Do your kids own prescription sunglasses?

[shaynaatl]

If your kids wear eyeglasses, do they also own a pair of prescription sunglasses? Do they use them often?

Our 10 yr old is asking for a pair, mainly to use for activities like walks and pool time. I assume they aren't cheap, so trying to evaluate other kids' experiences with them.

[Susie]

My kids don't wear glasses, but I do, and I have Rx sunglasses.  I don't wear them a ton (I wear contacts more often), but when I need them, I really need them.  My eyes are pretty light sensitive.

I would try something inexpensive like Zenni for your kids.  They're actually pretty reasonable from there, so it doesn't have to be a major magnitude decision.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Also don't have kids with glasses, but came to suggest Pair eyewear. You can get glasses with a magnetic stick on sunglasses frame (their whole schtick is that you can change the look of your glasses with the magnetic frames, but I think the sunglasses add on would be most useful).

[cmeon]

My son transitioned to contacts at 10, DD was 11. Before that we just put self darkening lenses in their glasses, and that worked well enough for those activities/P.E./soccer.

[lessel]

DS1 (9.5) mostly wears contacts so doesn't do rx sunglasses. He only wears glasses in the mornings before school and sometimes on weekends (unless he has soccer or some other activity). The first year he had glasses, there was a deal where we essentially got the rx sunglasses for free (we buy them at Costco). He rarely wore them.

We also have one pair of rx sports glasses as a backup in case he loses a contact during a soccer game or something. I got those on Zenni so they weren't super $$$, but def cost more than Costco and we haven't used them yet.

[Deleted]

My kid has Pair eyeglasses with the sunglasses toppers, but he almost never wears them. Typically he’ll just wear a hat with a brim if he wants to shade his eyes.

As a grownup, I have prescription sunglasses (Warby Parker) and some non-prescription sunglasses (Goodr, though they now also make prescription) that I wear for running, boating, or anything where I don’t want to risk losing or damaging my nicer prescription pair. I also have Pair glasses with sunglasses toppers but I prefer my prescription sunglasses with my old prescription because they give me better coverage.

[fortnightlily]

My son's glasses that he wears all the time have transitions lenses.

[mainelyfoolish]

My kid with a driver's license has prescription sunglasses.

My kid who isn't old enough to drive has some clip-on sunglasses that fit over the front of his eyeglasses. He breaks his glasses far too often for me to want to pay for a pair of sunglasses.

[lucybrown]

We just purchased a pair of glasses with transitions lenses for my 6 yo. He calls them his magic glasses. With vision insurance, I think I paid $68 for the lenses and warranty at Target.

[litasail]

Yep, all three of us have prescription regular glasses and prescription sunglasses.

[lo]

Yes, and so far she has only worn them over the summer while at the beach. We got her a pair of transition lenses but she hasn’t worn them yet.

[sparty04]

We used an old pair of frames that still fit and had them put in transitions lenses (at Costco, I think it was around $100). My other kid who recently got glasses is asking for the same so I'm going on look at either Sam's Club or see if I can find some cheap frames online

[genet313]

Oct 24, 2024 11:46:50 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

My son's glasses that he wears all the time have transitions lenses.

Same but my daughter doesn’t like hers and we wouldn’t get them again. She gets embarrassed at recess when hers transition so she plays alone whenever she thinks it’s going to happen. And her glasses were $$$ for those transitions so I would happily spend on sunglasses instead.

ETA: I also find that they dont get truly dark enough on super sunny days so I will sometimes see her squinting through them. Another point against!

[usuallylurking]

I have two that have glasses. My oldest does not want sunglasses, so I don’t buy them for him. My 10 year old LOVES his and would wear them on the cloudiest of days if we were outside, haha. I order from Zenni and they were under $60 for the pair. He definitely wears them enough that I am happy with the purchase and money spent. That $60 even included upgrading his lenses to have a mirror tint in his favorite color ($27.95) and an upcharge of $9 for lens customization because his pupillary distance isn’t within the normal parameters of the frames we chose. As a glasses wearer myself, who also loves my prescription sunglasses, I am happy to buy them for him. (And also happy my oldest is self-aware enough to tell me he wouldn’t wear them!)

I truly feel like prescription sunglasses are one of the best “upgrades” I’ve ever purchased in life.

[mrshandy]

DD has worn glasses since 3 years old and has had transition lenses for about 5-6 years. It makes everything easier. Hoping she gets contacts at some point soon.

[livinitup]

My child had transition lenses from time to time. (16 now and has worn glasses for a few years). They wear glasses for all activities and we tried transitions a few times. I think they have them now. They don’t get super dark but we let them chose if they want them when getting a new prescription.

[stemmie]

DS made do with Transitions lenses until high school when he started wearing real prescription sunglasses.

[jeaniebueller]

My 10-year-old has transitions glasses