All-Star Wearing Contacts During Competitions And Practices

[mamabear]

CP recently found out that she needs to wear glasses. Her vision is pretty bad without them. She just asked me about contacts for comps. Is there anything that I should know before getting them? Pros , cons. brands that are better for sports? Hints for dealing with them during practices and comps? She is 11. Do you think that is too young? Educate me, please

 

[LateKate3]

CP recently found out that she needs to wear glasses. Her vision is pretty bad without them. She just asked me about contacts for comps. Is there anything that I should know before getting them? Pros , cons. brands that are better for sports? Hints for dealing with them during practices and comps? She is 11. Do you think that is too young? Educate me, please

My daughter is 11. Has been wearing contacts exclusively for the past year and a half. And wore them just for comps and practice 6 months prior to that. She loves them. She is good at putting them in and taking them out (it takes a bit of practice) and she is responsible for her own vision. By the last part I mean, she knows she has to let me know when she is running low, needs solution, when to take them out and clean them (she recently switched from a daily to a monthly). She takes a little bottle of rewetting drops and an empty case with her to school in case she needs to clean it or something. When she wore dailies, she took an extra pair of lenses with her as well. The acuvue moist daily was great, comfortable and disposable...so if she dropped one or went swimming with them or whatever it was no big deal cause she had plenty more. Her new monthly contacts are actually colored lenses...so she has to be a bit more careful because she can't just toss it and grab another. For her it has been a good experience and now with colored lenses she can have a little fun as well. Get the contacts...it'll make her life so much easier in the long run with sports. [emoji2]

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[Quotation]

CP recently found out that she needs to wear glasses. Her vision is pretty bad without them. She just asked me about contacts for comps. Is there anything that I should know before getting them? Pros , cons. brands that are better for sports? Hints for dealing with them during practices and comps? She is 11. Do you think that is too young? Educate me, please

I have extremely bad eyesight (like I can only see a foot in front of me bad) so I've been wearing contacts since I was around 11/12. I would definitely recommend getting dailies, they're much more convenient and then you don't have to worry about cleaning them properly. I always keep an extra pair of lenses in my cheer bag just in case one gets knocked out during practice. the brand doesn't make a difference as far a sports go, so I would just get whichever brand your eye doctor thinks is best. once she gets comfortable with putting them in she shouldn't have any problems with them at practice or comps, I've only had a contact fall out at cheer a couple of times over the years, and I would just put in a new one, or on the occasion that I didn't have an extra, I would just finish the practice with blurry vision on one side . after wearing them for a while it gets super easy to put them in and you don't feel them in your eye at all.

Contacts have been a life saver for me, and not just in sports. I would 100% recommend contacts

 

[mamabear]

Thank you both for the advice. We will definitely check it out!

 

[WinstonsGirl]

Talk to her eye care professional. I couldn't wear contacts until I was 15 due to my eyes. Technology may have changed now though, and I know a lot of younger kids wear them. I recommend disposables for her, if they work, so she doesn't have to worry as much about losing or tearing one. But her eye care professional will tell you the best brand/type for her eyes, and if she can wear them or not.

Dealing with them during practices/comps is a non-issue, unless someone falls on her face and slides down her face. Happened to me once and I lost the lens at the beginning of the routine. I just ignored it and went on with the routine. I would recommend a small bottle of solution in her bag, incase one does come loose and she needs to pop it back in.

The only concern I have about her age is if she will be diligent in taking them out when needed (not sleeping in them, etc.) and keeping them clean.

 

[catlady]

BIL is an opthamologist and we double checked with him before youngest got contacts at 8. He is not a fan of extended wear and extended replacement lenses, he suggest getting daily and at the most weekly throw away lenses to insure bacteria isn't building up if they don't clean them well. There's no such thing as "no rub" contact cleaners, rub your lenses clean every night. Change your case monthly. Acuvue Oasys is a very comfortable lens for most people without special circumstances. As long as your child can put them in and take them out on her own, they don't have an issue with young kids having them. He encourages parents to have their kids wash their hands and practice touching the whites of their eyes for a week or two before the appt. They do encourage parents to add "did you take your contacts out?" to the nightly routine of "did you brush your teeth?" and to check to make sure they're in their case every once in awhile just like checking if the bristles are wet on their toothbrush. He always wants kids to have a pair of glasses and if parents can't afford both, he wants them in glasses just in case they should get a bacterial or viral infection.

 

[mama2twinsplus1]

My 11 year old has been wearing them only for practice and comps. She wears dailies because there is less risk of infection. She's been wearing them since she was 9. Her eye doc told us she'd like to keep her in glasses until she stops growing. She's nearsighted. Always keep an extra pack in her cheer bag.

