#10 KEEPING AN EYE PATCH RECORD FOR THE CHILD

Charts, calendars, posters, and goodie boxes are all examples of incentive programs that will help motive your eye patcher as well has keep a record of how many hours they patch each day.  Some parents will make a chart that the child can place a sticker or star on once they complete their eye patching that day.  Others have created a poster or selected a design that can be colored or filled in when the eye patch session is done.  Preparing a goodie box filled with small treats or toys can intice a young eye patcher to wear their eye patch without much fuss.  We found that using an incentive calendar is an excellent way to encourage your child to patch.  It also creates an easy way to document the hours patched.  Fill out the goal portion of the calendar and have the child sign it.  Together you can decide on what they will receive when they reach their patching goal.  A small gift, a play date, or even extra TV time can be a reward that will motivate your child to wear their eye patch.  Click, download and print to get started.  http://patchpals.com/calendar

#9 KEEPING AN EYE PATCH RECORD FOR PARENTS

It's a great idea to keep track of the time your child wears their eye patch. Keeping a little journal or using a date book to place the time your child wears their eye patch can be a beneficial pre-planning tool and provide a record of eye patching time.  Look at your daily activities in the morning and try to figure out what times would work best in your schedule for eye patching.  This gives you a moment to make a quick plan in your head on how you will approach the eye patching project that day.   Once your child patches for the allotted doctor prescribed time you can place a nice check mark next to that accomplishment. If they do not get the full time in on one day, you can bring that time forward to the next day.  

#8 GIVE THEM POWER BY GIVING THEM CHOICES

One element of eye patching that seems to improve compliance is giving the child some choices in their therapy.  "Would you like to wear your red eye patch or your blue one?"  "You must wear your eye patch today but you can choose when, tonight after dinner or right now while we are grocery shopping?"   "What would you like to do while you wear your eye patch today, watch a movie, go to the park, or play on the computer?"  Make it clear that wearing the eye patch is non negotiable, but they do still have the power to choose certain aspects of their eye patch project.