You should take your child’s ophthalmologist’s advice on when he or she should be wearing dark glasses. You don’t have to buy sunglasses privately if your child needs them for medical reasons; you should be able to get some on the NHS.

Parents often choose to buy sunglasses themselves just because they often look more stylish than those available on the NHS (mind you, my son has a certain disco-cool in his!), or because a more wrap-around style works better for their photophobic child.  You may need to ask your child’s ophthalmologist for a prescription if you would like an NHS pair as they may not think to offer.

 Look for sunglasses in a wrap-around design that fits close to the face for a child with photophobia, so ‘John Lennon’ style round ones really let too much light round the top and sides, they should have 100% UV protection, but after that, it’s a matter of choice and preference.  There are new products coming on to the market all the time, so if you try out something we haven’t reviewed here, or you have anything to add to these reviews, please send in your comments.

The Babies with Glasses website with lots of hints and tips on getting babies and toddlers to wear glasses, online forum and even T-shirts.

Optima low vision services supply non-prescription glasses sized for babies, toddlers and older children in dark and various different coloured tints which may be useful for some children in reducing glare and increasing contrast in some conditions.  They are also able to get , on special order as they're not in the catalogue, fit overs / eye shields / over-glasses sized for young children.  The RNIB shop sells adult ones much more cheaply, their 'small' size being OK for many older children.

 

Fit overs can be a good choice for a photophobic child who already wears prescription glasses as they cut out more light than most styles of tinted prescription glasses.  The cost is reasonable if the alternative is paying to have tinted precription glasses made privately (they should be available on the NHS if there's a medical need for your child to have dark glasses because of photophobia, but it does seem to happen quite frequently that parents are told that they are not)

NHS Specs

Age: all

Price: Free

Category: according to prescription

 These are currently the only option for children who have a refractive prescription, but can also be made up for children who just need dark glasses.  Styles vary; some look very attractive, others less so; there’s a wider choice for very young children and babies from dispensing opticians attached to hospital eye departments.  Once your child is over about 2 or 3, there is a far wider choice of styles and they are far more widely available. 

 Metal-framed glasses generally come with plastic nose pieces that fit some noses well and others badly, along with cable temples that wrap around the back of your child’s ears to help keep the glasses in place.  There are a few plastic-framed styles available that have a curly plastic cord to fit around the back of the head with the aim of keeping the glasses on.  The attachments at the ends of these cords are a very serious choking hazard and you should throw them away if you’re given them.

Frustratingly, there are currently no wrap-around styles of glasses available for babies and young children on the NHS – nor are there clip-over sunglasses to fit aphakic glasses, or dark over-glasses for young children.  So there are situations where you and your child’s consultant may have to choose between correcting a refractive error and providing dark glasses to help with photophobia; you need to discuss this with the ophthalmologist, if neither will work reasonably well it is (in theory) possible to have bespoke frames made up.

If your child is wearing aphakic glasses you should try to get a second, tinted pair for brighter days if he or she is at all photophobic. 

Please let us know if we’re wrong about what’s available, or if the situation has changed as we’d be very happy to hear about them and let people know!

 

 

Baby Banz ***

Age 0-2 years

Price: ₤10

Category: 3

 

Either these are the best baby sunglasses ever, or they don’t work at all for your child.  They have no side arms, but they are secured with a soft neoprene strap round the back of the head so if your child has a narrow or flat bridge to their nose, they sit too close to you’re his or her eyelashes and brush against them.  Some children also really detest having a strap behind their head.  If neither of these applies, they’re great.

The lenses are good quality, they’re very robust and the soft strap is great for babies who are lying down a lot or go to sleep on it. Retro Banz have larger lenses which is better, but look better on girls, giving a slightly ‘Jackie O’ look.

