glasses and patching

[kitabird]

Has anyone's LO had to have a patch? LO has had glasses for 9 months now and today we were told that his lazy eye is no longer improving so they want to try a patch for a couple of hours a day. I remember having a patch when I was a child and hating it. I'm reluctant to do it to him because it didn't make any difference to my sight and I know it will upset him. Even if it did improve his lazy eye slightly, he's always going to need glasses because he's very long sighted, so I can't really see the point. Does anyone have experience to share?

 

[angelae36]

My daughter was 5 when it was decided she needed to be patched and we were given sticky ones like a huge plaster. The trouble was she has very long eyelashes and they kept sticking to it so pulling it off her eye was really painful.
When we went back they made a patch to fit her glasses which she was a little better with wearing, but after 6 months or so there was only a very slight improvement.

She is now nearly 16, still has glasses and her lazy eye can see probably the second line on the eye chart.
But it's not held her back, she is a fantastic artist, already done her maths gcse and is on target to get A's in the rest of them this summer!

Looking back and knowing what I know now I would probably have asked more questions at the time about what the improvement and benefits would be versus the huge hassle of getting her wear her patch.

 

[Lu28]

The effects of treatment are going to be different for every child and patching has been shown to have great results so I'd definitely give it a go and see what happens. Aisling was to be patched from 5 months but we were told not to bother by the time she was a year because it was confirmed she was blind in her bad eye. When she was younger, if you patched the good eye, she'd just go to sleep because to her it was dark so that was a bit pointless When she was older, she'd just cry and take it straight off again, we just couldn't keep it on which I could understand because she couldn't see anything then.

 

[d_b]

My cousin had the glasses patch. She was around 3 and didn't seem to mind it. She needed eye surgery in the end to fix the eye muscles (cross-eyed). But it's worth a try for sure, he's so young maybe he'll just get used to it.

 

[New2Bumps]

We have been going to hospital with LOs lazy eye since he was 1 and its made no diff. He doesn't need glasses. They said he basically doesn't use that eye to prevent double vision. He had patches at 2 but predictably they did nothing because for the treatment to be effective the child needs to be doing close focusing activities which he doesn't do, even now really. He isn't a jigsaw or colouring type of child. As he is getting older I can encourage him to play certain things so we will ask to try patches again when he is 3.5. Incidentally he didn't mind wearing them. He had it on for breakfast each day so that he was occupied and had food to distract after putting it on. He had it off after snack. Same each day so that it was a predictable routine. He still remembers and puts the fridge magnets over his eyes on our photos on the fridge and knows he might have to wear one again. We aren't too bothered though because its clearly kit holding him back - he was born like it and its normal to him so he is happy!