I know there was a little discussion about swim goggles in the post on when the glasses come off, but I just got this question from Heidi and wanted to put it out there and see if there were any other thoughts or experiences. -Ann Z
Have you heard from any parents re: swimming w/kids in glasses or learned about prescription swim goggles? Bennett’s 4.5 years old now and we’ve not done swim lessons since I’ve been having babies two of the last three summers, but now this boy needs some swim lessons. 🙂 But I’m not sure how to handle it with the glasses and the sites I explored online only have prescriptions to -8/+8 for swim goggles. We’re -12 & -8 so I’m not sure what we’ll do…
Anyone have experience with swim goggles for their kids, particularly with high prescriptions?
Update: I was just sent this link to prescription goggles by @nicolemarr via Twitter (um, by the way, Little Four Eyes is on Twitter, user name is, unsurprisingly littlefoureyes). The goggles are not specifically child-sized, but they do offer the option of small bridge, the prescription range for these are +4 to -10, so a larger range than some.
For Little Eyes 
This is something this summer we have debated as well. We got a small blow up pool in our yard, but it’s not too deep so Aubrie does wear her glasses in the pool. She was going to take swim classes, but the teacher fell through. We rarely go to a pool that is deep enough to swim, but I still want her to know how. Next summer she’ll definintely be taking swim lessons & she’ll be 4 1/2. I think we’ll get prescription goggles for sure. Her prescription would probably need a +6 so we can find those, but from what I’ve read if you are above the +8 they have to custom make them and they can be pretty pricey. The ones I’ve been looking at are about $30 which seems worth it. I know I wouldn’t want to be in water, and unable to see…it would be pretty scary I think. http://www.aclens.com/da.asp?ID=213
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Off on a tangent but wondering what everyone’s experience is with sunglasses? Especially high index. I’ve been thinking of going the route of custon clip ons. Anybody done so before?
G
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Hi George – our glasses store says they don’t do clip-ons small enough for Zoe, so we ended up doing the prescription sunglasses from Zenni route. But I know that one of the parents on the facebook group got clip ons for her daughter, so they must exist somewhere. I’d love to know if anyone else has had any experience with clip-ons, too.
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George I haven’t been able to get clip ons either. However, we just did our annual glasses trip & there is this brand of childrens glasses called OGI. They had stickers on all of them that said clip on sunglasses available. We didn’t go with those frames, because the warranty that store offered. However, I tried to look up the children’s brand online b/c the frames were fantastic so I wanted to find them elsewhere…no such luck. If you are out shopping you may want to mention that brand. They had some great frame options for girls that were too die for cute! We also went with the Zenni option for sunglassses & they worked well for our daughter. She was thrilled with them and they were like $25 for non-index lenses.
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thanks for the info Ann and Annie. I’ve since found a couple sites on line that will make a custom clip on from a xerox of the frames..or if sent in to them… My concern is with the need to customize as one of Nicky’s lenses is really thick, the other not. I’m hoping to go this route instead of Rx as his prescription is potentially unstable making the investment in prescription sunglasses prohibitive. I’ll let you know..
G
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We got a pair of clip ons for Elly’s glasses. The bridge was too wide in the smallest pair, so the optomotrist just bend them in a V shape and they work great. They are very thin, so I can carry them very easily. I’ll try post a picture. They are working out way better than the prescription sunglasses we got.
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I have a 4 1/2 year old who started wearing prescription clip on sunglasses (they attach via two small magnets mounted on the frame) a few months ago. We ordered them through LensCrafters, which had a good selection of kids size frames. Benefits are that he can use the sunglasses pair as a backup pair (without the clip on shades). Downside is that he’s not able to put on or take off the clip on shades by himself yet and, because he’s a very physically active boy, I sometimes worry that the clip on shades will come off and get lost at school or a playground. LensCrafters couldn’t tell me if I would be able to replace a lost clip on shade alone or if I would have to replace the whole frame. Thankfully I haven’t had to pursue that yet. Thankfully, I have only “lost” them once after he rolled down a hillside but found them shortly thereafter. Other than that, very happy with the glasses.
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We live in Hawaii, and my daughter swims year-around. She has had glasses for 2 1/2 years, however we just got around to getting her prescription goggles this summer. I think the fact that she can be in the pool on her own now finally prompted us to action. We got her the Hilco children’s prescription goggles, I think at AC Lens. Very reasonably priced, great shipping price. We had to assemble them upon arrival, but that was easy, and they are high-quality- hard to tell on the internet what you are getting, but they are very durable. My daughter says she can see much better in the pool and ocean with them on, and we notice a big difference when she dives down to pick something up that she immediately grabs it, can see right where she is going, instead of fumbling a bit at the bottom. She seems even more sure of herself in the water- better vision has led to greater independence and confidence. It has also been great for when she gets out of the pool and is walking around the pool deck area, or is jumping in from the side. We had had a few scary incidents of her misjudging the corner or the edge of the pool due to poor depth perception with no prescription on her eyes- not an issue at all anymore! I think the goggles were less than $40 total- worth every penny!
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That is so neat… where did you find them? I was able to find a couple distributers, but they only went up to a -5. Anyone know of one where I can get -8… our PO said she would even benefit from a -6????
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