Children and Contacts

I think 10 is too young for contacts, even for a responsible child. Contacts can be difficult to put in and take out. Although very easy to clean and maintain, it must be done constantly.

My daughter mentioned at age 13 she wanted them and we briefly talked about it. I told her maybe in another year. It's been 2 years and she hasn't mentioned it again.

I started wearing contacts at age 14. At age 45, I can no longer wear them due to a combination of the damage the contacts did to my eyes over the years and changes in my vision.

Please get her those contacts.

At ten years old, I was told that I would have to start to wear glasses. I told the doctor that I did not want to wear them. He told me that it was that I would either go blind or I could wear my glasses. I told him that I would go blind. I became the youngest patient in his practice to wear contacts.

It may be a lot to handle but I think your daughter's self confidence would be higher with the contacts vs the glasses.

My mom did have to help me during those first months but it then became my responsiblity ....and at age 41 I am still wearing contact lenses.

Good luck!

I got my contacts when I was 11. I don't remember having any issues, at all, with them. (The retainer was a completely different story- ask my mom who had to dumpster dive more than once!!! LOL!) With the disposable contacts, now, there's very little maintenance. She'll have to remember to take them out when sleeping (unless they are the kind you can wear to bed), but other than that, not much to it. A friend of ours, has a son who's 9 and he's had them for at least 6 months. No problems. I've never had braces, but I really don't think both would be an issue for a 10 year old.
Good luck!

To me, ten is a little young for contacts, but you know your daughter. I am a contact wearer. I started wearing them at 15 (had worn glasses since 5), and even then, I'm not sure I was quite mature enough (i definitely didn't take care of them as well as I should have).

Is she involved in sports or something where her glasses are a hindrance? If not, I'd say wait. Glasses are MUCH easier to deal with than contacts... no worries about eye infections or ripping them, or forgetting to take them off to sleep.

i guess it depends on her and her maturity and her self image. i had glasses and braces and adolescent awkwardness all at the same time, and i can tell you that my self confidence was in the toilet for years. though these days, the glasses are just gorgeous, and the braces are almost invisible. at least compared to back then. anyway, if you do decide to do the contacts, they can do a lot of damage if they arent cared for properly. i wore mine poorly for years, finally got the ones you throw out every day and it has made all the difference. they take some getting used to to get them in, but they are so much more comfortable and safe. and expensive. expensive up front anyway, but if she loses or tears one its no big deal, which is great. maybe you can just buy a months worth of the disposables and see how it goes....

I would say let her have the contact exam during her next eye exam. They can give her a sample to try out for a week and if it works then great and if not then try again another time. The contact exam isn't much more than a regular eye exam.

My older son is 16 and got them this year - he wears the dailies. I'm not sure if he could have handled putting stuff in his eyes when he was 10. It probably is child-specific. I would talk to the eye doctor about it. Also, it helps if she has bigger eyes.

Good luck.

It would definitely be a maturity thing. I wear contacts and some days you are faced with some sort of weirdness that will make one of them go a little crazy so you have to be able to take it out and clean it and put it back in and such. If she's around dirt on the playground at school or even a windy day that can cause some unforeseen havoc. With some drops in her purse (if they are allowed to have them at school even) and some knowledge on what to do when your contact gets dirty or dries out or sometimes get stuck up under your eyelid and her confidence to handle it without freaking out, she can probably wear them. I have glasses too, but really hate wearing them, they drive me crazy.

My son was 9 when he got contacts, after about a year in glasses. He is a responsible boy. We talked about what it takes to wear contacts, that I would NOT help him put them in and he needed to be responsible for it all. The dr was great, never thought it was too young, they taught him how to do it and we have not had a single problem (except him not telling us to re-order too late).

I think 10 years old is a perfect age, especially if it was her idea. And I don't think braces and contacts are too much. There is nothing she has to do with braces and contacts will be easy to do within a week or two.

I'd say it's a maturity thing but IMO, she's much to young. Glasses are much easier to find when misplaced and there are so many things that can go wrong with contacts. My mother wore contacts for over 20 years and she says she wishes my grandmother hadn't let her get them so young because now she can't wear contacts at all; she has to wear glasses. Glasses and braces will certainly be hard, but giving her as much support as she needs to get past any teasing she might have is much better than telling her it's ok to let her peers dictate her image (to address some of the other replies).

I didn't read any of the responses, but wanted to add that our eye doctor won't even consider examining a child for contacts until they are 13 yrs old. Having worn contacts in the past myself, I can understand his reasoning...I know how many times my kids have 'washed their hands' only to not pass inspection (meaning there was still visible dirt), and when putting contacts in you touch your eyeball with your hands. If they aren't clean then you are putting grime right in your eye, which CAN'T be good.

I guess it depends on your child and how responsible you think they are and if you think they will be able to manage them. I did not get contacts until I was 14 but was good about taking them out every night, cleaning and disinfecting, etc. My brother was 10 and also got them at the same time, but was always tearing them from not being careful enough (my parents switched him from the soft ones to the hard ones and that worked better).

My stepson kept begging his mom for contacts and then got them when he was 10 or 11 (the monthly ones) - after about a month or so, he stopped wearing them because he decided it was too much hassle taking them out, putting them in, cleaning them, etc. So that was just more money down the drain.

I would not do braces and contracts that the same time - let her adjust to one before introducing the other. Braces hurt when they first go on and every time they get adjusted. And with contacts you have to start off at an hour a day and then slowly build up the amount of time you wear them daily until your eyes get used to them.

I got my contacts in 6th grade and it was awesome LOL I would tend to think that the contacts would be good since she is getting braces...so she doesn't have braces AND glasses....

I argree with you. Braces hurt. My daughter got hers off last Nov. Happiest day of her short life yet.
Learning to wear contacts which will itch and feel weird for the first couple days will compound the agony of the braces.
I was 13, in 8th grade when I got my contacts. I had to take care of them myself. THey felt really weird the first couple days.
Give her something to look forward to. Maybe when she gets the braces off then she can get contacts. Maybe it will be an incentive to wear those rubberbands and floss.
Or maybe this summer braces, next summer contacts, the next pierced ears.