Is 13 years old too young for contact lenses?

Question

My daughter wants contacts and I think she is too young. She is responsible when she wants to be, but I don't want to spend the money and then she loses them or simply changes her mind. Any thoughts?

I forgot to mention that she wears glasses now. So she needs contacts not just wants them.

Answer 1

Your best bet is to get her a trial pair at the eye doctor office and see how she keeps up with them before spending money on months of supply. She may surprise you. Talk to her about how expensive it is and that if she wants to do it, she needs to keep up with them and make sure she wears them correctly, as the doctor says or there can be permanent eye damage.

Answer 2

I am 13 and have contacts. For the first few weeks they're hard to get in, but after that I could get them in a couple of minutes. I don't think it's too young as long as she won't lose them. The only responsibility involved is taking them out at night and changing the liquid in the contact container every so often.

Answer 3

She's not too young for contact lenses. I'm 14 and wearing them for about 2 or 3 years now. My parents got them for me when they thought I would be responsible enough to take care of them. But sometimes I still wear my glasses just because. If you think that she's responsible enough to take care of them then go ahead and get them for her. As for losing them have her keep the extras in her bathroom or room or if you don't think that's good enough then you can keep them in your roomm. Then every month or two you can have her throw out the old ones and give her new ones. Also they rarely fall out, but if they do you can clean them and put them back in

Answer 4

My sister and I both got contacts when we were that young (I think I was about 14) but as long as she knows that she HAS to take care of them and not sleep in them and all that fun stuff I dont see a prob. Talk to her eye doctor and see what he thinks. Because I had just gotten glasses I had to wait a little while to get used to it, my sister on the other hand had glasses for like 6 months before she got her contacts. The eye doctor will tell you if its a good idea or not.

Answer 5

No, I don't think its too young - it all depends on the kid.
I recommend doing what my parents did - they paid for all my glasses, but when I wanted contacts I had to earn the money for them myself. I got my first job at 15 just so that I could save up to buy them. This was many years ago when they were pretty pricey. I would include the cost of Dr visit co-payments and doctor fees in the total cost (not just the contacts themselves) - some doctors charge $150-200 for a 'fitting fee' plus the cost of the contacts themselves.

Good for a number of reasons:
1) if she wants them 'enough' she'll earn the money
2) if she earns the money for them, she'll take care of them when she gets them (or she might change her mind on how much she really wants them when she sees how much she'll have to pay for them.)
3) if she changes her mind about having them once she's gotten them, you're out no $$ and she's learned a valuable lesson about wasting her $$.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Well you have to treat her with responiblity. Give her the responiblity with the consequences if she doens't hold up her end.

You can find inexpensive ones, through like walmart.

I would tell my son ( who is so irresponsible it's not funny....) that if he wanted contacts he'd have to work to buy them him self. Or i would tell him okay, i'll buy the first box of them. If you want to continue with them you need to work to buy the other boxes of contacts this is how much they are, and the stuff to care for them is.

Make sure they are disposibles, which are the best kind especially for someone who is learning to wear them, as well as for teenagers. I used to go back and forth between contacts and glasses, all the time. You should make sure to keep a set of glasses even though you wear contacts, for the simple fact your eyes can tire out with contacts and you do need a brake.

No i dont think 13 is to young for contact lenses. I think it's a perfect time to teach the responiblity of being a young adult.

Answer 7

I think 13 is old enough. Take her to the eye doctor and get his opinion...and really contacts aren't as grossly expensive as they were even 10 years ago.

And think back on how miserable it was to be a 13 year old girl...if it helps her feel better about herself to ditch the glasses then you should listen to her. My niece is 13 and I cannot believe some of the things that she and her friends talk about and the things they want. Be thankful your daughter wants contacts and not a piercing!

Good luck!

Answer 8

Have her prove to you that she absolutely wants contacts. I love wearing contacts as opposed to my hideous glasses, and I feel 100% more confident with contacts now than I ever did with glasses.

Set up an eye doctor appointment and have her try them first, even it's for a week. Then go back to eye doctor and let her tell them her decision. That way, she learns how to take care of them before you pay the money.

Answer 9

It all depends on your daughter's maturity level. My own mother made me wait until I was 13. It was rough for the first year. I never lost my contacts but it is tricky getting them in.

My biggest problem was that I was originally given soft contacts which are very difficult to get in your eye. They tend to bend around your fingertip as you're inserting them. After I was switched to gas permeable lenses, everything was fine.

So bottom line... think about how mature and responsible your daughter is. If you feel she can handle it, make sure you involve her at every step. Have the doctor address _her_ (not you) when talking about the maintenance and cleaning involved as well as the possible discomfort in the beginning.

Good luck!

Answer 10

well i got my contacts when i was 11. at first i was good with them but then got lazy and went for 2 months with out taking them out. i don't know if it was from the contacts but when i did take them out and went to an eye doctor i had to get a stronger prescription since my eyes got much weaker. im 15 now and for about the past 10 months i have only worn my glasses..if your daughter is any thing like me i wouldn't get the contacts. but if you know she is very responsible and will take care of them let her get them. just make sure shes takes them out at night..if your worried about her changing her mind get a trial pair, they last about 2 weeks and if she likes them after that you can order more. she should still switch on and off with her glasses though so she doesnt become blind like i am.