Daycare caregivers masking with infants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Humans are exceedingly adaptable. The baby isn't going to just not see mouths and think, "guess I just don't know what's going on" and play with his feet for the rest of his life. I think we may end up with a generation that is really good at reading face and body language because they don't have the luxury of the mouth and lower part of the face. Who knows. There's really nothing to do but keep moving forward.

Or we could recommend that people caring for non-verbal toddlers wear clear masks or face shields. There are other options you know. And it is far from clear that there are not going to be negative outcomes for some kids because of masking.

Also far from clear that masks have any benefit in childcare settings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Humans are exceedingly adaptable. The baby isn't going to just not see mouths and think, "guess I just don't know what's going on" and play with his feet for the rest of his life. I think we may end up with a generation that is really good at reading face and body language because they don't have the luxury of the mouth and lower part of the face. Who knows. There's really nothing to do but keep moving forward.

We can move forward but we need to know if what we did was at all beneficial in slowing down the virus. We need to know the truth because this will not be our last pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Humans are exceedingly adaptable. The baby isn't going to just not see mouths and think, "guess I just don't know what's going on" and play with his feet for the rest of his life. I think we may end up with a generation that is really good at reading face and body language because they don't have the luxury of the mouth and lower part of the face. Who knows. There's really nothing to do but keep moving forward.

We can move forward but we need to know if what we did was at all beneficial in slowing down the virus. We need to know the truth because this will not be our last pandemic.

I don't disagree with you and those studies will certainly be done. I'm actually very interested in all the data that will come out once this is behind us. There is not a population or sector that has been unaffected by this so it will be interesting to see what we got right, what we got wrong, what we gained and what we lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Humans are exceedingly adaptable. The baby isn't going to just not see mouths and think, "guess I just don't know what's going on" and play with his feet for the rest of his life. I think we may end up with a generation that is really good at reading face and body language because they don't have the luxury of the mouth and lower part of the face. Who knows. There's really nothing to do but keep moving forward.

We can move forward but we need to know if what we did was at all beneficial in slowing down the virus. We need to know the truth because this will not be our last pandemic.

I don't disagree with you and those studies will certainly be done. I'm actually very interested in all the data that will come out once this is behind us. There is not a population or sector that has been unaffected by this so it will be interesting to see what we got right, what we got wrong, what we gained and what we lost.

Seems to me we bet on masks and school closures while we waited for a vaccine. Paid sick leave, maintaining normalcy for kids, and rapid tests would have been a much better bet, IMO. I think the trust in failed policies is part of the reason so many have distrust in the vaccine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not brought up at this point in the pandemic because many of us have had kids in daycare for over a year now with all masked caregivers and our kids are fine. Seriously, I don’t know of any child who is behind because of this. My own 1 year old has barely seen an adult other than me and DH unmasked and he’s ahead on every milestone.

This is not a big deal. Kids are resilient.

Same here. Lots of babies have been born during this pandemic. If there was an issue, we'd have seen it by now. Your kid will be just fine, OP.

Eh, I think we will find out just how much of an issue it is in years to come. The pandemic is still ongoing, masks will be required for the foreseeable future. Masks for a few months is one thing, but for 2years or longer? We just don’t know yet, this is unprecedented. Anecdotally, I have a couple school-based speech pathologists in my family who already have or are expecting higher caseloads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not brought up at this point in the pandemic because many of us have had kids in daycare for over a year now with all masked caregivers and our kids are fine. Seriously, I don’t know of any child who is behind because of this. My own 1 year old has barely seen an adult other than me and DH unmasked and he’s ahead on every milestone.

This is not a big deal. Kids are resilient.

Same here. Lots of babies have been born during this pandemic. If there was an issue, we'd have seen it by now. Your kid will be just fine, OP.

Eh, I think we will find out just how much of an issue it is in years to come. The pandemic is still ongoing, masks will be required for the foreseeable future. Masks for a few months is one thing, but for 2years or longer? We just don’t know yet, this is unprecedented. Anecdotally, I have a couple school-based speech pathologists in my family who already have or are expecting higher caseloads.

