Study finds slight developmental lag in babies born during pandemic

[Anonymous]

That is because there is a lack of quality childcare right now. Young children are home being ignored by their work from home parents or their depressed parents who spend their day on their phone

[Anonymous]

Container babies. Given the juggling act of employment, older siblings online, stress etc. Makes sense more babies were safely contained rather than roaming free with distracted parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Infants born in March to December 2020 scored lower on a test of motor and social skills at 6 months. It’s unclear whether the discrepancy will remain in the long term.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/babies-born-pandemic-slight-developmental-lag-study-finds-rcna10872

The infants were screened for social, communication and motor skills at 6 months of age using a standard questionnaire about their ability to roll from their back to their stomach, how often they babble and other milestones.

In most areas, the babies born during the pandemic displayed lower scores compared to those born earlier. That held true whether they were born to mothers who had been infected with Covid during pregnancy or not, the researchers found.

I call this bs.
1. small sample,
2. 0-6 mo, that's it?
3. NYC is a very specific urban densely populated environment, do we all remember what was happening in NYC the first 6-10 months? I can't imagine how stressful it was for families with babies.

my pandemic baby born in March, 2020 is slightly behind on his language skills but, he is a boy (boys are typically known to start talking later than girls) and we are a 3 language family, which is also a factor to delayed speaking. We actually had county people come out and score him. Turned out he is a few months ahead in his fine and gross motor skills, social skills as far communicating other ways and only 1 month behind in speaking. So my question is, how many other factors were in those participating families that this study didn't take into account, like multi-language (which is normal in multi-cultural place like NYC), or some other additional stress/complications like a medical field/healthcare parent working during global pandemic? They don't talk about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:100% expected this and I expect many more studies with similar results. Honestly, I expect the actual difference is much higher.

I wonder if this will spread to development into early childhood and throughout their growth though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The authors attribute it to stress.

Which makes a lot more sense than blaming masks. Most parents don't wear masks at home -- the idea that babies born during the pandemic didn't see faces is nuts. Very young babies are usually home with family. Some go to daycare, but not all. And even those at daycare have time with family. And babies don't need special enrichment classes to develop. On the other hand, developmental delays in babies born during times of great stress is a well-known phenomenon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Infants born in March to December 2020 scored lower on a test of motor and social skills at 6 months. It’s unclear whether the discrepancy will remain in the long term.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/babies-born-pandemic-slight-developmental-lag-study-finds-rcna10872

The infants were screened for social, communication and motor skills at 6 months of age using a standard questionnaire about their ability to roll from their back to their stomach, how often they babble and other milestones.

In most areas, the babies born during the pandemic displayed lower scores compared to those born earlier. That held true whether they were born to mothers who had been infected with Covid during pregnancy or not, the researchers found.

I call this bs.
1. small sample,
2. 0-6 mo, that's it?
3. NYC is a very specific urban densely populated environment, do we all remember what was happening in NYC the first 6-10 months? I can't imagine how stressful it was for families with babies.

my pandemic baby born in March, 2020 is slightly behind on his language skills but, he is a boy (boys are typically known to start talking later than girls) and we are a 3 language family, which is also a factor to delayed speaking. We actually had county people come out and score him. Turned out he is a few months ahead in his fine and gross motor skills, social skills as far communicating other ways and only 1 month behind in speaking. So my question is, how many other factors were in those participating families that this study didn't take into account, like multi-language (which is normal in multi-cultural place like NYC), or some other additional stress/complications like a medical field/healthcare parent working during global pandemic? They don't talk about that.

You're calling the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics b*llshit? As well as the authors who are psychiatrists, epidemiologists, obstetricians, and neurologists from Columbia University? I'm sure they're happy to take your esteemed opinion into account.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2787479?guestAccessKey=c9b1b677-15f4-4ab6-8784-262a2b319fac

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, a lot of babies and kids had all sources of fun kid activities/brain stimulating activities cancelled or closed. And were stuck at home with mom and dad working full time. Sad but not surprising.

Babies don't need "fun kid activities" or special "brain stimulating activities."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And some babies only know faces in masks. Terrible for development too.

What? You think parents were regularly wearing masks in front of their babies at home? For months?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:100% expected this and I expect many more studies with similar results. Honestly, I expect the actual difference is much higher.

I wonder if this will spread to development into early childhood and throughout their growth though?

DP, I think the delays can be made up, but kids who would normally be in child care need to actually be in child care … which means day cares need to drop their restrictive policies that exclude kids for days for the sniffles. The policies are leading some parents to drop day care entirely and try to keep working with little kids at home, or to use family (often elderly/retired) as child care, some of whom can’t keep up with a more active older baby or young toddler. Return child care policies to February 2020 and these problems will start to ease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:100% expected this and I expect many more studies with similar results. Honestly, I expect the actual difference is much higher.

I wonder if this will spread to development into early childhood and throughout their growth though?

DP, I think the delays can be made up, but kids who would normally be in child care need to actually be in child care … which means day cares need to drop their restrictive policies that exclude kids for days for the sniffles. The policies are leading some parents to drop day care entirely and try to keep working with little kids at home, or to use family (often elderly/retired) as child care, some of whom can’t keep up with a more active older baby or young toddler. Return child care policies to February 2020 and these problems will start to ease.

