How are your young children coping with lockdown?

[Misty9]

Dd, just 6, is struggling she misses her friends, hates not being able to touch anyone/thing except her dad, brother and me, and I think she often forgets the reasons for all this so probably resents needing to do these things without really understanding, iyswim? The work the school sends home takes her about 10mins so even that isn't much of a distraction. She's definitely become more clingy - but I welcome the cuddles tbh as I'm alone half the week when they're at their dad's.

Ds is 8 but has extra needs. His behaviour has tanked with the lack of structure but he seems to be coping better apart from that.

How are your young ones coping?

Disclaimer : I'm not saying lockdown should be lifted because dc are struggling. Just wondering how other young children are getting on. And acknowledging how strange this must all be for them.

I agree with being worried about the long term effects of all this. And we often get wails of "stupid virus!" sooo bored of the walks near us so I might drive to the park today...

We're into week 5/6 of lockdown here, and schools have just gone back after "Easter". Obviously homeschooling not real school. Everything closed down here on Friday 13 March...

My kids 8&6 are so much more emotionally steady this week, because they have something to focus on. The last 2 weeks they were stripy, emotional, weepy. 8 year old is really struggling without his friends and we're also very restricted because our lockdown means we're not allowed on beaches, to use our pool or tennis courts. So all the activities that they would normally spend hours doing daily have been taken away and I think they're struggling with lack of outdoor activity.
We live in the Caribbean so now that it's getting even hotter means a lot less outdoor time during the day.

But yes, they're much happy with a homeschool routine and now back to an evening/bedtime routine and earlier nights has helped a lot.

They love being here with us but for DS1 especially, he's really struggling without his social network to bounce off. It's not that he is the life and soul of a party, but more that he wants to discuss things with his peers and he just misses chatting to them.

They're resilient little buggers though, our schools are closed until September so this is us until then. Hopefully our restrictions begin to lift somewhat over next month as we flatten the curve but we'll see.

My 2.5 year old liked the first couple of weeks but then asked to go back to nursery. She really misses other children and is desperate for interaction with people whenever we see people on our walks or our neighbours. We've bumped into a couple of her 'friends' and she's ended up having a meltdown both times that she can't play with them. She definitely has very emotional days and pretends to call my mum and tells her how much she misses her

My DS is nearly 2 and he’s always been the kind of child who needs a lot of stimulation and entertainment. He’s clearly very bored and missing nursery and the various groups we go to. I’m finding it really difficult to find things to do to keep him occupied!

Its the teenagers you have to watch the most ...

I still don't get why we are inflicting this on healthy young people.

Lockdown restrictions on a whole population level to protect a minority are unjustifiable. Those must vulnerable to the virus should continue to shield with for as long as it takes with (arms length) financial and practical support from the rest of us.

DD11 misses friends etc, but she can text them & video call etc. Lack of her own space is her main issue. She has asd & needs time alone quite a lot.
DD7 is just sad. She’s missing school & her friends dreadfully, we’re in a small 2 bed flat with a small balcony. We live in central London & are always busy. She doesn’t do well without a lot of physical exercise & loves being around people. She has a speech issue which makes her hard to understand on video calls etc & being at home isn’t helping that. She sleeps in my bed every night, has to be in almost constant physical contact with me, she’s having lots of emotional days & is generally unhappy.

1, 4 & 6 yr old here. They’re fine, loving it actually I think! Apart from the schoolwork that’s a struggle as 6yr old is a year or so behind so can’t do much they are sending home without a complete meltdown so I’ve just downloaded yr1 stuff from Twinkl instead to tide her over. I’m not a teacher and she doesn’t listen to me like she would a teacher so what’s the point in stressing everyone out! The weather is helping and we have a garden too, I think we’d struggle without that.

In all honesty this is pretty much like the summer holidays for my kids. We do some activities in the mornings and go for a walk after lunch then reading/TV/Film/computer etc. They don't even have to come shopping with me which is a huge bonus in their eyes.

Having big age gaps had meant days out and holidays haven't worked very well in the past so we don't really have many and we've focussed on doing stuff at home. I am eternally grateful we were able to move house and now have each have a bedroom as well as a garden and a playroom. Things would be much tougher in our previous house.

My main concerns are DC1 racking up debt for a university course she's not getting and DC2's results for exams that aren't happening.

Dd is 4 and really, really struggling.

Last year she had loads of change to cope with - new baby, house move, finishing nursery after 3 years there & starting school. She was just starting to settle into routine when all this started.

She is incredibly anxious and showing this through behaviour. She’s really being incredibly difficult and hard to reassure. Add into that the DH and I are both wfh and her brother (11m) is also here, it’s a lot for her to manage.

She really doesn’t understand what is going on and isn’t able to fully express her feelings either, so we’re trying to help her with that.

I really can’t wait until it’s safe for school & nursery to open so that we can get into a routine again.

Mine are happy out. 7, 5, 4 and 2. I guess they have each other for a start but we’re also in the countryside which helps.