I don’t think they will last foe years, except in the most neurotic areas of the country.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I thought OP and others would be interested as the EU Commission is attempting to study OP’s exact question.

https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c14645b2-24f8-11ec-bd8e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-233017740

In December 2020, French researchers surveyed close to 600 ECEC professionals working in crèches (ECEC settings for children aged 0 to 3) to gather information on the impact of masks on children based on the staff’s observations206:

 The first conclusions of the survey relate to the impact of masks on language development (understanding, producing and listening to a language). Interactions are of a poorer quality with the mask on; wearing a mask may have a negative impact on children as they rely on watching the adults’ mouths and faces to produce language through imitation. Without visual support, children have more difficulties understanding the ECEC staff’s instructions or identifying the person who is talking to them. Without the masks, the children’s attention improves significantly.
 Thesecondsetofconclusionsisaboutchildren’sadaptability.Childrenareadaptable; overall, wearing the mask has not drastically impacted their emotional and social reactions. However, children seem to show more signs of worry or to cry more easily when adults are masked. Children can encounter difficulties in recognising adults with the mask on and they often try to take the masks off the adult’s face. Some children seem to be smiling less when ECEC staff wears masks. Around a third of children do not react to ECEC staff’s smiles under their masks, whereas some ECEC practitioners mentioned that children recognise smiles under the mask and can smile back. When the ECEC staff takes off their masks, 80% of children start smiling.
 Thethirdlistofconclusionsisaboutmasks’impactonECECpractice.ECECstaffreport finding it physically uncomfortable to wear masks all day. Masks prevent them from properly carrying out some of their regular activities, such as singing, running, or reading to children. Therefore, ECEC practitioners may have to speak louder or modulate their voices to convey emotions better. Communication can become more

difficult between ECEC staff or with families because of the increased noise level. Finally, ‘inclusive’ masks (with a transparent shield covering the mouth) present some limitations: they can be uncomfortable to wear as they gather mist and droplets and become foggy. Overall, ECEC staff indicated that their working conditions worsened during the pandemic.
All in all, the survey highlights that ECEC staff are split regarding the consequences on children. On the one hand, children seem to have adapted to the situation. On the other hand, the masks have impacted their development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to revive an old thread, but I thought OP and others would be interested as the EU Commission is attempting to study OP’s exact question.

https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c14645b2-24f8-11ec-bd8e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-233017740

In December 2020, French researchers surveyed close to 600 ECEC professionals working in crèches (ECEC settings for children aged 0 to 3) to gather information on the impact of masks on children based on the staff’s observations206:

 The first conclusions of the survey relate to the impact of masks on language development (understanding, producing and listening to a language). Interactions are of a poorer quality with the mask on; wearing a mask may have a negative impact on children as they rely on watching the adults’ mouths and faces to produce language through imitation. Without visual support, children have more difficulties understanding the ECEC staff’s instructions or identifying the person who is talking to them. Without the masks, the children’s attention improves significantly.
 Thesecondsetofconclusionsisaboutchildren’sadaptability.Childrenareadaptable; overall, wearing the mask has not drastically impacted their emotional and social reactions. However, children seem to show more signs of worry or to cry more easily when adults are masked. Children can encounter difficulties in recognising adults with the mask on and they often try to take the masks off the adult’s face. Some children seem to be smiling less when ECEC staff wears masks. Around a third of children do not react to ECEC staff’s smiles under their masks, whereas some ECEC practitioners mentioned that children recognise smiles under the mask and can smile back. When the ECEC staff takes off their masks, 80% of children start smiling.
 Thethirdlistofconclusionsisaboutmasks’impactonECECpractice.ECECstaffreport finding it physically uncomfortable to wear masks all day. Masks prevent them from properly carrying out some of their regular activities, such as singing, running, or reading to children. Therefore, ECEC practitioners may have to speak louder or modulate their voices to convey emotions better. Communication can become more

difficult between ECEC staff or with families because of the increased noise level. Finally, ‘inclusive’ masks (with a transparent shield covering the mouth) present some limitations: they can be uncomfortable to wear as they gather mist and droplets and become foggy. Overall, ECEC staff indicated that their working conditions worsened during the pandemic.
All in all, the survey highlights that ECEC staff are split regarding the consequences on children. On the one hand, children seem to have adapted to the situation. On the other hand, the masks have impacted their development.