  

Beaba Sunglasses with strap ***

Age 0-18 months

Price ₤12

Category: 3

 

 

 

 

Not to be confused with the round lens style that Beaba also make for this age group which is totally unsuitable, these are sold by JoJo Maman Bebe, under their own brand. These glasses have short side-arms that are encased in soft jersey fabric and stay on with an adjustable strap behind the head.  The side arms help to keep the glasses in the right place so they don’t tend to rub eyelashes as much as Baby Banz, but they do get visibly grubby. 

The lens is not a particularly dark tint and also quite shallow (from top to bottom) so they don’t cut out as much light as some babies might need.

There are several other Beaba styles for toddlers, we haven't found a source of them in the UK although they would be fairly simple to order from one of the many French suppliers, please send in your reviews if you try them!

 

Julbo Looping I sunglasses ***

Age 0- 2 years (but fit better on younger babies)

Price: ₤15

Category: 4

 

Julbo Looping I are a very clever design which fit a baby’s face very closely with dark lenses, cutting out lots of light.  They suit babies who don’t like having anything behind their head as you don’t have to use the clip-on strap supplied.  The holes in the ends of the arms mean they can be tied (on a very short lace, to prevent strangulation) to the label in the back of the child’s clothing or dungaree strap.  They fit all shapes and sizes of nose well and they have no hinges to catch fingers.  They can be put on either way up and there’s a very clever rim around the lenses that prevents a lot of accidental scratches.

The area where the hinges would be is weak and tends to break with an older baby playing with it (although the one year guarantee they come with means you can get another pair).  The arms are a bit sharp where they rest behind the ears, although this can be sanded down, they really could be more comfortable; the arms are also a bit fat behind the ears, tending to make ears stick out.

 

Julbo Pop ****

Age 1-2 years

Price: ₤15

Category: 4

 

 

 

 

Julbo pop are a good deal more comfortable than the Looping designs as they have soft padded arms to rest behind the ears, although they still push ears forward and sometimes slide down he face a little in use (although children this age will push them back up themselves).  The arms tend to bend out of shape, but this doesn’t seem to affect the fit. They fit the age group they’re designed for better than the Looping I.  The lenses are also dark, but smaller and a slightly unusual shape which is supposed to be good for toddlers as they spend so much time looking upwards.  Whether the lenses have a brown or grey tint depends on the colourway.

The design is very robust, although the lenses tend to get well scratched and there are still useful holes in the ends of the arms to attach the strap which come with them.

 

Julbo Looping II

Age: 1-3 years

Price: ₤17

Category: 4

 

We haven’t tried this style yet, although it looks a lot like a slightly bigger version of the Looping I – please let us know what you think of it if you have!

 

BLOC Tadpole **

Age: 6-24 months

Price: ₤10

Category: 3

 

Fairly hard plastic, these don’t feel as well-made as the other styles here, but then they’re a good deal less expensive, these tend to brush against long eyelashes if your child has a flat or narrow bridge to their nose.  The arms are fairly hard and very stongly curved inwards to grip the head rather than rest on the ears which makes them less comfortable.  They have good quality category 3 lenses and fit the face reasonably well in the middle of the size range.  This style doesn't have any girlie frame colours available as all the others do.

 

Cébé Kanga *****

Age: 1-3

Price: ₤22 / ₤27

Category: 4

 

 

There are two lens types, the brown 'melanine'  tint (shown) adding ₤5 to the basic price of the glasses with the standard tint being grey.

These are fantastic glasses with the only negatives being the price, and the lack of a guarantee. The fit is superb, this style hugs the face very well and the lenses are very dark and large, to give a wide field of view, with a slightly ‘aviator’ look to them. Kangas stay in place and the arms are narrow enough behind the ears and the whole frame hugs the head softly so they are very comfortable to wear and come with a strap that clips into the holes in the ends of the arms.  They are, in general very robust but not indestructible.  Frame colours often seem different from the way they appear in illustrations; the pair pictured here are more of a dark coral colour in reality.

 

 

Author: Anna, parent
This article has not been checked by any professional

Last updated 26/02/08