Does your child want to wear contact lens? If so, you may be worried about whether or not they can handle the responsibilities of wearing contact lenses. You likely know that properly caring for contacts can be a challenge for some adults. However, your child might be able to outdo those adults, especially if they already practice good hygiene such as washing their hands. The following tips can help you prepare your child for the experience of wearing contacts, and it should ease some of your fears. 

Determine why they want contact lenses.

Children decide that they want to wear contacts for different reasons. Some of them do not want to wear glasses around their peers. Others may be involved in activities such as sports that can result in broken glasses. If it is a matter of lost or broken glasses due to an active lifestyle, your child might be a good fit for ortho-k lenses. They are worn at night, and they have been used by young athletes in competition. Wearing the lenses at night have helped these youths to compete without needing to wear contacts or glasses during competition.

Ensure they wear their glasses some of the time. 

Even though contacts are prescribed, the human body still knows that a foreign material is covering the eye. This can lead to unnecessary eye irritation. People who always wear their contacts may also be at risk for eye infections. If your child does not want to be seen in public with their glasses, you could enforce a rule that when they are home they must wear their glasses. Also, encourage them not to sleep in their contacts even if they are extended wear lenses that can be worn in their sleep. If they occasionally wear extended wear lenses while they are sleeping, then it is not a reason to scold them. They should not make this a regular practice. 

Teach them to use contact lenses care solutions properly.

Explain that they must only touch their contacts with clean hands. They should not share their contacts or storage cases with friends. Unexpired, fresh cleaning solution should be used for cleansing the lenses. They should never store their contacts in tap or bottled water. Saline can be used to store them in their cases. Eyedrops should be used when there are issues such as dry eye present. All solutions should stay in their original containers to ensure that they are as sterile as possible. 

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