When deciding on the best type of vision correction for your child, you have options to consider. In most cases, glasses would be the first choice. But does your child find that wearing their glasses during sports or dance inconvenient? Are your child’s glasses always dirty, crooked and broken? Do they complain when their glasses steam up coming into the house from the cold weather? Does your child want to wear sunglasses in the summer months or perhaps goggles for winter sports? If your child has trouble adapting to their new world with glasses, you may start to consider contact lenses.

It has been shown that children younger than 12 years of age report better vision-related quality of life when wearing contact lenses compared to glasses. Some assume children are too young for contact lenses.

What age can my child start wearing contact lenses?

There is no strict rule about when a child can start wearing contact lenses.

Physically, a child’s eyes can tolerate contact lenses from a very young age. Even some infants are fitted with contact lenses due to eye conditions present at birth. 

If you are thinking about contact lenses for your child, think about how they handle their other responsibilities, like personal hygiene or tidying their room. If they need frequent reminders, they might not be ready for the responsibility of wearing and caring for contact lenses.

Many children find no issue in applying or removing contact lenses by themselves [reference needed]. They are typically highly motivated to wear contacts and therefore will follow instructions well.

Kids also are less likely to have dry eyes — a condition that can cause contact lens-related problems for adults.

What are the benefits of my child wearing contact lenses?

• Contact lenses can boost self-esteem, comfort, and vision quality for children. Wearing contact lenses often can improve how children feel about their appearance, elevating their self-confidence.
• Some contact lenses can also slow the progression of nearsightedness or be worn during sleep.[need reference]
• They can be better for sports activities because
  • they don’t break like glasses can, which can not only be costly but also poses a risk of interrupted activities or eye injury
  • The lenses of sport eyeglasses or safety glasses sometimes can fog up during competition, affecting vision and performance.
  • Sport contact lenses can offer better peripheral vision that enables your child to react faster to other players and objects such as a soccer ball or baseball approaching from the side.
  • Contact lenses also remain stable on your child’s eyes when he or she is running, for more accurate and stable vision.
  • Many contact lenses offer better optics than eyeglasses. This leads to clearer vision that may improve sports performance.

Switching your child from glasses to contact lenses isn’t a permanent decision. If your child does not adapt well, or struggles with the wear and care of contact lenses, they can go back to wearing glasses. Contact lenses can always be tried again at a later date.

Are there any risks?

According to study published in Pediatrics, about 13,500 (or one-fourth) of the roughly more than 70,000 children who go to the emergency room each year for injuries and complications from medical devices are related to contact lenses. 

Risks include:

• ulcers (severe infections) of the cornea — which is the clear front part of the eye that shields it from germs, dust, and other harmful material. Ulcers are rare, but if not quickly treated and controlled, can result in permanent loss of vision. 
• Eye abrasions — meaning that your eye can be bruised from contact lenses.

How to avoid damage from contact lenses

• Make sure your child uses lenses carefully and follows the directions of an eye care professional
• It is important that your child only wears cosmetic or decorative lenses purchased with a valid prescription and not bought from flea markets, beauty supply stores, the internet and other sources. 
• Eye care professionals generally do not recommend extended wear lenses (lenses that can be worn overnight or during sleep) for kids and teens because they can increase the incidence of corneal ulcers. Daily disposable lenses can reduce some of the risks associated with wearing lenses since a new pair is used each day.
• Another point to consider: children with seasonal allergies are usually not good candidates for wearing contacts. The lenses may only increase the itching and burning caused by their allergies.

Contact lenses for children: fact or fiction

Fiction: The prescription should be stable before a child can be fit with contact lenses.

Fact: The prescription does not need to be stable before fitting children with contact lenses. Most children are fit with disposable (or planned replacement) soft lenses, which are replaced every day. When the prescription changes, the next order of contact lenses can easily be adjusted to reflect the new prescription.

Fiction: Contact lenses are expensive.

Fact: Contact lenses may be no more expensive than glasses in the long term. As previously mentioned, changes in the prescription can easily be changed with contact lens wear. Changes in the prescription for glasses require a new set of glasses lenses each time. In the hands of children, glasses may become damaged in a very short period of time and require regular repairs or replacement. Scratched lenses may need to be replaced regularly, incurring significant costs each time.

Fiction: If I have contact lenses, I don’t need glasses.

Fact: Contact lenses do not replace glasses for all activities, such as school science labs. Contacts cannot be worn by teens more than approximately 12 hours per day and should not be worn if you are sick or have an eye infection or eye injury.

Fiction: Children can’t handle contact lenses.

Fact: It has been shown that children as young as eight can successfully handle contact lenses. With appropriate instruction, most children can put contact lenses in their eyes and remove them easily. A recent study indicated that the average time to instruct a child on how to handle contact lenses is about 30 minutes, which is similar to the time it takes to instruct an adult.

Fiction: My child is too young for contact lenses.

Fact: Children of any age can be fit with contact lenses. In fact, babies as young as a few weeks old can be fit with contact lenses to promote better visual development after, for example, cataract surgery. Children as young as eight years old can be very successful contact lens wearers.

Fiction: Children are more prone to complications related to contact lens wear than adults.

Fact: Contact lens complications are no more prevalent in children than in adults. If the parents and children adhere to the instructions they have been given regarding, wearing time, replacing the lenses regularly and using the solution regimens appropriately, then the risks of contact lens wear are significantly minimized.

Fiction: Children can’t look after contact lenses.

Fact: Caring for contact lenses is relatively simple and children are just as capable at looking after their contact lenses as an adult. If there is a concern about compliance with contact lens care products you should discuss the option of daily disposable contact lenses for your child with your doctor of optometry, to eliminate the requirement for using contact lens solutions. It is important to realize that not all children (or adults) are suitable for contact lens wear. Some more complicated prescriptions can pose a challenge when it comes to fitting contact lenses and some people just do not seem to be able to tolerate wearing contact lenses. Your doctor of optometry will be able to use a variety of diagnostic lenses to find the right one for your child and if after the trial your child is deemed to not be a suitable candidate at that time, you will be advised accordingly.