How to Help your Child put in their Contact Lenses

Now that your child is old enough to get contact lenses they may need your help for the first few times when putting them in. It is always best to consult the doctors at Utah Valley Eye Center in Orem as the best way to put in your child’s contacts. With a consultation for our experience doctors and the steps listed below you can help your child in the daily use of contact lenses.

1. Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap. Dry them completely with a towel. Try not to dry your hands with paper towels as they tend to leave more fiber on your fingers.

2. Have your child stand so that they are facing you. With their head tilted slightly back, ask them to look forward and then slightly upward. Try not to hover immediately above their eyes; this might cause her to instinctively blink more. Instead, place their shoulder against your side, so she/he is standing next to you, as opposed to in front of you.

3. Place the contact lens so it is curved like a bowl on the tip of your index finger. This will ensure that the contact lens is not inside out. Make sure that the lens you have on your finger corresponds to the correct eye. It is likely that your child may need a different prescription strength in each eye, so make sure you have selected the correct lens for each eye.

4. Ask your child to open their eye as wide as possible. Your child will probably need to gently pull up the skin of their upper eyelid toward their eyebrow using their index finger in order to keep their eye open for the insertion. The bottom eyelid may also need to be pulled gently down, toward the cheek.

5. Gently place the contact lens onto your child’s open eye as your child is looking upward. The lens should stick to the eye almost like a suction cup once it comes in contact with it. Try to center the lens over the iris of the eye. Make sure the lens is well-lubricated with solution so it is not too dry. If the lens is too dry, it might not come easily off your finger as you try to insert it.