Eyeglasses for a 4 1/2 Year Old Boy.

My son started wearing glasses at age one. He began with a pair of metal flexon frames like my six year old daughter wore. He had the ca les that went around his ears. Unfortunately he liked to teethe on them. The va les bent and snapped. The frames were always uneven. We have now switched to Miraflex. It is an Italian company. The glasses are one piece, smooth, soft, yet firm plastic with a material strap not the back. They come in many shapes and colors. Not my first choice for appearance, which is why we didn't start with them. But the are comfortable and sit properly on his face. Now if I could just get him past being two so he will wear them all day =)

Solo Bambini!!! Our son is 3, and has had the same frames for over a year! They are indestructible! He has folded them up and shoved them in the couch, I have run them over in the store with a cart, and they just don't break! It's one piece of flexible plastic. They come in many colors. Not all optical places carry them, but they may be able to order them for you. If not, you can order them from the Solo Bambini website (www.solobambini.com). You can order just the frames, or lenses and frames together. I think with insurance you'll need to submit the receipt on your own. The toddler frames are $70. Every time we go out in public, people comment on his glasses, and we have encouraged many people to go this route with their children/grandchildren. The pics on the website don't give the glasses justice. They are truly adorable! I'm so happy we went with these glasses! Please check them out!

As an optometrist, a mom, and someone who broke my own glasses as a kid (and my mom made me wear them broken with tape around them for the rest of the year like a geek to teach me a lesson!), I would recommend getting really flexible titanium frames with either cable temples or using a sports cable like one of the moms below mentioned. One flexible frame brands to look for is called Flexon, and I believe it is available at Costco as well as from almost any reputable optometrist or optical office. The nose bridge and the temples (the side "arms") are made of a material that's super bendy. A cable temple is one that curls around the ears and keeps the glasses in place no matter what. Unfortunately, coming again as a kid who destroyed my own glasses, you may not be able to completely find an indestructible and completely durable pair of glasses for your son until he is a bit more mature and understands the consequences of broken or bent up glasses and how wearing glasses makes his eyes "grow up" properly.

I don't know about a flexible frame? My daughter, who is now 16, has worn glasses since your sons age. She also has to wear them all the time and has since the beginning. We never got any "special" glasses for her. We did do some adjusting early on...but at our place, as long as we were there by closing time (a challenge enough with my work schedule), they would work us in and adjust things. Mostly it was fit issues as she was simply unused to them, and the adjustments always just took a few minutes. I think they just need reminders about glasses care/caution, etc. Eventually it should become a part of them.

I always let her pick the frames. I guided her on the first ones...fairly plain and also let the eye place help. The next pair was about 2 years later and my daughter chose some very colorful funky ones (very much her unique personality). I disliked them at first..alot. But she got so so many compliments on them, and after a few weeks I realized they were perfect for her. Also, SHE had to wear them, not me. I urge parents to let their kids have a say so in the frames! Now, my daughters glasses are a part of her identity. We tried contacts, but they were not for her, and she LIKES her glasses..as I said, they are a big part of her..she is an artist and a creative , fun personality...current glasses are red frames with white tiny polka dots on the sides..not the front...but they are fun and very HER!

Good luck! It should get easier over time with less trips to the eye clinic for adjusting and issues!

The flexible ones suck! My 8yr old started wearing glasses at age 5 full time and he had those at first, they were awful. We finally went with a regular pair and they lasted the longest. He's now 8 and still in glasses full time and he does well with them at his age.

My 3yr old daughter (adopted from Ukraine in OctobeR) also has glasses full time. We didn't even bother with the flexible ones and went straight to a regular pair of metal frames. What we learned with her is, if she had a sports strap on the back to keep them on her face they stay in alignment and don't get bonked around as much at all. The straps are like $5 and so worth the money for little ones. I would recommend you get one for your son to keep them on his face so he doesn't fiddle with them and they don't fall off.

If hes THAT hard on them consider the wraparound ones that are plastic and look like safety goggles. THey are indestructible and great for little kids. Otherwise get a strap for the ones he has so htey stay on his face.

And just get used to it. With little kids in glasses we are at the eye doc at least once am onth for adjustments.

my ridiculously active 3 year old also wears glasses. i go to a high end optometrist for myself because of their amazing service, but when i found out tyler needed them, there was no way i was gonna pay that much for glasses that i knew he would break. i shopped around eeeeeeverywhere that i thought would be cheaper, and they were. those flexible glasses were sooooo much cheaper. i talked to my guy to see if he could compete, he doesnt even deal in those glasses for the exact reason you are talking about. he said they end up completely misshapen and dont align anymore, so its useless for vision correction and uncomfortable for the kids, so they just take them off. i ended up paying more than i would like to admit for a pair of glasses from izod. the hinges flex out and the nose piece is pretty flexible. im still back there every week or 3 to get them fixed/adjusted, tyler has flattened them so many times, omg its so frustrating. but when they adjust them, they are perfect again. and when he wears them, he can see! we tried on lots of those flex ones and they just didnt sit right on his face, and i know he would constantly take them off, especially if they didnt align. tyler has a bad astigmatism, which, as i understand, really needs the glasses to be centered just right. and i know thats why he mostly leaves them on, because they help him. if they didnt, he would take them off right away. but the good fit and vision correction makes him forget they are even there, usually till around dinnertime. thank goodness. i need a lojack on them! they are so little and very plain grey, they are invisible! if i had to do it over, i might get a color or something, just so i can find them when he leaves them in the yard someplace. but i am so happy i went for the good frames. and go to a place that has insurance, mine will fix them for free as often as i need, and will replace them at, i think, half price. good luck.

My son started wearing glasses at 13 months old so I know how hard it is to find glasses that don't have to be adjusted every week! After 2 pairs in about 9 months (and countless adjustments) we ponied up the money and went with the flexible ones. I'm sorry I can't remember the brand. They can be bent and twisted and will not break. That was the last pair we had to buy him (he's no longer wearing them at age 3). We went to a place that specialized in kids glasses. There was a huge choice of glasses, and the optician was used to working with kids. I would ask around in your area for a place that has a large kid's selection. They will defintely have the flexi-frames. Be ready to pay more, but in the end it's worth it.

My son didn't start to wear glasses until 4th grade - now he's in 6th. They always get bent, they frenquently break, etc. If your boy is active and healthy they are going to get bent and broken. Our vision plan includes a 1 year guarantee so if the break within a year they will just keep fixing them. 2 months ago my son got in the car and said "mom I have good news and I have bad new - the good news is that I have a monacle, the bad news is that I have 2 and my glasses are broken...." We had new ones in less than an hour - but it is an inconvenience. But he plays ball, tackles other guys, etc. so I know it's going to happen.

That being said, those flexible frames with the hinges that bend backawrds are very delicate - I've had problems with them and I'm a mature grown up lady! I'd go back to the more sturdy frames.