glasses

Alexander has worn glasses since he was five months old. I know there will be a million questions about how you get a five-month-old baby to wear glasses. I’ll address that another day, but in plain and simple terms: you just do. When your child needs to see, you find a way to give them vision.

When Alexander was seven he started asking about contact lenses. His doctor promised him that at nine he could get contacts. At eight and a half Alexander started nudging me to make his eye appointment.

We practically ran to the appointment a few days before Alexander’s ninth birthday. He had the standard exam and then the ophthalmologist came into the room with a packet of daily wear contact lenses. She sat Alexander down in front of a mirror and showed him how to put in his lenses. Then it was Alexander’s turn.

It was a dismal failure. The three of us were so tense I wouldn’t have been surprised if the walls were shuddering. I was sitting on my hands waiting for my son’s success so I could hop up and clap. Success was not on the horizon. Lining up a contact lens with an eye that’s out of focus is a really tough thing to do for an adult, for a nine-year-old boy it’s near impossible. I sat wondering if it’s any easier for girls who have previously played with makeup.

After watching Alexander try and fail at least two dozen times I asked if I could put his lens in. The Doctor seemed unsure, but I explained to her that I was with Alexander every morning of his life and that I’d be happy to help my son in the mornings.

It’s not easy to put a contact lens into someone else’s eye. It’s really tough when you have no experience with your own eyes. I’m sure a doctor of ophthalmology will guide you through this, but here’s how we did it every morning with my son’s right eye.

How to Put A Contact Lens In Your Child’s Eye When They are Under 10

1. Wash and dry your hands (truly, more soap is better!)
2. Stand slightly behind but next to him
3. Use your left middle finger to hold the top eyelid just above the lash line pressing gently
4. Put the contact lens onto your right pointer finger (be sure to check that it isn’t inside out)
5. Use your right middle finger to pull the eye down from just below the lower lashes – you are applying similar light pressure as you have with the top lid.
6. IMPORTANT: tell your child to breathe and open their eyes
7. Quickly pull the top lid up and the lower lid down while using your right index finger in a rolling motion to press the lens onto the eye. I have had the most success rolling from bottom to top
8. Wait a beat or two before letting your child blink as the contact comes to rest

For many months we had a pattern. I’d put his lens in each morning (Alexander only wears one) and he would remove it every evening. There have been a few stumbling blocks (one massive one in New York that I will post about later) but for the most part, he really loved not wearing his glasses, and I was able to pop the lens in with ease.

After a few months of this we told Alexander that it was time for him to put in his own lenses. I wanted him to not get too frustrated (as we had at the doctor’s office) so I started by talking to him about it each morning for almost a week. Rather than just popping the lens in I’d say, “Now I’m pulling your eye open…” and I’d really talk him through each movement. After about five days of this I asked him to take a turn. He dropped the lens, he tore a lens, he pressed too hard and the lens flipped inside out. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Alexander got frustrated and we put it on hold until the next day.

This was a mistake that I’m cautioning you against making. We were smarter the next morning.

The next morning I had Alexander try three times to get his lens in, after three tries I went ahead and popped it in for him. We repeated this every day. By the third day Alexander had success, but it wasn’t consistent. There are plenty of mornings that he’s too frustrated to get the lens in himself, and it’s absolutely critical that I go ahead and put it in for him calmly, and that I remind him that I don’t always get it right the first time.

For the past month Alexander has put his own contact lens in every morning without needing any help. It’s been mostly stress-free and a very real lifestyle improvement for him.

I’d caution parents to only use disposable (one day) lenses. We did have a two-week lens for a day. Yes, one day, it fell out and was lost forever. An expensive little lesson.