WASHINGTON — The lesson gets drilled into the heads of contact-lens wearers from the minute they get them: Don’t wear them overnight. But a new study suggests that a new type of overnight contact lenses can arrest the development of nearsightedness in children.

The study shows that the lenses helped correct the growth of the eye, so that the misshapenness that causes myopia never gets a chance to happen, the Telegraph reports.

Experts warn that more testing is needed, because the sample sizes were pretty small. The lenses also somewhat increase the risk of infection — the same reason adults need to take their lenses out overnight.

Still, the trials involving 300 children worldwide showed that none of the lens-wearers suffered any further deterioration in their eyesight. And myopia carries a higher risk for glaucoma and retinal detachment, the Telegraph says.