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...

In January/February/March nearly all older people in my area were wearing masks outdoors, and I live in a village. Since they have had their second vaccines they have stopped wearing them so much and have begun to approach my baby and smile etc. There was a fear that children were extra contagious back in January/February and many older people were really scared about being near them.

I think babies and young children can tell you're smiling at them through a mask though. I smile at babies all the time when out and about and they often smile back. I think children are much more flexible than we give them credit for.

@BooblePlate I believe you, but it is so different from my experience. Even in January and February I only ever saw a tiny number of people wearing masks outside and most of them were walking between shops. I once saw a man wearing a mask when in a park. About 95%-100% of people in the City I live in do not wear masks outside. And even in shops, the percentage seems to range over the year from one third wearing masks to about three quarters.
Our streets and parks are always fairly busy, so its not about places being quiet.
But if you lived in my City babies would see most people wearing masks in shops and health centres. I do not know any nurseries where staff wear masks. In pubs and cafes the staff wear masks and when people go to the toilet they wear a mask. But the rest of the time they are maskless.
So it really is only in shops a baby would not see most people's faces.

Do you have a baby astery? Like I say, I don’t think my own children have been much affected by mask wearing in and of itself, other than that I am inhibited from doing lots of indoor activities with them that require masks because I find caring for a baby and a toddler whilst wearing a mask quite difficult (I have been told on here I am being pathetic, but there you go, it is a fact), so arguably they have missed out on some experiences that I might otherwise have exposed them to more frequently. But to rule out a proportion of babies being affected negatively when we have no long term information about these particular circumstances seems over-confident to me.

I moved to France last summer and have been trying to learn French ever since including what were, at first, in person lessons with everyone in a mask. I can tell you that it is almost f*ing impossible to learn new word sounds without being able to see people’s mouths moving and it is also really difficult to hear and understand a language under the muffled cover of a mask. In addition it is really hard to gauge attitude and fully appreciate body language when it’s all new to you without being able to see full expressions. It has often made me think how terrible this masking will have been for the proper social and language development of babies and toddlers who don’t get to spend as much time as normal in unmasked environments.
I also hate the fact all of my DC have to wear the damn things all day every day at school. There’s no way any of my primary age DC handle and wear them in the correct manner to render them of any use so instead I have to buy calpol every bloody 2 weeks to deal with the horrible headaches it gives my oldest 2

@BooblePlate no I do not have a baby. And I am not ruling out any possible harm. I am simply saying that where I live there are not many places where a baby would see most people wearing masks.
I think where I live what would have had more impact is the restrictions.

@bingowingsmcgee

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that masks are detrimental to young children. The sooner we can ditch them the better. Miserable being unable to see smiles! And a young child must feel less 'noticed' when everyone around them is masked. That can't be good for mental health, short or longterm.

Precisely - it discourages interaction.

My view is that the restrictions in conjunction with the masks (the masks themselves form a big part of restrictions) will all have some sort of impact of varying degrees, but we won’t know the full extent for a number of years to come, as with any age group.

Is there any evidence this is the same amongst cultures who wear face coverings? Genuinely interested. I spent a number of years mixing with mainly women who masked up outside or if men were present. And there were always children around. No one ever worried about the impact on children. Should they have?

I don’t know - as I have said from the start my position is one of uncertainty and the fact that we won’t know until the longer term. It’s also almost impossible to separate the effects of the restrictions and the masks and the lack of access to services in many cases. You must know that the way it works in communities where women cover their faces in public is different to current rules, so I’m not sure to what extent it can be compared. I don’t know whether specific advice is given to women who practice this who also have ND children who need additional help with language or social development (and presumably statistically a proportion must do) or not.

I think it must. My DS is 17 months and has barely played with other kids due to lockdown and local tier systems. He’s not got any words yet when I think he would be expected to by now but that’s probably because he is so used to me and DH understanding him he hasn’t felt the need.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he has a speech delay tbh and the health visitor said at his one year check they are seeing a lot of babies his age scoring lower on communication than they otherwise would.

