Dr Michael Jones on Children’s Glasses

Dr Michael Jones was interviewed on ABC 702 radio with Linda Mottram last week discussing young children wearing glasses, and babies wearing glasses.

As a paediatric ophthalmologist in Sydney, and as head of the ophthalmology department at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Dr Michael Jones sees many children that require glasses from a young age, and also babies that need glasses.

There are many reasons that young children and babies may require glasses. This could be due to the baby or young child being long-sighted (hypermetropia) or short sighted (myopia), having a turn in one eye (strabismus), having reduced vision (amblyopia), or due to congenital cataracts.

Learning that your young child or baby has an eye issue that requires glasses can be a very overwhelming time for most families. The question we most commonly get asked when we diagnose a young child or baby with an eye problem that requires glasses is;

“How will we keep the glasses on”?

Most parents are pleasantly surprised with how compliant their child is with wearing glasses, simply because they see better with their glasses on. Most young children and babies learn to love their glasses. This can sometimes take a bit of time, however. In our experience, the best tips for encouraging young children and babies to wear their glasses are to encourage positively, be patient, and to persevere. The art of distraction is a great way to help a baby learn to wear glasses.

The paediatric ophthalmologists and orthoptists at Sydney Ophthalmic Specialists are nurturing, caring and understanding of the difficulties faced when trying to get some young children to wear glasses. It can sometimes be an enormous battle! We have a wealth of experience in helping families deal with the complexities of a young child or baby with vision problems and the need for them to wear glasses. We have access to many resources that can be helpful.

Dr Michael Jones spoke on Sydney radio last week about a YouTube video that has gone viral of a six-month old baby wearing glasses for the first time. It is a truly heart-warming video which shows young Piper looking at her surrounds (and her parents) as if for the first time being able to actually see everything clearly. She has a big smile on her face for the whole video. You can view the video here – it really is a must watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8eI8xGvldg

Are you having trouble getting your child to wear their glasses? There are so many resources on the Internet that could help. Try searching the Internet for your child’s favourite character or personality along with the word “glasses” and see what comes up. Here are a few links that might help encourage your child to wear glasses:

The Wiggles song “I’ve got my glasses on”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Y-AjW6MJ0

The Wiggles – The story of Emma’s glasses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEcGYUs-oqQ

Peppa pig – Daddy pig loses his glasses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZKvCz8K7YA

If you have a young child or baby that needs to wear glasses and you are experiencing difficulty with this, we are here to help. Please contact one of our four paediatric orthoptists on (02) 9241 2913 or email sarita@sosdoctors.com.au or make an appointment with one of our paediatric ophthalmologists: Dr Frank Martin, Dr Michael Jones, Dr Craig Donaldson, and Dr Caroline Catt.