Picking New Eyewear for Your Child

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For children, coming to terms with the reality of wearing glasses may be a daunting task. However, buying glasses for your child can become the best choice for their focus and development. After all, they need to be able to see to learn! If you’re a bit lost on where to start with buying children’s glasses after getting their prescription, no worries! We have compiled all the information you need to choose the perfect pair of glasses for your child! Before even beginning to choose glasses for your child, we believe that it is important for your child to be involved in the process as much as possible. Being involved in the process will make sure that your child will be motivated to wear them, increasing their enjoyment after getting used to any initial discomfort.

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Fitting

After getting a prescription, the next step would be to find out your child’s glasses size. We provide the measurements of our frames in the description section. As a general rule of thumb, we recommend the following when picking out a size:

Ages 1-6: under 40mm

Ages 5-11: 40-46mm

Ages 10+: above 46mm

(All measurements refer to lens width)

If you already have a pair of existing glasses that fits your child well, you can also measure the frame width using a ruler and choose accordingly.

Another aspect to consider when choosing a frame is nose bridge support. Children commonly have low nose bridges, causing their glasses to easily slide down their face. In this case, choosing frames with an adjustable nose bridge or nose pads will greatly aid in keeping them in a comfortable position. Frames equipped with spring hinges provide extra flexibility for the temple arms, avoiding a restrictive fit on the sides of the head. Adjustable temple tips add custom fitting behind the ears and minimizes any uncomfortable pinching.

(From Anytime Glasses website)

Frame Materials

When buying eyeglasses for children, we recommend picking more durable frames that are more likely to withstand their boisterous lifestyle compared to adults. The most common materials for glasses frames are plastic and metal. Metal frames are more lightweight and come with nose pads for increased comfort. Plastic frames, which are mainly composed of acetate, can be purchased in a bevy of colors, which children tend to be attracted to. For especially active kids, we recommend our flexible frames, which are made from a single piece of plastic and feature a strap on the back for a secure fit. This is the step where your child should have a lot of input on, as they should find the frames they love the most!

Lenses

As with the frames, the lenses should also be built to last. As such, all children’s glasses at Anytime Glasses come standard with polycarbonate lenses. Polycarbonate is a type of plastic that is extremely durable and considered to be nearly unbreakable due to its high shatter resistance. As a result, we believe it is the ideal choice for children’s glasses. In addition to the right lens material, we also offer different types of coating for the lenses. As more children are exposed to digital devices at a younger age, it is important to preserve and protect their eyes from the blue light emitted from these devices’ screens. As such, we highly advocate for blue light coating for children’s glasses.