Do you think the pandemic has had a negative impact on babies and their parents ?

[babiesandmummies2020]

Do you think that babies born in 2020 and especially first time parents have had a harder time of it ?

How do you think what's happened will affect babies born in 2020, if at all ?

I think babies have been negatively affected as all lockdown babies I know are v clingy to parents and cry with other people as they haven’t been around them enough.

I don’t necessarily think parents have had a harder time as surely it’s all relative. Prior to covid threads abounded about visitors descending on stressed out new mums and obviously some babies are easier than others regardless of lockdown. I know my SIL has loved her lockdown baby as my DBro is WFH and they’ve had a lovely time by themselves without worrying about visitors etc for example.

I don’t think there will be any long term impacts on babies. They will gradually get used to more people being around and won’t remember this time at all. I think older children will have more long lasting impacts.

Long term I don't think it will have too much direct impact on the babies themselves. Yes, they have lost opportunities to go to baby groups and see family etc but in 5 years time I don't see that making huge differences.

What will impact them (imo) is the mental health and financial health of their parents and to a lesser degree extended family as a a result of lockdown. And without significant resources I worry that it will have an impact for years to come.

I imagine babies born in 2020 will be exactly like babies that arrived in generations before them. Music with mummy and Yoga Tots and extended maternity leaves are a relatively new thing. Babies just need their mums essentially so I doubt they will have psychological damage from spending the majority of the year with their parents (obviously the exception being those who have fallen under the radar for abuse from parents)

Not officially a lockdown baby I suppose as born at the very end of 2019 but the pandemic has been amazing time for us to have our first. My husband immediately began to work from home so we had my whole maternity leave year together as a family. Sons incredibly social, loves meeting new people and is very securely attached. I suppose we’ve missed out on baby and toddler groups but the other side has more than compensated for this.

In some ways, babies of 2020 might be better off having had enforced long lockdowns with primary carers. Wasn’t there a study that said that lockdown babies were regaining birth weight quicker?

Do you definitely think they're more clingy ? My daughter is extremely clingy. I thought it was an age thing and not to do with lockdowns etc. I thought all babies go through this stage. But it is pretty bad. Sometimes she doesn't even like to be with her dad. She is always looking for me.

My relatively small sample of 2 - grandson and great nephew - both babies are happy, laid back and happy to play with other relatives when we eventually met. Grandson loves a facetime call Both Mum's have said it's been a shame not to be able to meet other Mums in the flesh and go to baby groups but both have formed a couple of friendships through social media groups and have since met up with their babies. Both have partners wfh which they said has been really positive and they would have felt so much more isolated if they had been on their own 5 days a week.

Yeah I didn't have my husband working from home. So I guess that's quite different. He works 6 days a week outside of the home. So it's been pretty isolating for us.

I don't think it is necessary the babies. I find more that toddlers are more affected.

Our neighbours had a 20 month year old (DS2) when lockdown started last year March. She said that DS2 has more problems relating to other people and children than her DS1 at the same age. For months he never interacted with another person than the immediate family. He was a lot more reluctant talking to others or wouldn't engage with other children when restrictions eased last year just to be plonked back into isolation last winter.

I remember feeling absolutely awful when DD was born as no groups or meetings were open as the Summer holidays started and I felt totally isolated for weeks. We are far away from family so didn't really have any contact and DH only had two weeks off.

Babies? Absolutely not. My 2020 born is very outgoing and interacts well with others. This is the norm in the baby groups I've been in too.

Toddlers? Absolutely. My three year old still runs away anytime someone starts walking towards us because I spent so long telling her to keep her distance last year. She won't go on a piece of playground equipment if someone else is on it and cries if another child comes near her unexpectedly. I think it'd have had less effect if she'd been at nursery, but she wasn't because I was pregnant and worried about her bringing COVID home.

My DD is surprisingly social. She literally runs up to strangers and other children and wants to play !

But obviously she knows I'm right there. It's so strange she's so friendly when we are out. But even if the MIL comes over and I leave the room, DD loses it. What's that all about ! Makes no sense. My mum was here for a month and it took 3 weeks for her to get used to my mum and stop crying when I left the room.

