Do your little ones wear masks?

[Heartofstrings]

Just curious. We went to the test centre on Monday. My 3 year old was wearing a mask - as were me and my husband. They asked us to mask the 4 year old too. Naturally, he refused (possible asd, sensory issues).

Covid negative. Awesome. Local diy shop today. Again unmasked 4 year old and masked 3 year old. Should I be trying to force the 4 year old? I feel he should be wearing a mask

No one should be forced, let alone a child!

No, I wouldn’t try to force him to.

My 9 & 7 year old do not wear masks. The only time they have is when we went to West Midlands last summer and they had to wear one to go into the birdy bit

Sorry...I didn't mean literally force. I meant encourage, persevere...etc

I absolutely would not have my 7 year old wearing a mask.

I have never put a mask on my 4 year old and no one has ever requested that they wear one. I have no intention of putting one on her either.

No, I wouldn’t be persevering. And it wouldn’t bother me at all to see a young child without a mask on.

No, but don't take (unmasked) kids into the shop with you.

Mine do. But they are NT. and masking for over 2s has been in force where I live since April 2020. (They were 8 and 3 and are now 9 and 4).

My first flippant visit to a shop in 12 months - apart from the two times I went to the corner shop to buy the boys a bag of crisps.

We went to buy bulbs. Preschool have said my 4 year old is behind in some areas so I need to do stuff with him urgently.

3 year old wanted to wear a mask.

I think the test centre asked because he was symptomatic

There's no requirement for children that age to wear one, it's 5+ in Scotland and 12+ in England I think. Going to a test centre where there's probably a higher risk of people having been in with Covid I might have been more inclined to try and get him to wear one but I wouldn't force it.

I am willing to tolerate the mask myself but under no circumstances will my little children be wearing them.

Funny it's taken 12 months for this issue for me. We've really kept our heads down so it's only arising now.

My 3 year old loves to be a ninja and wear a mask. He chooses to wear one.

Maybe you're all right and I shouldn't ask the 4 year old. I would never force him but feel we have a responsibility to protect preschool staff

Would he wear a buff that he could just pull up over his nose? They do some cool kids ones with superheroes on. They're probably not as good as a mask but if you fold them over you'd get several layers of fabric protection and it's better than nothing! www.buff.com/gb/neckwear.html?age_general=2519&p=2

DD (3) has never worn one, and I have no intention of making or even encouraging her, except perhaps if she was symptomatic in a medical setting.

Stories of small children in other countries having to wear them for daycare etc make me shudder.

I don't want to make any value judgements or scientific pronouncements upon whether children should or shouldn't wear masks, however we live in a country where mask use has been mandatory in public for age 6+ for most of the last year. For those worried about mask use for children I just wanted to point out that the children here seem to have adapted to it amazingly well. They have to wear them all day at school even, except for mealtimes and I haven't heard a word of complaint. They get excited about getting new masks and comparing patterns and styles with their friends. No, it's not pleasant and obviously other issues come into play for children with sensory problems but I just wanted to suggest not being too anxious about it if your children do have to wear masks.

@ShteakandShpuds

No, but don't take (unmasked) kids into the shop with you.

Why not? Mine go in the shop with me. They do not need to wear a mask by law

A buff might be worth a try. Although sometimes he struggles to even tolerate a jumper.

Added complication is we do also have a fair few medical appointments approaching

No. Very little protective benefit imo keep them home if they have cold or respiratory symptoms and there won’t be any issues

Absolutely not. Never.

My 6 and 11 year old do while out and about, in cafes etc. Both primary school kids but if the older one was 2 months older he would be wearing a mask at school. They are mixing far more than I am with school so i think they need to play their party and keep germs to themselves.

I think is he is symptomatic even if negative, dont take in shops unnecessarily unmasked.
Because thats potentially other people having to test.
But even if not ill i wouldnt be taking kids in shops at all at the moment unless there is no choice.
My friend is taking hers in unmasked (for something unimportant and non urgent), and unsurprisingly there are lots of colds going round that class.
Doing stuff with a dc isnt neccessarily shopping. Mine like yours have nt been going in.

Zoos when they open or parks now etc.

My ds is 8, he can and will wear a mask but I don't push it beyond the point that he is comfortable. We went to church a couple of weeks ago. As there were vulnerable people there I asked him to wear his mask. He wore it for 40 minutes then started to get hot and feel like he couldn't breathe so he took it off. I thought he did really well.
He hates shops so just stays outside. I certainly wouldn't be putting massive amounts of pressure on a four year old, no.

Of course not

Generally in England under 11’s don’t need to wear masks. But the test centre we just visited asked that anyone over 3 with symptoms wore one.