Week 6 here. Not in the UK. Absolutely fine. We have a big garden. My kids are 8 and 3. We do some school work and learning in the morning, then they play, DS1 does music practice, lunch, another hour of work/reading, play, music practice, dinner, bath and bed. We have a fairly solid routine. They are pretty privileged children (we have a big house, big garden, no immediate money worries) in many ways and both can play independently for reasonable stretches. I am not feeling all that sorry for them. It’s harder for DH and I as we are tag teaming constantly between work/housework/childcare and we are exhausted. But the kids are fine and having a reasonably idyllic time. DS2 is more social and misses his friends but actually he’s fine. However he’s also extremely vulnerable as he’s spent a lot of his little life in hospital and intensive care so living in isolation is not new for us.

We have good days and bad days with DD, who is 2 and a bit. I’m a former primary teacher and have plenty of ideas for art/cooking/gardening activities, so we’ve been attempting those with varying degrees of success. But she’s become very clingy and slightly listless, and given that each activity only holds her attention for a maximum of 20mins it’s all a bit relentless and a challenge to fill the day and avoid excessive screen time. Struggling to get her outside for exercise as she’s so bored with our limited repertoire of walks - we’re lucky to have plenty of green space nearby but she’s not an especially physical child anyway (late walker) and isn’t ready for scooters/bikes so a brief toddle about and the odd trip to feed the ducks is all we’re managing. She certainly won’t walk just for the sake of walking.

She’s really missing nursery, her grandparents and all the little daily opportunities to socialise at playgrounds, toddler classes, chatting to shopkeepers, visiting cafes etc. We’ve just told her everything is closed for an extended holiday, but she keeps asking why all the benches are taped up, why everyone is ‘walking funny’ (far apart) etc. She doesn’t like seeing people out and about wearing masks as it scares her. On our daily walks she often stops to point and stare at other children and I find this heartbreaking, especially having to restrain her every time she tries to sidle up to them. This is all so artificial for our youngest kids, many of whose developmental needs are based around life experience and social interaction.

Two Ds's - 6&7 and Dd - 4. All are fine and happy at home. We have a decent garden which helps and they have each other for company

My 5yo DD is doing ok but is missing her friends and desparately needs play, play that adults can't do no matter how hard they try. She needs people to suggest ideas and be very very silly with her and for friends to go along with her play ideas. while I can do this a bit, eventually I have to switch to mum or teacher so the power balance isn't like it is with friends and my imagination is also awful.

@mommalu can you try tracking any parents down on Facebook to arrange video calls for your DD?

I'm shocked someone actually invited you to their house 😱

@Nquartz
I know right? I'm a bit of a hippy, but she's one of the anti-vax brigade, which we're absolutely not. Makes me wonder if there's a whole underground culture of kids visiting each other's houses?
Good idea about Facebook, I'm really trying to step it up a notch. She has one really good friend at school who has only been there a couple of terms, but I've passed on a message to her mum via DDs teacher - so I'll have to see if anything comes of that.
After typing that "I'm getting really upset just typing this" I realised it was that time of the month - so at least it explains, in part, my overly emotional response!

I'd say the honeymoon period has worn off. Ds (5) wants his friends and no, zoom doesn't cut it. He wants to see his grandparents and his cousins. He wants to go on the holiday we had to cancel at short notice. Being out for an hour a day isn't good enough and our garden is not child friendly (set into the side of a cliff, lots of concrete steps and drops with no grass).

DD is 22 months and also suffering. Her normal week would include ds's preschool drop off/pick ups, soft play, 4 toddler groups, at least one lunch or breakfast in a cafe and lots of interactions with people. Her vocabulary was exploding and now she's stuck in lockdown with her father who can go for hours without uttering a word to anyone and me, who is struggling with my mental health.

They can play together but at the moment are mostly fighting for my attention. Dd loves craft activities, ds does not because the idea in his head is far better than he can manage at the moment so he gets angry.

We have an album of "instagram" moments sure, lots of baking, crafts, climbing on the rocks by the sea, doing handstands in the "park" (no play equipment so not closed) but it's a very fragile veneer. We're in scotland and so ds is due to start school in August. He had a very painful transition to preschool and I'm terrified we'll go through the same thing with school, especially without transition days.

Teen - feeling a bit flat, talks without his friends a lot but missing interaction
10 - mostly fine, plays with toddler and me
2 - happy not to be going to nursery two mornings a week, was probably not right. I’m glad to not be doing drop off anymore
(Although no breaks for me)

Mine are really missing friends and school! But they loved it and were in wrap around care too any novalty of being at home soo much has def ended!

My DC are 5 and 3. 5 year old is struggling emotionally, she misses social interaction with her friends enormously. She is too young to do video chat and gets frustrated and upset during/after calls to her school friends.
We are busy and there is plenty to keep her occupied physically and mentally, but it is the social stuff she needs. If we see a neighbour she doesn't stop talking to them! She is emotional, showing signs of lacking in confidence and resilience and complains of headaches/tummy ache a frequently. I am worried for her, but hoping she will bounce back in time.

The 3 year old is more happy pottering about and although she went to nursery, she likes being at home. She misses her grandparents though.