Not at all. DC4 is the most outgoing and fearless of all my children. Those born in the pandemic have no idea or any idea it is at all different to normal times. My DC2 was, and still is, very very clingy. It’s just a personality thing.

@babiesandmummies2020

My DD is surprisingly social. She literally runs up to strangers and other children and wants to play !

But obviously she knows I'm right there. It's so strange she's so friendly when we are out. But even if the MIL comes over and I leave the room, DD loses it. What's that all about ! Makes no sense. My mum was here for a month and it took 3 weeks for her to get used to my mum and stop crying when I left the room.

That just sounds like regular separation anxiety and developmental leaping.

@Puntastic

Babies? Absolutely not. My 2020 born is very outgoing and interacts well with others. This is the norm in the baby groups I've been in too.

Toddlers? Absolutely. My three year old still runs away anytime someone starts walking towards us because I spent so long telling her to keep her distance last year. She won't go on a piece of playground equipment if someone else is on it and cries if another child comes near her unexpectedly. I think it'd have had less effect if she'd been at nursery, but she wasn't because I was pregnant and worried about her bringing COVID home.

That's so sad. I hope she finds a way to get past this. I understand her! I also don't like being near people. It's drilled into our heads now.

I’ve a 9 month old and a 3.5 year old.
I don’t think it’s had any impact on My 9 month old but the lack of socialising and visiting shops, museums, the beach etc has been hugely detrimental.

On my 3.5 year old

Op, harder than who?

As my daughter said to me, "We are all in the shit. Our sh it might be different, but it's still shit".

This isn't a competition of whose had it hardest.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/postnatal-depression-pregnancy-mothers-lockdown-study-anxiety-stress-maternal-a9577186.html

There’s a few studies like the one linked to in the article above, showing that post-natal depression rates are much higher. I’ve seen reference to them doubling and even tripling in this study. I am not surprised. The social isolation, lack of access to support network, no mum friends to be made. I would have suffered enormously.

My DS was born just before the first lockdown and he’s no more clingy than my DD was and his development has been really good although I wonder if both are helped by him not being an only child.
For me it has been hard though; I’ve really missed being able to see close friends and family who don’t live locally and it’s been brutal at times not having any family support. It’s out more pressure on mine and DHs relationship and I’ve been quite lonely at times

@user1471453601

Op, harder than who?

As my daughter said to me, "We are all in the shit. Our sh it might be different, but it's still shit".

This isn't a competition of whose had it hardest.

Harder than if there hadn't been a pandemic. Why do you need to be like that ?

@Coachee

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/postnatal-depression-pregnancy-mothers-lockdown-study-anxiety-stress-maternal-a9577186.html

There’s a few studies like the one linked to in the article above, showing that post-natal depression rates are much higher. I’ve seen reference to them doubling and even tripling in this study. I am not surprised. The social isolation, lack of access to support network, no mum friends to be made. I would have suffered enormously.

That's interesting. Definitely true. It's been absolutely brutal.

I don’t think my baby or toddler have suffered but lockdowns have had a hugely detrimental effect on me. Partly because of my efforts to ensure they don’t have an impact on my children.

I do wonder if my 20 month old has suffered from not seeing a stranger's face. I worry it might affect how he understands social interactions and develops cognitive schema

I think it has been detrimental.

There is a bit of a MN myth that babies need literally nothing other than cuddles and milk until they are a year old and it isn’t true at all in my experience.

I do think things like baby groups matter, for parents as well as babies.

DD 9 months isn't overly clingy, she warms up to people after ten mins or so. We saw my mum throughout in our bubble and always went out for walks with a friend when allowed. I wouldn't have wanted to go to groups and stuff anyway. I think one thing that I've found hard is not having any outlets to have a break from baby, so no evenings round at mates houses, cinema, and so on, nothing to look forward to. We haven't gone anywhere without DD at all yet because there hasn't been anything worth doing.