If you are a parent looking to buy a pair of glasses for your child, these tips can help you make the right choice and help your child have the best learning experience in life as one of the greatest senses they have (especially before their speech matures) are their eyes…
Buying the right eyewear for your kids can prove to be quite a challenge. Walking straight into an optical store or online shop without any background about what your kid requires will only end up causing more confusion. It can also be very expensive as most kid’s glasses aren’t very during and cause various problems after a short period of time such as:
- Losing their shape
- Lenses popping out
- Continually slipping down the nose and marking a child’s face
- A poor fit also leads to a short life span and can also lead to a child rejecting a pair of glasses and subsequently not wearing them for prolonged periods of time
So how to make the right choice?
Most optical stores or online stores have a large selection of frames on offer; however this can sometimes be confusion with lots to choose from and the frame you end up choosing ends up being the pair that you or your child “liked the look of”. Outlined below are the key things to consider before you purchase your child’s glasses.
The lens thickness - One of the important factors to keep in mind before buying a frame for your child is the thickness of the lens. You will need to consult the optician to understand these details according to the prescription issued for your child. If the lens is thick, choose a small frame, this will ensure that the overall thickness is not too much.
Larger frames typically lead to the lens to be thicker which if your child is long-sighted can make their eyes look extremely magnified and enlarge when they have their glasses on due to the curvature on the lens.
Fashionable and trendy - Kids often get uncomfortable with the idea of wearing specs and the best way to take care of the initial hesitation is to choose a stylish eyewear frame that your kid will love to wear. Steer clear from the uncool models and opt for more colourful options.
Don’t always choose bland colours but rather sometimes a bright orange or red can really brighten up a child’s face and have the positive effect of showing off their glasses rather than being self-conscious of wearing them.
Skin complexion and head shape - Other details that you need to keep in mind is the complexion of your child’s skin and their head and face shape. For instance, brown, most metals and splashy colours like turquoise go well with warm skin colour tones. Similarly, you will come across interesting frame shapes as well that go well with different face shapes. Let your child check out the different styles and hear them out before finalizing on the frame to be bought.
Frame material - Plastic still appears to be the material of choice when it comes to younger children. Especially frames made of TR90 which is a Swiss designed plastic technology which enables a super-flexible frame with shape intelligence and memory to help it sustain the sometimes harsh handling of a young child. While choosing the frame material for your kids, don’t forget to ask for hypoallergenic materials.
This is very important, more so if your child is allergic to certain alloys commonly used in manufacturing eyewear frames. Also be weary of pure-rubber like frames which may seem like a great idea due to their super-flexibility; however after a short period of time you will notice the lens popping out regularly and the frame losing its original shape in hot weather due to the rubber compounds response to heat if you leave your child’s glasses in the car on a hot summers day.
The right bridge fit - The eyewear frame rests on the nose. If it keeps sliding down, your child is likely to find it difficult to see. However, a tight bridge fit is also an equally uncomfortable option. The ideal option is to select a frame which incorporates an adjustable bridge fit to optimise the comfort for the child while wearing the glasses.