How to Put Contact Lenses in Your Child's Eyes

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Thick glasses come off the child's face easier than weaker prescription glasses do and can be difficult for young children to keep on. Contacts turn out to be easier to manage for some children. Six-year-olds don't have the coordination to put them in by themselves, however, so a parent will need to help. Putting something in someone else's eye is an intimidating proposition, but the right method makes all the difference.

Steps

1. Wash your hands before touching your child's contact lenses.
   
2. Dry your hands to prevent the contacts from sticking to your fingers.
   
3. Have your child stand closely in front of you with one side toward you. (Stand so the child's shoulder is touching your front.)
   
4. Have your child look up at the ceiling.
   
5. Have your child look toward you by moving only his or her eyes.
   
6. With the contact sitting on the tip of your finger, tip it into the eye which is farthest away from you. Since the child is looking toward you, you should be approaching the eye from the outside.
   
7. When the contact goes in the eye, have your child blink a couple times to see if it feels like it's in place.
   
8. Have your child turn the other way so you can put a contact in the other eye, (nearer to you).
   

Tips

• Make sure the contact is oriented correctly. Soft contact lenses can turn inside out. Usually you can tell it's turned the right way because it will sit on your finger and turn up like a bowl. If it's turned the wrong way, the curve won't be smooth most of the time.
  
• Make sure you monitor that your child is removing the contacts as directed. Leaving contacts in for extended periods can be damaging to the eyes.
  
• Be patient. Sometimes it can take several attempts and a few minutes.
  
• It may be helpful to gently slide the skin above the upper eyelid toward the top of the child's head to help the eye open wide enough to put the contact in.
  
• This method of having the child look toward you and inserting in the farthest eye works well for eye drops, too.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Remove Contact Lenses
  
• How to Pick Sunglasses
  
• How to Get Colored Contacts to Change Your Eye Color
  
• How to Make Your Disposable Contact Lens Last Forever
  

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