What’s the Right Age for Children to Get Contact Lenses?

At first glance, the words "contacts" and "children" may not seem to belong in the same sentence. But the fact is, contact lenses and children as young as 8 years old often go together very well. ¹

Children who can accept responsibility for having and caring for contact lenses take to them very naturally. Reasons why include:

• Children adapt to new things quickly, including contact lenses.
• They tend to follow instructions somewhat better than adults.
• Children tend to have fewer complications of lens wear than adults! If problems do arise, children typically heal faster.²

Is Your Child Ready for Contacts?

An important key to success with contact lenses and children is parents' accurate assessment of their child's sense of responsibility. ² Your child will need to:

• Be mature enough to tolerate contacts -- and recognize and want the benefit of not wearing eyeglasses.
• Be responsible enough to follow the eye doctor's instructions for contacts' use and care exactly, day after day. ²

So ... is your child the right age to wear contact lenses?

If you think the answer may be yes, first take a look at how well he or she handles other responsibilities. Ask yourself this: Does your child regularly do assigned tasks like making his bed, cleaning her room, or feeding the dog without needing to be reminded (at least not very often!)?

If so, then you have some assurance that a visit to the eye doctor for a contact lens evaluation for your child won't be in vain. If not, it may be too soon for the responsibility of having contact lenses. You can always reconsider at a later date. ²

How Wearing Contacts Could Benefit Your Child

A good "fit" of contact lenses and children can have important benefits: ²

• Better optics -- for better vision-- than eyeglasses. This is especially true of some types of contacts (for example, rigid gas permeable lenses).
• Better peripheral (side) vision.
• A possible slowdown of worsening vision. If your child is nearsighted, consider fitting him or her with rigid contact lenses. According to some eye doctors, this may help slow² the progression of nearsightedness (myopia), which most often develops between the ages of 8 and 16. ¹
• Improve your child's self-esteem. Many children would rather not wear eyeglasses at school. They may think they look "funny" or "different." Some children find themselves victims of other children's teasing. The change in appearance with wearing contact lenses can give a big boost to a child's self-esteem. This might lead to better school performance and friendships. ²
• Increased safety. Wearing contacts may actually be safer than wearing eyeglasses for playing sports. All sports lenses should be made of impact-resistant polycarbonate. But eyeglass frames can break, hurting athletic performance and maybe the child as well. ²

Contact lenses and children alert!

If your teenager wears contacts, be sure he or she understands the importance of avoiding eye irritation and infections by:

• Not sharing or swapping contacts with someone else
• Never using saliva, tap water, distilled water, or homemade non-sterile saline solution in caring for the lenses
• For girls, applying makeup after inserting the lenses, not before
• Using hypoallergenic skin products and cosmetics or those marked "for contact lens wearers" or "for sensitive eyes" ³