Is Your Child Ready for Contact Lenses? Habits That Matter

When your child asks to trade glasses for contact lenses, think about a morning when the bus is almost there. Would your child still take time to wash and dry their hands before touching a lens? Would they reach for their glasses if there wasn’t enough time? At our Naperville practice, we find that everyday decisions like these tell us more about contact lens readiness than a birthday does.

Look for Habits You Already See at Home

Your child can learn to put in and take out contacts with practice. Before the first fitting, look for habits that will make those new skills easier to use safely.

• Consistent hygiene. Your child washes their hands with soap and water without frequent reminders. Before handling contacts, they’ll also need to dry their hands completely with a clean towel.

• Follow-through at bedtime. Even after a late practice or sleepover, your child can stick to an evening routine. Daytime contact lenses need to come out before sleep, including naps.

• Patience with a new skill. When something takes a few tries, your child can pause, listen to instructions, and ask for help.

• Willingness to speak up. Your child would tell you or another adult if an eye hurt or vision became blurry, even if that meant sitting out part of a game.

Talk Through a Typical School Day

Ask your child what they would do if a contact started bothering them halfway through class. Keeping backup glasses in a hard case in their backpack gives them a way to see after taking the lens out. If your child develops eye pain, redness, light sensitivity, or sudden blurry vision, have them remove their contacts and call us right away. Leave the lenses out until we advise that it’s safe to wear them again.

After-school plans matter, too. Contacts should come out before swimming or showering. If your child goes straight from school to swim practice, wearing glasses that day may be the simplest choice.

What to Expect at a Contact Lens Fitting

During a contact lens exam at our Naperville office, we check your child’s eye health, measure the shape of their eyes, and see how a trial lens fits. We guide your child through putting it in and taking it out so you can both see which steps need more practice.

We’ll also talk about care at home. Daily disposable contacts can simplify the routine because your child opens a fresh pair for each wear and discards it after removal. Reusable lenses need cleaning and disinfection with fresh contact lens solution each time they come out.

If your child is asking about contacts, call Maxivision Eye Care in Naperville, IL, at (630) 895-8015 to schedule a contact lens exam and talk through whether now is a good time to start.