Small faces, serious lenses
Baby sunglasses with UV400 lenses, which is the number worth checking for: it means 99 to 100 per cent of UVA and UVB rays are blocked. Children's eyes let through far more UV than adult eyes do, and the damage accumulates quietly across a childhood, so a pair of baby sunglasses is less of a styling decision than it looks in the photos.
The range covers the Ava, Edna and Vera shapes in matte and glossy finishes, from tiny newborn fits through to toddler sizes with a little more width. Colours run from jet black and tortoise to blush, blue and the softer neutrals, so they sit happily with whatever is already in the pram instead of fighting it.
Sunglasses only do half the job. Pair them with a wide brim from baby sun hats and sun protection, and for the beach or the backyard the smocks and bibs keep the rest of the outfit alive. Australian owned and shipped from Melbourne, which means we have strong opinions about summer.
At what age can a baby wear sunglasses? From whenever they will tolerate them, which for most babies lands somewhere between three and six months. Below that, a pram shade and a wide brim hat do more useful work, simply because a newborn will not keep glasses on a face that small. There is no medical reason to wait, only a practical one.
How do I stop them being pulled straight off? You mostly do not, at first. Start with very short stretches in genuinely bright conditions so the glasses feel like relief rather than an imposition, and put them on in the car or pram before you arrive rather than mid meltdown. Most babies stop fighting them within a week or two of consistent use.
What should I check on the fit? The arms should sit along the side of the head without pressing in behind the ears, and the lenses should still cover the eye socket when the head turns. If the frame slides down a button nose, size down rather than tightening anything. Replace any pair with a cracked lens straight away, since a damaged lens no longer offers reliable protection.