 

[OnceUponACheerleader]

I wear glasses strictly day to day (I have a desk job and I am in front of a screen for 8 hours a day, contacts dry out and are not comfortable). But I always have disposable lenses in my prescription on hand - and wore them exclusively for cheer. The thing I had to be most careful about (in the era of multi-colour loose glitter makeup) was getting makeup/ eyelash glue in my eye while wearing contacts.
Most people advise to put the contacts in first and then do makeup, but I always found it easier to put the contacts in after my makeup was done ... So it just depends on what works best for your CP.

 

[cheer25mom]

CP recently found out that she needs to wear glasses. Her vision is pretty bad without them. She just asked me about contacts for comps. Is there anything that I should know before getting them? Pros , cons. brands that are better for sports? Hints for dealing with them during practices and comps? She is 11. Do you think that is too young? Educate me, please

I would get her contacts in a heartbeat. I HATED dancing and tumbling in glasses. There are many different schools of thought on what types of lenses are best, and a lot of depends on the individual.
Lots of people swear by dailies, especially for kids, because they don't have to clean them but I cannot wear them. They dry out.
I personally love my gas permeable extended wear I were Air Optics Night and Day. I leave them in for 30 days at a time, then switch to a fresh pair. I wouldn't recommend them for a child however because you have to be vigilant about watching for irritation and taking the out to clean if necessary.
I think the best thing to do is talk to your optometrist and try what they recommend. You may have to try multiple brand before you find something that works.
As far as dealing with them during practice or comps, you really shouldn't have to do anything other than perhaps keep some rewetting drops handy in case one happens to come out, or get knocked out. If they fit well they should stay in place and not be an issue, unless she happened to get hit in the eye just right.

 

[ryann3794]

I'm the odd one out but I didn't get glasses until I was 20. I tried contacts for about a year, maybe a little longer, but could not do it. I tried multiple brands and lengths of wear, but I was just never comfortable in contacts. I gave up and started wearing strictly glasses when I was 21 or 22.

 

[cheer25mom]

I'm the odd one out but I didn't get glasses until I was 20. I tried contacts for about a year, maybe a little longer, but could not do it. I tried multiple brands and lengths of wear, but I was just never comfortable in contacts. I gave up and started wearing strictly glasses when I was 21 or 22.

did you give yourself 3-4 weeks to adjust before switching brands? A lot of people give up too early.

 

[Starsfan4l]

I wear dailies and I find them convenient and so much easier to cheer in than glasses. I would, however, ensure that her hands are clean before putting them in or an infection can occur.

 

[Lablover]

I wouldn't hesitant to get my 12yo contacts if she needed them for cheer. I got my first pair at 12 and did fine. For many years I wore the monthly and kept them in the 30 days and never took them out until the month was up. It was great having them in at night. A few years ago I switched to dailies because I started to have some issues. The doctor was never able to figure out why but suggested switching to dailies. I love getting a new pair every morning but hate that I can't sleep in them. I would probably insist my CP get dailies just to avoid having to clean them and ensuring we always had extra on hand.

 

[5monkeysjumping]

Another thought to consider - orthokeratology. My kids and I wear Ortho K lenses. They're gas permeable lenses that you wear to bed. While you sleep, they reshape your corneas, and when you wake up, you take them out and have perfect vision all day. I love them! The best part about using them with kids is that they keep their vision from changing. My oldest has been in them for two years and his vision hasn't changed a bit in two years. I have horrible vision and wanted to do whatever I could to keep my kids' vision from getting as bad as mine. It's a great solution for athletes, because it literally changes nothing. I actually heard about them when I read an interview with an elite gymnast. There are not many doctors who do orthoK, so you have to go to a good one, but it really is life changing to use them. If any of my other kids need glasses, we won't even bother, we'll just go straight to the lenses and never consider anything else.

 

[Quotation]

Another thought to consider - orthokeratology. My kids and I wear Ortho K lenses. They're gas permeable lenses that you wear to bed. While you sleep, they reshape your corneas, and when you wake up, you take them out and have perfect vision all day. I love them! The best part about using them with kids is that they keep their vision from changing. My oldest has been in them for two years and his vision hasn't changed a bit in two years. I have horrible vision and wanted to do whatever I could to keep my kids' vision from getting as bad as mine. It's a great solution for athletes, because it literally changes nothing. I actually heard about them when I read an interview with an elite gymnast. There are not many doctors who do orthoK, so you have to go to a good one, but it really is life changing to use them. If any of my other kids need glasses, we won't even bother, we'll just go straight to the lenses and never consider anything else.

my friend uses these and they work great for her! I had never heard about them until she mentioned them but they seem to work well from what I have heard.