When you first start patching with your little legend, it can be intimidating, especially if their response is a hard NO! 😮‍💨

To help you out, Speckles’ head honcho and Orthoptist Maddy put together a simple list of DOs and DON’Ts to make patching that little bit easier!

Do

• Patch when your child is in a happy and good mood
• Patch at the same time every day to create routine and normality
• Put a patch on yourself first to show your child the process
• Patch whilst your child is doing an activity they enjoy that stimulates vision
• If required, patch your child using their correct visual aids. 
• Encourage more green time and less screen time!
• Have a reward system to encourage your child to patch (our patch bags include a AWESOME reward chart for this reason!)
• Check out our videos on How to Put On An Eye Patch or How to Patch a Newborn.

Do Not

• Patch when your child is irritable, upset or tired
• Patch for more than 2 hours if vision is 6/12 or less. *
• Patch when your child is sleeping
• Patch the wrong eye
• Patch when your child is surrounded by people or obstacles due to their decreased depth perception. 

And most importantly

Don't forget to breathe! You are doing an amazing job and your little legend will no doubt thank you for your effort with their vision once they are older and understand the amazing impact it had! 

*PEDIG study shows it is as effective as 6 hours patching and is much easier for your child to tolerate. This can also reduce the risk of the good eye from developing secondary amblyopia.