I’m wondering if any of you worked specifically on teaching your children how to put their glasses on. At what age did you let them start putting them on themselves?
When we first got Zoe her glasses, one of my concerns was how to help a 14 month old learn to put glasses on without either breaking the frames, or poking herself in the eye. So for that first year, we always insisted on putting the glasses on her face ourselves. She got her current pairs of glasses at age 2, and these have the flex hinges. I started noticing that if I got her glasses on wrong, she’d fix them herself (I’m constantly getting the temples caught in her hair, or missing her ears altogether). So we’ve let her put them on herself for the past six months of so, without really teaching her anything. For the most part, she does great, though every once in while, she’ll twist the frames in ways that have clearly contributed to the grey hairs on my head. And about half the time she tries to first put them on upside down.
Oh, and how about cleaning glasses? Zoe now insists on “cleaning” her glasses – usually right after one of us has cleaned them. Her cleanings are about as effective as brushing your teeth with a chocolate bar.
For Little Eyes 
It’s funny…we never really went about it in an organized sense. We’ve taught N how to remove, place them gently on his nightstand for bedtime, but generally avoided the put them on area for fear of the bends and twists you describe. (He’s an all or none kind of guy, so bent is..well…really bent.)
Then one morning out of nowhere he says “let me do it..” and he promptly picks them up, opens, and holding the temples does sort of an upside down flip.. and up on the fae, pulling the cable temples behind the ears. Huh.
He’s been ok since (that was around 2-ish.) We stand by to intervene when he gets too rough..
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Hmmm I think we still need lessons. Elly still takes off her glasses with cable temples on with one hand, even though we have practiced and preached 2 HANDS many, many times. She also saw papa clean her glasses once by breathing on them and using his t-shirt. So now, when they are dirty, she takes them off and licks them. Some times, I think they are so dirty they do need a good licking. However, now we have another bad habit to break!
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I have to admit, I have licked my own glasses when they were really dirty, but I’m laughing to myself at the image of Elly licking her glasses.
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This is good stuff guys! Aubrie doesn’t have cable temples anymore so she’s pretty good at removing or putting on her glasses. She also INSISTS on cleaning her glasses Ann. It never works very well, but she’s that kind of kid. I think when she starts preschool I’m going to include a cleaning cloth & lense spray in her backpack for the teachers. She tends to come home from places where I’m not with her with the smudgiest glasses. You’d think it would drive her nuts, but she doesn’t seem to notice!
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My daughter is able to take off her glasses, but sometimes I cringe because after she takes them off, she will bend them outwards.
She’ll also put them on her dolls or stuffed animals, bending the frames every which way. 🙂
She tries to put the glasses on herself. She gets it right except for the cable temple part. Haven’t get mastered getting them over her ears.
It’ll be so nice when she can put them on herself because if she ever takes them off, she doesn’t need my help to get them back on!
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My daughter started with her glasses at 4, and my son at 6 – I taught them right away about putting on and taking off their glasses with both hands.
My daughter does better at it then my son (he has autism) and her glasses have worn better because of it. His get stretched more and need more adjustments — I think also because he uses a strap to hold them on.
The funny thing is that my daughter does better putting on her glasses then when I put her glasses on her. She always takes them off and puts them back on because I get them stuck in her (very curly) hair.
Good luck with teaching your daughter to be a big girl and do it all by herself 🙂
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Oh, I’m getting worse and worse at getting the glasses on Zoe. Somehow I always seem to miss her ears. You’d think that being her mom, I’d know where her ears were, but no. At least not when it comes to glasses.
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My daughter was also 4 when she started wearing glasses and I will have to say she’s done very well putting them on and taking them off on her own. From the very beginning I’ve always said “two hands please” whenever she puts them on or removes them….to which she now replies “I know Mommy, I know!!) (ha ha!)
She also likes to clean them although I am usually the one to say something about how dirty they are. I am amazed at how smudgy they can be and she won’t say a thing!
My biggest issue with her is remembering to place her glasses on a safe place (such as a table or counter) if she takes them off for some reason during the day (if she wants to lay on the couch or is rough-housing with her brother). I have walked into a room many times and about had a heart attack to see her glasses on the floor!
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Oh Christy, I’m with you on freaking out when I see Zoe just setting her glasses on the floor, or putting them lens down on the table and sliding them around. Grey hairs – from the glasses.
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We were late for a playdate today because we couldn’t find ours. Elly took them off because the patch was on it. I was frantic. She said, “Don’t worry, I’ll call someone to help us.” She got on her play phone and said, “Grandma, we have a problem and I need your help. ” After 30 minutes, I found them in the middle of the floor covered with a doll blanket. ARGH I am amazed that we haven’t broken a pair yet!
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Ellie has had her glasses since she was 14 mos. and she is now 3 1/2. She started taking them off and putting them on about a year ago… I think when she switched preschool classrooms, the new teachers just assumed that she already did it herself and let her because suddenly she insisted on it at home. She is pretty good about it. We also had to tell her to use two hands to remove them (she always does now after lots of repeating), and the only time we have a problem with her putting them on is when they get caught in her hair and she freaks out- we have to remind her to calm down and try slowly, or intervene. She hasn’t asked to clean them yet, or tried to do it on her own, but she’s good at letting us know when they are too dirty for her. I don’t know when I will be ready for her clean them on her own… I have visions of broken hinges and popped-out lenses when I think of it.
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