OK, to address the OP.
I run the contact lens department at a privately owned ophthalmology office. I’ve done Insertion and Removal (INR) Training for kids who were as young as 7, and adults as old as 70. I am not a doctor. I am a certified optician, working in a state which neither requires nor issues licenses. I’ve been an optician since 1988.
If you feel your daughter is responsible enough to wear contact lenses, she probably is. If she were mine, however, she’d spend at least 6 months wearing glasses before I’d allow her to have contact lenses. See how she does with the glasses first. Hey, maybe she won’t even need correction “full time”, just for the blackboard or just for reading or something. Glasses today are NOT the glasses of my childhood. There are a lot of really great looking frames out there, especially for young ladies. Nine West has a very lovely like for girls her age. The frames are feminine without being babyish. Many girls today ask for more than one pair, and treat them like jewelry.
Every contact lens wearer needs to have glasses. 24/7 contact lens wear is not healthy for anybody, especially a developing child. I tell my patients to leave their contact lenses out for 2 hours a day while awake, and never to sleep in them. Less than 5% of my patients have been prescribed “extended wear” by the doctor. I know people will respond to this thread about “30-day” sleep in them all month lenses, but I can assure you that more people end up with problems from that type of wear than from any other wearing schedule.
Since the question of swimming with contacts always comes up, we teach patients not to swim or shower while wearing. Acanthamoeba blinds and disfigures, and is very difficult to treat. And it can survive the chlorination of pools and hot tubs. Anyone who wants to tell you differently should just search for images of what it does to the human eye. Cases are on the increase in the US.
In our practice, Acuvue Advance lenses are typically $200 for an 8-box, 1-year supply. If she needed toric (for astigmatism), that would increase to about $340/year. Keep in mind that private practices always charge more than retailers or online sellers, because we don’t get the massive 100,000 box discounts that they get. You own the prescription, so if you want to buy them somewhere other than the doctor’s office, just ask for it if it’s not automatically provided to you. Acuvue lenses are meant to be removed nightly and cleaned, then discarded after 2 weeks of wear. You can also ask about (much more expensive, but way healthier) daily replacement, which would run somewhere in the $350 area, unless there is astigmatism needing to be addressed. The biggest advantage to daily replacement is that a fresh sterile lens is inserted every time. No more cleaning, no storing, no “real care” required. You can figure the $150 difference would about cover the “first timer” losing lenses, going through solution quickly, etc. Your doctor will determine which type of lens will work best for her, and will likely present you with options similar to what I’ve described.
I’m here for any specific questions you might have.
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