Maybe. In fact, contacts may even benefit your child more than
glasses. Human eyes can tolerate contact lenses at a very early
age. Sometimes infants are fitted with contacts to correct
congenital eye problems before they become serious. In general,
though, contacts are appropriate when a child is old enough to
wear and care for them responsibly. Over-wearing
lenses—especially sleeping with lenses designed only for daytime
use—greatly increases the risk of eye problems. Also, your child
must be able to easily apply and remove the lenses, as well as
clean/disinfect them in the proper solution. In 2008, the
Contact Lenses in Pediatrics (CLIP) study found that children as
young as 8 years old are mature enough to handle contact lenses,
and children aged 8 – 12 had no more contact lens-related eye
problems than teenagers. Kids are also more resourceful than you
might think: 83 percent of preteens enrolled in the study said
contacts were easy to maintain, and 92 percent chose to continue
wearing them. Results from