Do you make your child under 11 wear a mask?

[PickACoolUserName]

Or under 5 if you live in Scotland.

We haven't taken the kids anywhere where masks would be required so I haven't really given it much consideration but I've noticed when out grocery shopping that quite a few young children seem to be wearing them.

My understanding is that it's not compulsory for children under 11 (5 in Scotland) so I was curious about how many people are getting their young children to wear them. Also what are your reasons for your choice, and how does your child feel about them?

DS who is 8 has sensory issues and I'm dreading the day when / if he has to wear one. I think DD who is 4 would be fine though.

Yes, 7 and 10. They have neck buffs to pull up but are wearing cotton face masks now it’s hot. They just assume it’s what people do, so they do it. Having said which, they don’t go to many shops etc

Yes ages 6 and 7, if they want to go into shops or places they are mandatory. I limit there exposure and don’t take them on weekly shops etc. They do not love them but know they have to do their part so don’t complain.

My 3.5 year old wears one. We offer if if we’re going in somewhere where DH and I will be wearing them- 9 times out of 10 he wants to wear one too. I kind of think if he’s happy to, and it offers a degree of protection or even reassurance to others- why not.

No. She is 8, I have one (ordered wrong size for me) but she doesn't like it.

I will not make her and tbh I would not 'encourage' it either, she is not required to wear a mask so won't.

Not a chance

My children haven't been close enough to other children in indoor spaces to claim any supposed benefit in virus transmission in a direct way. Where they have interracted with other children has been places like playgrounds, or sports clubs where it's been outdoors and low contact. When they go back to school, they will be "protected" by bubbles not masks.

On a mass scale of community transmission, the biggest spreaders are now younger adults either through families or social venues, not pubs. The majority of cases picked up in schools prior to the holidays were in adults. Very few child to child cases despite being in a closed environment with their peers for hours. Children wearing a light, less incomfortable covering is likely to make minimal difference, even before any negation by fidgeting around with it.

Being a person who lip reads a lot and rasing a child through speech delay (plus experience of teaching hearing impaired students at a school with enhanced provision) the value of non-verbal communication is very high, and even more so for children learning social skills and taking many years to develop full fluency of language, well into the primary years. Once again, children are disproportionately effected by measures that benefit them the least.

My school friend had OCD and was obsessive about hygiene and cleanliness. It consumed her. I'm not dismissing the benefits of good hygiene, but children are suceptible to polarised messages about good/ bad, and there are a lot of children who will not brush off the messages that are being sent out about public health, and are at high risk of the response to the virus triggering lasting health anxiety, and compulsive behaviours. DS1 was anxious from February, so it's been important to keep discussion in the family nuanced. There has been a bit more hand washing before/after leaving the house, keeping distance from strangers, but certainly not encouraged to view all people as potential disease carriers as those are ideas that would be very difficult to shake off. He's been reassured that we spend most of our time in low risk environments and that the chances of being exposed to the 1 in thousands ratio of people infected in the community are very, very low.

My 8 yo has a hat with a face visor. He enjoys it and having something when we're wearing our masks/visors, though it's currently rare for him to be out anywhere other than the park where we don't wear them.

@PatchworkElmer

My 3.5 year old wears one. We offer if if we’re going in somewhere where DH and I will be wearing them- 9 times out of 10 he wants to wear one too. I kind of think if he’s happy to, and it offers a degree of protection or even reassurance to others- why not.

What normal adult gets reassurance from seeing a little 3.5yr old in a mask. It's fucking ridiculous.

5, 9 and 11 year olds are quite keen to wear them, we don't need to tell/remind them at all.

@BellaintheWychElm we’re in the middle of a pandemic. I certainly feel better when people around me are wearing masks, and I extend the same courtesy to other people as long as my son’s happy to do so.

No. It's never occurred to me to do so, since it's not legally required. I wear my mask when it's legally required, no more and no less. We don't go to shops much as we get everything delivered, but we use public transport and visit attractions like museums and galleries a lot.

Mine like to, 6 & 8. They have unicorn ones which helps but they just just accept they should wear them

I don't want my children to, NHS actually says its not a good idea or under 11s as they are much more likely to touch their face if they have one on. My 6 year old would be fine with it after a while, but the 9 year old has sensory issues so would either constantly fiddle with it or completely fail to social distance or walk into a wall focusing on not fiddling with it. But he is big for his age and we've been asked if he is 11 on entering a shop. So now he thinks he should wear one. So I'm going to let him wear one if he wants to. The risk is to others really rather than him so I'd rather he do what he feels more comfortable with at this point. But its rare for it to come up as we are just avoiding places that require masks anyway.

We are England and dd2 is 5. I haven't forced it, we offer everytime we wear one because if she can then she should but she hasn't been able to cope even though she has tried (ASD).

We have had to be really careful about talking about how we talk about covid in general around her as she has 'germ' phobia; We have had an anxiety induced panic that as she isn't wearing a mask she will get germs (we have rightly or wrongly had to say children are safer than grown ups, so she doesn't have to wear one and she will still be safe, because others are keeping her safe by wearing theirs), also she got scared Daddy would get germs by going to work (retail, but we had to tell her early on we couldn't go in the shops as per her Friday routine of cafe and in the shop for tea, because of the germs so this made her scared). But on a whole it hasn't made her too bad. I will keep offering a mask, in a gentle way but I won't force the issue.