WAG Contact lenses

[Fliptwisttumble]

Hi all,

I am looking to find out if any younger gymnasts (say not yet teens) wear contacts for sports (or leisure), and if so, what is their experience (ie positive or negative)? We are having to think about this for DD, and she is hesitant, as is DH. But both myself and her coach are thinking it would be good to consider.

Thanks.

 

[cbifoja]

We had a 10YO last year wear them and she did just fine. I can't speak for how things went at home and how much her parents had to stay on her about care and upkeep but she never seemed to have any problem with them.

I was surprised that they would let a 10YO wear contacts but it makes me happy because it's likely my DD will need vision correction in the next couple of years.

 

[amb1485]

My daughter started wearing contacts when she was 11. She only wears them on the days that she has practice, otherwise she prefers her glasses. She hasn't had any problem wearing the contacts, she just likes the way she looks with the glasses.

 

[kandkfunk]

My DS started wearing them at 10. He plays football, baseball and races motocross so the contacts were much easier with all the head gear. He has been very vigilant about taking care of them - probably because the doctor showed him a lot of scary pictures of what can happen if not cleaned correctly. Good luck!

 

[gymgal]

I believe dd started at 10 but she may have been 9. I can't remember. She didn't want to wear glasses at gym but couldn't practice safely without them. She was very squeamish about it initially but she did them from the start all on her own. She has monthly's (takes them out daily) so she has to deal with the cleaning as well, which she does on her own. In hindsight, I should have gotten her the daily throw aways but now she is used to the cleaning so its not worth the extra cost. She typically wears the contacts on any day she is going out of the house but will rest her eyes with glasses when she is staying home.

 

[gymmomtoo]

My oldest started wearing them at 10 yrs and she did fine. It worked much better for gym as she didn't have glasses falling off. She did have a contact come out during a meet once, but just popped it back in without any fuss (makes my own sensitive eyes hurt and itch just thinking about it!)

 

[gymnastbeth]

I think I was 11 when I started wearing contacts. Originally they were just for the gym, but I ended up loving them, and wearing them all the time. The only time I ran into trouble was when I got chalk on the contacts on bars. I just always made sure to have a backup pair, a case, and a small bottle of eyedrops with me everywhere- there were no problems after that. (Except for the time I wore the contacts in the shower and one went behind my eyelid--but that's a whole other story!)

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Thanks all! I am glad to hear that they have worked well with relatively young ones.

Now it is a matter of convincing her. She has to date been able to keep her glasses on without a strap, which has been great. But her coach is concerned moving to bigger and bigger skills that she could get hurt, and she keeps fogging up from working so hard (happened yesterday on the beam doing ariels ) Talk about a blind landing!

 

[Seeker]

My DD started wearing them at 9yo, no issues and she handles the care, etc on her own. She wears hard contacts only at night though (corneal shaping), but I like that she is always home when they are on. She likes them a lot.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

My older dd got contacts at 11yo (she had to wear them on stage). Younger dd (the gymmie) is currently asking for them but she is nowhere near responsible enough yet. She's 9 and not that nearsighted really... But in a couple of years or maybe even a year I will revisit it and think about it. She just goes without glasses for practice now.

 

[GymBeeMom]

Tell her she has a choice between sports goggles or contacts and see if that doesn't convince her

 

[magymmom]

My dd started wearing them at 9 and is now almost 13 with no problems. Started as just a gym thing but that only lasted a couple weeks before she decided to wear them all the time.

 

[reillysmom2]

My daughter has worn contact lenses since the age of 6. She has always worn the dailies, though, so she had a brand new pair to wear every day. I don't think she would have been able to handle the disinfecting and cleaning of any other kind of lens. She's always put them in and taken them out herself, she had to be able to demonstrate this before the eye doctor would prescribe them for her. I've worn them myself since I was 11, so I guess it's never been that big of a deal for me. DD has always been great with her contacts with no problems, but she does have an eye exam every 6 months instead of just yearly like me. She wears them 99 percent of the time. She does have back up glasses in her current prescription just in case. She wore them to school one day and I forgot to bring her a pair of contacts for gym and it was an experience for sure. I get her eye exam from her doctor and order her lenses online, and it usually costs me about 90.00 for a three month supply. She's 12 now, so she's worn them for 6 years.

 

[gymboymom]

We are about to do this with ds he is 11 and a soccer goalie. He refuses to wear his glasses and I took the advise of another soccer mom who said he would hate the sports googles. We are definitely going with the dailies. I just switched to them and love them.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

My Dd is 9 and got contacts this summer. The eye doctor was hesitant but let her do a 10 day trial and she passed with flying colors. Dd loves them. I would not hesitate to recommend contacts to any girl interested.

 

[LizzieLac]

My DD has worn them since she was 10. A little trial and error getting them in and some mornings it took a little longs, but generally it was a smooth transition from glasses.

 

[GymBeeMom]

My DD got them when she was 6. Its been a breeze. My son tried them, and they just weren't for him, so he is still in glasses. You just never know until you try.

 

[Granny Smith]

My dd started wearing contacts at 8. She had no problems getting them out but at first it was hard for her to get them in, so for about the 1st 3 weeks, I'd make her try to put them in and if she didn't get them in, I'd put them in her for her (freaky, especially since I don't wear them). In the beginning she only wore them on gymnastics practice days, then about 2/3 years later, she started to wear them all the time.

 

[UnoMas]

My oldest got them at 9 for gym, took a little practice but she did fine. I am ready for my middle DD to get them too....but not sure she is ready. She went without her glasses for 3 years at gym but recently started having problems with vault. So she started wearing them with a strap.