OP, for an infant I would hire a nanny or stay home with the child to avoid harms of masking caregiver.

[Anonymous]

Can you buy them the masks with clear areas for lip reading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you buy them the masks with clear areas for lip reading?

Communication can become more

difficult between ECEC staff or with families because of the increased noise level. Finally, ‘inclusive’ masks (with a transparent shield covering the mouth) present some limitations: they can be uncomfortable to wear as they gather mist and droplets and become foggy. Overall, ECEC staff indicated that their working conditions worsened during the pandemic.
All in all, the survey highlights that ECEC staff are split regarding the consequences on children. On the one hand, children seem to have adapted to the situation. On the other hand, the masks have impacted the

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not brought up at this point in the pandemic because many of us have had kids in daycare for over a year now with all masked caregivers and our kids are fine. Seriously, I don’t know of any child who is behind because of this. My own 1 year old has barely seen an adult other than me and DH unmasked and he’s ahead on every milestone.

This is not a big deal. Kids are resilient.

Same here. Lots of babies have been born during this pandemic. If there was an issue, we'd have seen it by now. Your kid will be just fine, OP.

Eh, I think we will find out just how much of an issue it is in years to come. The pandemic is still ongoing, masks will be required for the foreseeable future. Masks for a few months is one thing, but for 2years or longer? We just don’t know yet, this is unprecedented. Anecdotally, I have a couple school-based speech pathologists in my family who already have or are expecting higher caseloads.

I don’t think they will last foe years, except in the most neurotic areas of the country.

In this area, which I would classify as neurotic, lol, I can see it being two years at a minimum. School/daycare settings are going to be among the last to drop mask requirements, even when vaccines are approved for pediatric use.

There has to be some fascinating data out there for anyone who has the time and resources to mine it- I would love to know whether masks significantly reduce covid transmission in daycare settings, but also down the line if there are any developmental differences between toddlers who had to wear masks vs. those who didn't. Even within the DMV, there are a number of providers that never required the kids to wear masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not brought up at this point in the pandemic because many of us have had kids in daycare for over a year now with all masked caregivers and our kids are fine. Seriously, I don’t know of any child who is behind because of this. My own 1 year old has barely seen an adult other than me and DH unmasked and he’s ahead on every milestone.

This is not a big deal. Kids are resilient.

Same here. Lots of babies have been born during this pandemic. If there was an issue, we'd have seen it by now. Your kid will be just fine, OP.

Eh, I think we will find out just how much of an issue it is in years to come. The pandemic is still ongoing, masks will be required for the foreseeable future. Masks for a few months is one thing, but for 2years or longer? We just don’t know yet, this is unprecedented. Anecdotally, I have a couple school-based speech pathologists in my family who already have or are expecting higher caseloads.

I don’t think they will last foe years, except in the most neurotic areas of the country.

In this area, which I would classify as neurotic, lol, I can see it being two years at a minimum. School/daycare settings are going to be among the last to drop mask requirements, even when vaccines are approved for pediatric use.

There has to be some fascinating data out there for anyone who has the time and resources to mine it- I would love to know whether masks significantly reduce covid transmission in daycare settings, but also down the line if there are any developmental differences between toddlers who had to wear masks vs. those who didn't. Even within the DMV, there are a number of providers that never required the kids to wear masks.

I doubt masks make a difference in daycares. The young kids transmit the least, and wear the most poorly fit, ineffective masks. On top of that they take them off for hours each day when napping and eating. It’s likely all harms and no benefit.

CDC looked at 90,000 students and saw no difference in mask mandate vs mask optional groups. If masking is not making a difference in schools, it’s almost certainly not having an impact in childcare settings.