Should Children Wear Contact Lenses?

I started wearing contact lenses when I was 13 - back then I was embarrassed about wearing glasses and could never find anything to suit me, so I would just walk around half blind, waving to total strangers, nearly being hit by cars, that sort of thing.  It was also a nightmare when it came to school sports - many a time when playing netball I was hit smack bang in the face with a large netball. It still pains me to this day. Missing the hoop because I couldn't actually see it was a common occurrence. The day I got my first pair of lenses I started living! I could see! I could take part in sports, see the board, understand what was going on in the cinema, normal stuff, but not if you can't see!   I foolishly accepted advice back in the bad old days, that gas permeable lenses would be the way to go, as they are apparently healthier for your eyes and also work out cheaper. I found them very difficult to cope with at times, and if some dust or fluff got inside them, it was akin to water torture. However when I was about 18 I saw sense (literally) and started wearing soft contact lenses. I've tried lots of different companies and brands over the years, with varying results, but I actually now don't feel fully awake unless I'm wearing my lenses, although I do try to give my eyes a rest one day a week and wear glasses. I've never had a problem with dryness particularly, and my eyes never  feel really tired. I honestly don't understand why anyone would choose glasses over lenses to be honest, when there are so many obvious restrictions wearing glasses.

With this in mind, I recently had a chat with the ACUVUE team at Britmums Live - it was really interesting talking to them and they were really keen to hear about people's experiences of wearing lenses, and how they worked for people. I do know that ACUVUE make really high quality lenses, and it's really important not to scrimp on things like contact lenses as your eyes are SO important. One thing that the guys told me, that I was very surprised about, is that children as young as 5 can wear contact lenses! I was really surprised, but apparently research has been done, they've been tried and tested etc and apparently it's the way of the future. I do remember as a child, when I did choose to wear my glasses feeling embarrassed and restricted, I'm quite sure if the option had been available to me back then I would have taken it. It would also have enabled me to take part in sports and activities that glasses can get in the way of, or in my case, hardly being able to see at all!

What do you think? Should children wear contact lenses, or does it just depend on the individual child? 
“I wrote this review while participating in an influencer campaign on behalf of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”