Can Children Use Contact Lenses?

Shonda wrote, “My child (probably both kids soon) needs glasses and has accidentally broken two pair of glasses. Can she switch to contact lenses instead of us continuing to buy new glasses?”

Thanks for the question Shonda! Regarding your child, before you do anything, make sure she isn’t breaking the glasses on purpose. Wearing glasses can be a traumatic experience for children. Other kids make fun of them and they just don’t like it.

If you still want to have your kids wear contact lenses, most optometrists allow it if the kid is older than 8 years old. Any younger and getting the contacts into the eye would be nearly impossible because of the size of the contact and the child.

As the child gets older (12 years old and older), you should have no trouble getting contact lenses. Below that and you might have to find a doctor that is willing to prescribe contact lenses. Children normally prefer wearing contact lenses when they realize the other option is to wear glasses.

Children wearing contacts really comes down to the individual child. You know your child better than anyone, is he or she ready to wear contact lenses?