4 1/2 yo with new glasses

[happymama]

My son just got his first pair of glasses yesterday (and looks absolutely adorable in them...) He has trouble with seeing things close up, so doesn't need to wear them all the time. He seems to like wearing them around the house - we think they must be making a huge difference for him since - according to the optometrist he has trouble coordinating his eyes and was seeing double up to 18 inches (!!!) away from his eyes. A good friend came for dinner and wore her glasses tonight to show him that she wears glasses too (usually contacts). He did not want to even put his on to show her. He tends to get very embarrassed easily, and that was the case tonight. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to help him get comfortable wearing glasses, especially around peers? I'm sure they would be a big help at preschool, but doubt he'd want to wear them there. Neither dh or I have ever had glasses. Thanks!

[peggy]

I think it's important that he get used to wearing them. Can it be made non-negotiable...like tooth brushing? If you were to take time evryday with him playing board games and doing crafts...making sure he wore his glasses at these times..maybe he would get used to them and see how much easier these tasks are with the glasses.
Would it help to talk to the pre-school teacher? Could she also gently encourage the use of the glasses?

Good luck with this,
peggy

[saige]

This may be a stupid suggestion,and I'm not a big tv advocate,but there's an episode of "Author" that deals with this! He's embarrassed of his glasses and then he finds out that famous people wear them,too.Can you show him pix of other kids that wear glasses?

[Thall]

The more he wears them, the easier it will be. If they really help him see, then he will want to wear them. I don't think you need to make a big deal out of it. If he's wearing them at home, he will get used to being able to see better and probably want to wear them elsewhere. If he's getting teased about them, show him how normal they are-point out all the people that you see wearing glasses, on the street in books and magazines, on TV, in the movies, etc.
Here's a few more cool "people" with glasses.
Clark Kent (superman's alter ego)
Milo from the movie "Atlantis"
Harry Potter
Dexter (Dexter's Labratory)

[happymama]

Thank you for the suggestions! It's actually going a bit better. I was worried when he didn't want to put them on for our close family friend - so posted, but he hasn't had any problems since. Since he only has to wear them 1- 2 hours per day we're just having him wear them around home mostly, and this morning he kept them on for about an hour straight while he was playing - yeah! For now we'll avoid wearing them around peers.

Paula