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Why Do Kids Take Off Their Glasses?

Pediatric Optometry

I have always worked with kids, but since having my own I have learned that it is so much easier to give parents directions and send them home versus actually implementing them! My youngest child is a 3-year-old and has been in glasses for about a year now. We have gone through about 4 pairs from a puppy eating them to dad leaving them on the roof of the car. Then she snapped 2 pairs trying to put them back on her face at daycare. So, I guess things are improving?

I’ve noticed a few reasons why she has taken her glasses off that surprised me:

  1. She was mad at me/dad/her siblings and this was her form of a tantrum
  2. She sat in her car seat and the temples (arms) hit the seat pushing them forward
  3. They got smudgy from oatmeal
  4. Someone at daycare tightened the strap too much
  5. Someone at daycare loosened the strap too much
  6. The strap twisted and was poking her in a weird way
  7. She got a scratch on her nose and the nosepiece was poking her

So, what do you do? Just try your best. Here are some tactics we have found to work most of the time:

  1. Try not to react to your child removing the glasses because then it becomes a game that you do not want to play.
  2. Calmly replace them on their face.
  3. Distract them from the glasses once you get them on.
  4. No glasses? No iPad/TV/something they like. They will probably want to wear them while doing these activities anyway since their vision should be nice and sharp.
  5. Follow-through with any consequences, because kids are tricky, and they will push the envelope. Just make sure the consequence is realistic and a natural one.

First timer? Here are some additional tricks getting used to them:

  1. Start fresh in the morning. If you have the glasses dispensed to you in the afternoon, that evening might not go so well. Start the next morning right as they wake up, so their eyes do not have a chance to compensate for their prescription.
  2. Be encouraging. If mom or dad wears glasses it can help them understand that they need to wear them. There are a few books about wearing glasses and TV shows that address it.