5 Things to Look For When Choosing Lenses for Your Children’s Glasses

What makes the perfect lenses for your children’s glasses?

Understanding and choosing between all the different lens types, materials, and coatings can be overwhelming if you don’t own a pair of glasses yourself.

And if you’ve been wearing glasses for years, the factors you use to find your perfect lenses may not necessarily be the same for your son or daughter’s lenses.

So wouldn’t it be awesome if you had a cheat sheet to help you figure out which type of lenses your child really needs?

That’s exactly what we’re going to cover today.

Check out our list of the 5 most important features your children’s lenses should have to find the best pair for them:

1. Ultra Safe, Lightweight Lens Material that’s also Durable and Impact-Resistant

Skinned knees, bruises, and dodging balls headed your way are all part of being a kid. But it also spells disaster for your child’s glasses.

That’s why glass makes the worst material for your child’s lenses.

Glass shatters upon impact (even treated safety glass) if your child happens to walk into or trip over something. This presents a major safety hazard to your child’s eyes as glass shards could potentially get inside and cause serious damage.

Glass lenses are also much heavier and uncomfortable to wear. This doesn’t help your child’s chances of actually wanting to wear their glasses.

Polycarbonate or Trivex lenses are the clear winners for kids’ lenses.

First, these two types of lenses are much lighter than glass lenses so your child shouldn’t get tired wearing them.

Second, both of these materials are highly impact-resistant and geared for safety.

Trivex is a thin, lightweight material that was originally developed for the US military. Its impact resistance is up to 10x that of plastic or glass lenses, making it one of the strongest, most durable choices for kids.

We carry two brands that use Trivex for their lenses: Trilogy and NXT.

Trilogy offers clear lenses while NXT delivers multiple colored lenses for polarized sunglasses that help with various lighting conditions.

Trivex lenses also have built-in scratch-resistance to provide even more protection and extend the life of your child’s lenses.

All these reasons and more are why all our lenses at Glasses Gallery are made of high-quality, strong, and lightweight polycarbonate or Trivex.

These will stand up to the physical demands of childhood while delivering crisp, clear vision and the ultimate in safety.

2. Anti-Reflective (AR) Coating

Without an anti-reflective or anti-glare coating, your kid’s lenses will be subject to back-glare.

This happens when light hits the back of the lenses and bounces into their eyes causing a reflection.

Removing the reflections, glare, and distractions from your child’s lenses will improve their vision quality.

Since more light will be able to pass through their lenses, your child will have sharper focus and less eye strain. This means they’ll be able to wear their glasses comfortably for longer periods of time.

Anti-reflective coatings also make your child’s glasses more attractive.

You know how you can see your reflection in your china cabinet as you pass by, but everything inside is out of focus?

An anti-reflective coating will remove this glare barrier so you can see your child’s eyes shining through their glasses instead of staring at your reflection in their lenses.

3. Digital Block Coating (anti-blue light or computer coating)

Almost everything you and your child interact with these days gives off blue light.

From natural light sources like the sun to artificial light from smartphones, tablets, TVs, and even your refrigerator, blue light is everywhere.

This is a big deal because blue light can be ultra harmful to your eyes after prolonged exposure.

See, blue light reaches deeper into your eyes than other light on the spectrum. This causes stress and damage to your retinas, which over time can speed up the development of macular degeneration.

Plus, blue light has been known to mess with your natural sleep rhythm. Too much blue light too close to bedtime may turn your children into night owls.

Make sure your child’s lenses have an anti-blue light / digital block / computer coating.

Though known by different names, this coating will protect their eyes and their vision whether they’re writing term papers on their laptops or playing video games during the weekend.

4. Extra UV Protection

As Adelaide A. Hebert, MD, professor and vice chair of dermatology at the University of Houston explains to the Skin Cancer Foundation, children under the age of 10 are at a high risk for skin and eye damage from UV rays.

That’s because the skin around their eyes and on their eyelids is especially delicate and more vulnerable than an adult’s skin in this area.

Your child’s skin will strengthen in protection as they grow, but in the meantime, you’ll do best to find lenses with UVA/UVB coatings to proactively protect their vision and skin early on.

All of the lenses here at Glasses Gallery come standard with UV coating to filter out harmful UVA and UVB rays — whether clear lenses or lenses for sunglasses.

And all Trivex lenses have built-in protection against UV rays as well.

The struggle is real for many parents looking for prescription sunglasses for their children, but we carry a wide array of kids sunglasses here at Glasses Gallery so you don’t have to feel that pain.

5. The Right Frames for Safety and Sports

Though all of our previous tips have been about what to look for when choosing the right lenses, what good are the best lenses if you put them in the wrong frames?

If your child plays sports or loves being outdoors, you should consider a pair of safety or sports glasses in addition to their regular everyday glasses.

Though their polycarbonate or Trivex lenses are safe enough for normal protection, your child’s daily eyeglasses frames are probably not strong enough to withstand impacts from contact sports, high-intensity activities like mountain biking, or projectiles (read: tennis lessons).

Look for sports and safety glasses with large vertical eye openings instead.

Should something hit your child’s lenses, there will be a wide enough area to absorb the impact and keep it far away from damaging your child’s eyes.

Focus on Finding the Right Lenses and Let Your Child Have Fun Picking Out their Frames

Kids are often reluctant to wear glasses at first. Give them the chance to take control of their situation by letting them browse kidproof frames online at Glasses Gallery to find the pair that speaks to them.

While your child thinks about the aesthetics of their new look, you’ll be able to focus on the safety, durability, and protective features of the lenses that will go inside those cool frames.

Use today’s checklist of our 5 most important features every pair of children’s lenses should have to steer you in the right direction the easy way.