I think mask wearing is just one facet of it though - that combined with lockdown, not socialising etc

Yes it is almost impossible to separate everything out. Also people on this thread have talked about how parents interact less with their children when wearing masks and this would have an impact if they were wearing masks for long. But the women I knew still interacted with their children loads when wearing face coverings. Maybe because they were more used to face coverings?
I mean I don't know, but sometimes impacts come as a result of how people react, rather than the thing they are reacting to?

@BooblePlate You’re not being pathetic. It’s bloody difficult trying to meaningfully communicate with a baby/small child through a mask, especially if you add shopping, buggies etc into the mix. Everyone I know with small children hates masks for this reason.

At all the preschool classes I take DD to behaviour has noticeably deteriorated since mask wearing came in because parents are struggling to control their own children (can’t make themselves heard over music/multiple voices while wearing masks, plus in most of them adults aren’t supposed to move around either to retrieve their own children!)

I think parents accompanying young children should have an automatic exemption, tbh.

It definitely will be affecting and will have affected young children and babies. So much of their early social and emotional development is about studying and interpreting facial expressions and tone of voice..’ Notwithstanding the fact that masks are an extremely unsettling dehumanising sight for all of us let alone for young children.

I don’t really know but in supermarkets etc babies often smile at me and I would always smile back and/or make a silly face to make them smile or laugh...obviously that’s not happening now. Or they can’t see me smiling back at them.

@GeorgeandHarold66

I think babies and young children can tell you're smiling at them through a mask though. I smile at babies all the time when out and about and they often smile back. I think children are much more flexible than we give them credit for.

They look at your whole face not parts of it. So NT children can see when people aren't smiling at them properly.

My 2 year old is fine with masks and demands her own when she goes into shops. She has no problems standing there and talking to shop assistants who are masked up. Most in M&S, Boots and the local newsagent are very patient....

@NCtitleofyoursextape

How much time do you think young kids are seeing people in masks?

I’ve a 2&4 year old I recon they see people in masks for 30 min a week max!

[quote Onceuponatime1818]@NCtitleofyoursextape

How much time do you think young kids are seeing people in masks?

I’ve a 2&4 year old I recon they see people in masks for 30 min a week max![/quote]
30 minutes a week? Mine see adults in masks on the school run every day, in every shop we go into, on public transport whenever we travel anywhere, in a coffee shop if we are stopping for something to eat and drink… we are out and about every day and adults in masks are everywhere!!!

It’s going to vary isn’t it. The babies born in the past year to first time parents that I know have seen few people not in masks in indoor settings.

It isn’t just the time, though. For some babies, they don’t see people outside of their own homes, so things like visits to shops are when they see faces.

@Babymeanswashing

It isn’t just the time, though. For some babies, they don’t see people outside of their own homes, so things like visits to shops are when they see faces.

That was the case for me and my toddler. We didn’t have a bubble, it was just me and him and DH for the duration. His speech was fine but fell behind and now he has a delay, which is thankfully improving but he had hit every milestone before Covid. He just stagnated. I’ve heard a report that that’s not been unusual.

www.kold.com/2021/03/10/covid-isolation-may-cause-some-developmental-delays-infants-toddlers/

@NCtitleofyoursextape

Yep, mine are a terrible age for coffee shops etc. And we’ve been to soft play and swimming 3 times this week and no masked people except the person working in a cafe. No masks at nursery or pre school. We’ve not gone on a bus yet as haven’t needed to. And outdoor playgrounds no masks. So 30 min was when we went to get some new shoes and quick top up food shop

Soft play here requires masks. It will vary as to how much shops, public transport, indoor activities like libraries and museums, religious worship, healthcare settings etc are used. I’ve done a couple of indoor toddler groups in the past few weeks and they have required masks for 1.5hrs. The library was limited to 15mins but still in masks. Nursery drop off and pick up is outdoors in masks. It’s much much more than just 30 minutes a week for my 1 and 3yo and we don’t use public transport either. As I have said several times, I don’t think it’s been detrimental overall to my children, but it’s not an insignificant proportion of time outside the house that is spent in masks.