Frequently Asked Questions About Infant Glasses

When Nathan was first born, every time we took him in public we were accosted by people saying, “Oh my goodness, he’s so TINY!” Once he had his massive growth spurt, every time we took him in public someone was bound to ask how old he was and then say, “Wow, he’s huge!” These days, his glasses are what people focus on (and I absolutely don’t blame them, they’re quite attention grabbing!) Most people don’t say anything to us directly (though do they think we can’t SEE them staring and pointing and then talking amongst themselves?), but a surprising number of people do ask us directly about his glasses, and the ensuing conversation almost always follow the same sequence of events.

In honor of the fact that he has another eye exam today, I thought I’d address what you may have always wanted to know (but haven’t had anyone to ask) about infant glasses!

 

Are they real?

(This one makes me giggle, because while I understand that most people are just saying it as a way of opening a conversation, the alternative is that we have gone out of our way to purchase teeny tiny fake glasses and force our baby to wear them when we go out in public. Who would DO that? Certainly not me! I prefer to put Nathan in one piece outfits so that I don’t have to bother adjusting his clothes – I’m not going to give him an unnecessary accessory just for the heck of it!!)

But yes, they’re real.

 

How did you know he needed glasses?

His eyes were very obviously crossing, and while that’s typical for newborns, his pediatrician said that it should have been resolved by now. Trust me, if you’d seen him, you’d have known something was wrong, too

 

How did the doctor test him?

First they dilate his eyes by putting drops in them, and then they hold up various prism-like objects in front of his face and shine a light through them into his eyes. I’m not sure exactly what they see when they do that, but it somehow lets them measure how farsighted he is and how crossed his eyes are.

 

Do the glasses/will the glasses fix his eyes?

They’re certainly helping, but they haven’t completely fixed them. Yet. He’s on his second pair already, and so far his eyes have gotten straighter each time they increase the prescription(I’m anticipating another few pairs in the near future, at least). They have brought up the possibility of eventual surgical intervention, but for now they seem pretty optimistic that with some additional fine tuning of the prescription, the glasses may be all that is needed.

 

Does he keep them on?/Doesn’t he try to take them off?

He is surprisingly good at leaving them on, actually. They have a nice strap on the back, so if he does decide to mess with them, they usually just end up around his neck (and not under the wheels of the stroller or something). We run into the biggest problems when he’s tired and wants to rub his eyes, and when he’s bored. Since he’s also usually teething (once they start, do they ever really STOP teething?) he’s always on the lookout for something to chew on. If nothing is currently in his mouth, he’ll pull his glasses down and gnaw on the earpieces and strap. If you put the glasses back on his face and give him something else to chew on, though, he usually leaves them on without a problem.

 

I didn’t know they MADE glasses that small!

(I know that’s not a question, but it’s something people say and that I like to address).

They actually make glasses that are even smaller than his! So some babies are even smaller than he is when they get their first pair of glasses. (His glasses are sized “teeny-weeny” but they actually come in a size called “itsy-bitsy,”  how adorable is that!)

 

Well, he’s so cute!

Yeah, we think we’ll keep him (defective eyeballs and all!)

 

I’m certainly no expert when it comes to any of this, but if anybody has any additional questions, please feel free to ask away!

 

Tagged as: baby, glasses, Nathan, sharing