My son is 3 1/2. He had 'lazy eye' diagnosed at 9 months, after which we tried to patch him (didn't work), moved on to glasses (cute, but hard to keep on, the teachers at day care really helped with that), and then surgery when he was 2. At his last check up, the dr is seeing laziness again, and recommended 2 months of patching before our next appointment, where, if not improving, says we'll be back in glasses. I cannot get my son to understand that the patch is for his best interest. I have bought "cool" looking patches. i have bought pirate patches. We have tried a TV/movie reward for while he's wearing the patch. Nothing is working. This week I re-enlisted day care to help, but I feel bad. I feel like a failure. I should be able to help him and make him wear the patch.
Looking for suggestions for successful patching in this age group. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much for the great suggestions and so fast! We've had a successful few days which included: me wearing a patch, Dad wearing a patch; patching my son's sock puppet Henry (I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner - he'll do things for Henry he won't do for me!). I also got a video from Ortopatch about the Eye Patch Gang. It's got some songs and sock puppets. My son has been walking around making arm muscles telling me his eye is getting stronger. A huge thank you to for sharing your stories and tips! Fingers crossed here in Charlotte.
Try to tell him how good he looks.........he is young so telling him it's good for him isn't going to do any good......maybe you could wear one too when you are around him.....or get some for the day care to all wear with him......
I don't know if they make a mask that might help or not.....it's tough....
Good luck and take care.
Hi C., my oldest son was dx with ambyopia as well, though we was older, 1st grade. We tried the patch too first and his teacher reported that he was fooling with it all day, it became a great distraction, plus he was already self-concious about it (at the ripe old age of 6). So we switched to atropine drops. Took about a year (to be honest I didn't put his drops in nearly as much as I was suposed to) with his 'good eye' dilated most of the time but it worked for him. He is now 18 and has had no relapses (although after 3 weeks of being away a college he NOW tells me he is having trouble seeing distance, sigh don't supose he could've told me that BEFORE he went away!).
Anyway, has your doc suggested the drops? I know they don't work for every child, and it IS difficult gettin' those drops in a little fellas eyes, but it's worth a try, right?
Good Luck!
My daughter was 4 when she had to patch..3 days on, 2 off, and so on...for several month to strengthen her left eye..she also wore glasses at the same time. She always did well with it.
But she had to patch all of her favorite "babies". This seemed to help her cope. Also, her Gramma made glasses for the more fave 2 or 3 of her babies ( 2 stuffed animal Dinosaurs and a cat Beanie Baby, by the way!). She did everything with her pals..tea parties, bedtime stories, she talked to them, etc. I think it helped her cope when people would comment on her patch or glasses (she thought it was fun to say "I am a pirate in training! LOL....shocked people who were a bit stupid to ask a 4 year old about it!!!!).
Even tho he is younger..beef him up...feed his ego...figure out what works for him..tell him how handsome he looks...find a figure he recognizes or knows and loves (a real person or a tv character, etc who you can somehow relate to it.) Get him a kids Spy-scope (one eye required to use)....just silly it up if you have to. Thats what we did and it just was no big deal for the long many months we patched..and wearing the glasses was just no big deal (for her it meant she could see).
Good luck!
