Do you think everyone wearing masks in public has an impact on interaction with babies/ young children?

[dellarossa]

Just interested in people’s thoughts and experiences with this...

It will also be exacerbated/complicated by a lack of HV/HCP/early years contact over the last year where things might have been picked up

am very glad that the staff don't wear them at all at his nursery. I would be really concerned if someone spending a lot of time with him wore a mask
Absolutely. My two were at nursery throughout the first lockdown and DC1 started school in September. Nursery staff are wearing clear visors just at handover and nothing otherwise and teachers only when in the playground at start and end of day I think.

If nursery staff had all been in masks this time last year I would have been thinking seriously about keeping them at home instead.

Not in my experience. He does not care when we wear them and is rarely in a setting where he is interacting with people in masks. He did not have any words before the pandemic and his verbal development the past year has been amazing, even with social isolation. I realise that this may not be everyone experience.

@BooblePlate

It will also be exacerbated/complicated by a lack of HV/HCP/early years contact over the last year where things might have been picked up

Yes it worries me a lot - the damage just in terms of the lockdowns with school age children is starting to become apparent now; the babies and toddlers aren't even being picked up in the system yet as NHS SALT is absolutely overloaded to completely breaking in our area and the ones with concerns aren't even making it as far through the system as an initial assessment yet. Teletherapy can work in some cases, and is great for initial chats with parents - but it's not the universal panacea it's being sold to be (I have had numerous arguments about this) and interaction IS different through a screen.

I got very angry with school when they had staff wearing masks (they've since swapped to visors or nothing at all) and had just shrugged and told the kids "none of you are deaf so we can wear them"... I have a child with language and speech processing difficulties and she HAS found following instructions and teacher input exceptionally difficult this last year as a result of it all.

This has come up before, but no, I don't think so. Parents and relatives don't wear masks when they are with their babies, and I have been out for walks with a friend and her baby right through lockdown, not wearing masks.

You get the odd elderly lady cooing over a baby in a supermarket, but not enough to make a significant impact on the baby's language development.

Definitely had an impact. I go to baby groups and my son is shocked at seeing people. He literally just wants to look at them and go to see them. It breaks my heart.

He was 5 weeks old at the start of Nov, then we were in a teir 3 area for December, then national lockdown. There is all this talk of impact on school age children whole preschoolers and babies are being shafted.

It makes me think of the 'still face experiment'

My little girl is 7 months and definitely reacts differently to me in a mask. I was wearing a mask and sunglasses the other day without realising and she was very upset by it.

My 9 month old looks really unsure of me when I wear a mask although it's rare I take her somewhere I need to wear one. I try to make my eyes smile but it doesn't make her any more sure of me. I'm dreading her 12 month jabs because she won't be able to see my face when I comfort her and I hate the idea of her being upset and also not being able to see me properly, although I'm probably being a bit PFB about it!

A baby and child's most important relationship is with its primary caregiver.

There has been WAY too much emphasis on the importance of "peers" and "socialisation" in recent years.

I think a lot of the anxiety round this says way more about adults than it does about children tbh.

@Needanewhat

A baby and child's most important relationship is with its primary caregiver.

There has been WAY too much emphasis on the importance of "peers" and "socialisation" in recent years.

I think a lot of the anxiety round this says way more about adults than it does about children tbh.

No one is denying the importance of primary care givers, but other than people living in very remote situations, it's never been normal for young children to have so little access to anyone beyond their parents for what is now a very prolonged period in the development of pre-schoolers.

We're not dealing with one or two outliers, it's a whole cohort and further disadvantaging those who are disadvantaged often at a stage when those issues are only just emerging.

Professionals are now reporting these concerns with increases in referrals. It's not just parents having a bit of a whinge.

I am noticing it is mainly those with older children - children which would have seen family and friends and been to baby groups - who are all saying it will make no difference. Rather than those of us who are and can speak from experience.

My baby around 5 months smiled at the gas boiler engineer who was a very tall and imposing figure wearing a mask, and at this point he had been very few places and seen very few strangers. It didn't seem to bother him, he was reading his friendly eyes and tone of voice I guess when the man said hello to him!

People are wearing masks in shops etc but where I am very few people are wearing them in the street.

No effect on mine, whatsoever. 9 months old. He’s seen a lot of people in masks and been fine with them (doctors mainly!) , and when I’m wearing one and smile at him, he smiles back. Must see it in my eyes 😊

18 mo DD has never cared about masks. She was 3 months when the first lockdown started. We aren't in mask-requiring places for long enough each day for it to impact her. I do feel for people with conditions like ASD, as it must make life much harder.

My DD is 3, so was just 2 when we went into lockdown, she is currently being assessed by the early years team for social interaction issues and being referred to SALT for a speech disorder. Obviously I don't know how much is the fault of lockdown or masks but it certainly hasn't helped.

It makes me really sad for her, and I just hope she can catch up/ get these problems sorted. I'm in the process of accessing private SALT, whilst not high earners it is something we can afford and I know we are very fortunate, so many other kids won't have this luxury. The repercussions of lockdown are going to be felt for a long time to come.

@CoffeeWithCheese

I got very angry with school when they had staff wearing masks

I’m a teacher and will be wearing a mask for my own safety until I’ve had 2 vaccines.

I think they are fine. Plenty of non masked interaction to be had indoors with bubble and outside with others.
Even less of an issue now restrictions are lifting.

Obviously not including SEN.

I have noticed the opposite effect. Facial expressions seem to be conveyed by more than mouths. If I smile and say hi to a young child I get a big smile and hi back. We adjust.

I don't think the pandemic will create a generation of humourless children. The ones at the daycare behind my home are having a great time judging by the noise.

I’m just amazed that people feel they can be so certain that it will have had no impact. It may be that it doesn’t in the long term, which would be a relief, but we just don’t know yet.

And my own children seem to be fine - so I’m not extrapolating from my own experience. I just don’t feel like I can be certain that any particular age group of children will have no long term negative developmental repercussions just because my experience with a 2-3yo and 0-1yo doesn’t yet seem to have demonstrated any problems.

I don't think the masks have been a big thing. My eldest is 3 and is very matter of fact about them, sometimes she'll ask why I'm wearing one if it's somewhere new but she isn't bothered. She's in nursery full-time where they don't wear them so she doesn't see it often apart from us wearing them for the few minutes at drop off or pickup.

My youngest was born last summer and is a very sociable wee thing. She saw me in a mask pretty much every day on maternity leave but only briefly while we nipped into a shop on a walk. She didn't care either way about the plain ones and sometimes got quite excited if I wore one with a pattern. It's not a long enough chunk of the day to make a difference I don't think. I still got plenty of smiles out of her when I was masked and now she's settling at nursery she doesn't seem to mind me wearing one at pickup.

I do think toddlers and preschoolers who haven't been at home will suffer as a cohort, through no fault of their own or their parents. I do think they're important years for learning social skills and I see how much my older DD gets out of nursery. I think only seeing their nuclear family isn't enough at that age and I do think that cohort will suffer long-term.

*who haven't been at daycare

"Wherever possible I always make a point of seeking out the mask exempt staff in shops etc for DD to chat to."

What? Why not just socialise outdoors? No masks needed at the park.