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How to Ensure Your Child Wears Their Glasses

How to Ensure Your Child Wears Their Glasses

Not every child will be happy to be instructed to wear prescription glasses. As a nanny, that presents you with the task of getting your charge to adopt a behaviour they dislike. This can be challenging, just like it can be when coaxing them to go to bed at a particular time or getting picky eaters to eat nutritious dishes.

Yet all those health habits are necessary for their health and well-being. Children need enough sleep to have enough energy for the next day. They need nutritious fruits and vegetables to stay healthy, even if you have to present them with recipes that appeal to their tastes. They need to wear glasses on the advice of their optometrist to sharpen their vision, reduce risks for future eye conditions like misaligned eyes, and help them focus better in school and play. To help encourage them, here are a few tips to ensure your child wears their glasses.

Get glasses your child will like

Your charge will be more likely to wear glasses they like than something they consider embarrassing. To make the process fun, you can help them browse frames online so they have a wider selection of unique styles to choose from. You can then let them try on glasses at home by leveraging free trials that allow you, the child, and their parents to get a proper look at the frames. That way, you'll also be able to discern if the glasses' fit, weight, and size are correct, so you can request alterations or ask your child to pick different frames as needed. The best optical stores have quick next-day delivery and an unlimited number of home trials, so your child can keep experimenting with designs until they find their perfect match.

Teach your child how to care for their glasses

You can't monitor your child all the time, and getting them to wear their glasses will be all the more challenging if you establish a pattern where they snatch their specs off when you aren't looking. To avoid this, it's important to do two things.

First, you'll want to explain to your charge why it's essential that they wear their glasses and emphasise that you're trusting them to wear and care for the specs regardless of whether you're keeping an eye on them. The next thing you can do is give them a part to play in caring for their glasses. While giving them work might seem counterintuitive in getting them to wear their glasses more often, doing so can encourage responsibility and self- discipline, keep your charge accountable, and motivate them to wear their glasses more consistently.

Be a role model for them

Some children can be insecure about wearing glasses, especially if there aren't many people around them who wear them, too. You can neatly solve that problem by wearing glasses yourself, and making a show of how much you like them. Even if you don't need eyewear for vision correction, you can easily go to your nearest optical store for a pair of non-prescription glasses you may find useful. For example, you can grab a pair of blue eye glasses that can reduce eye strain and headaches when looking at your computer screen and help regulate your circadian rhythm. That way, you get a practical tool you can use daily—and your charge gets a bespectacled companion who can help them feel more comfortable about wearing glasses.

Reward good behaviour

When your child manages to overcome their reluctance to wear glasses, ensure you reward them. These rewards don't have to be elaborate—you can grant them praise for caring for their eye health or give them a few more minutes of playtime. This will positively reinforce their behaviour and encourage them to continue donning corrective eyewear. For the benefit of their eye health, it's vital your charge wear their glasses. Try the tips above to encourage them.

 

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