A group of parents in the area is working to get COVID-19 daycare policies updated to enable optional masking for children and decrease the crushing quarantine burden on families. Please see below for our advocacy guides and petition.

Montgomery County daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/yd2jr5pu

DC daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/57sapzjy

Petition: https://chng.it/vTzRTQKGHf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Infants born in March to December 2020 scored lower on a test of motor and social skills at 6 months. It’s unclear whether the discrepancy will remain in the long term.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/babies-born-pandemic-slight-developmental-lag-study-finds-rcna10872

The infants were screened for social, communication and motor skills at 6 months of age using a standard questionnaire about their ability to roll from their back to their stomach, how often they babble and other milestones.

In most areas, the babies born during the pandemic displayed lower scores compared to those born earlier. That held true whether they were born to mothers who had been infected with Covid during pregnancy or not, the researchers found.

I call this bs.
1. small sample,
2. 0-6 mo, that's it?
3. NYC is a very specific urban densely populated environment, do we all remember what was happening in NYC the first 6-10 months? I can't imagine how stressful it was for families with babies.

my pandemic baby born in March, 2020 is slightly behind on his language skills but, he is a boy (boys are typically known to start talking later than girls) and we are a 3 language family, which is also a factor to delayed speaking. We actually had county people come out and score him. Turned out he is a few months ahead in his fine and gross motor skills, social skills as far communicating other ways and only 1 month behind in speaking. So my question is, how many other factors were in those participating families that this study didn't take into account, like multi-language (which is normal in multi-cultural place like NYC), or some other additional stress/complications like a medical field/healthcare parent working during global pandemic? They don't talk about that.

Okay, your anecdata is pointless, but I don't see why you're calling the study BS because the delay might have been the result of stress. The study doesn't contradict that, and it's pretty well-established that times of great upheaval and stress can affect babies' development. Serious maternal stress, such as might have been experienced by women during a pandemic (especially in a city that was hit hard and early), is a known risk factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:100% expected this and I expect many more studies with similar results. Honestly, I expect the actual difference is much higher.

I wonder if this will spread to development into early childhood and throughout their growth though?

DP, I think the delays can be made up, but kids who would normally be in child care need to actually be in child care … which means day cares need to drop their restrictive policies that exclude kids for days for the sniffles. The policies are leading some parents to drop day care entirely and try to keep working with little kids at home, or to use family (often elderly/retired) as child care, some of whom can’t keep up with a more active older baby or young toddler. Return child care policies to February 2020 and these problems will start to ease.

Kind of hard to do when 100% of daycare kids are unvaccinated and most were born into the pandemic in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Infants born in March to December 2020 scored lower on a test of motor and social skills at 6 months. It’s unclear whether the discrepancy will remain in the long term.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/babies-born-pandemic-slight-developmental-lag-study-finds-rcna10872

The infants were screened for social, communication and motor skills at 6 months of age using a standard questionnaire about their ability to roll from their back to their stomach, how often they babble and other milestones.

In most areas, the babies born during the pandemic displayed lower scores compared to those born earlier. That held true whether they were born to mothers who had been infected with Covid during pregnancy or not, the researchers found.

I call this bs.
1. small sample,
2. 0-6 mo, that's it?
3. NYC is a very specific urban densely populated environment, do we all remember what was happening in NYC the first 6-10 months? I can't imagine how stressful it was for families with babies.

my pandemic baby born in March, 2020 is slightly behind on his language skills but, he is a boy (boys are typically known to start talking later than girls) and we are a 3 language family, which is also a factor to delayed speaking. We actually had county people come out and score him. Turned out he is a few months ahead in his fine and gross motor skills, social skills as far communicating other ways and only 1 month behind in speaking. So my question is, how many other factors were in those participating families that this study didn't take into account, like multi-language (which is normal in multi-cultural place like NYC), or some other additional stress/complications like a medical field/healthcare parent working during global pandemic? They don't talk about that.

You're calling the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics b*llshit? As well as the authors who are psychiatrists, epidemiologists, obstetricians, and neurologists from Columbia University? I'm sure they're happy to take your esteemed opinion into account.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2787479?guestAccessKey=c9b1b677-15f4-4ab6-8784-262a2b319fac

Yep. Sorry. I listed the reasons above. I also have a degree related to child development, and have an idea of what I am talking about. Too many factors are not taken into account, and the 0-6 months age tested? Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Infants born in March to December 2020 scored lower on a test of motor and social skills at 6 months. It’s unclear whether the discrepancy will remain in the long term.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/babies-born-pandemic-slight-developmental-lag-study-finds-rcna10872

The infants were screened for social, communication and motor skills at 6 months of age using a standard questionnaire about their ability to roll from their back to their stomach, how often they babble and other milestones.

In most areas, the babies born during the pandemic displayed lower scores compared to those born earlier. That held true whether they were born to mothers who had been infected with Covid during pregnancy or not, the researchers found.

I call this bs.
1. small sample,
2. 0-6 mo, that's it?
3. NYC is a very specific urban densely populated environment, do we all remember what was happening in NYC the first 6-10 months? I can't imagine how stressful it was for families with babies.

my pandemic baby born in March, 2020 is slightly behind on his language skills but, he is a boy (boys are typically known to start talking later than girls) and we are a 3 language family, which is also a factor to delayed speaking. We actually had county people come out and score him. Turned out he is a few months ahead in his fine and gross motor skills, social skills as far communicating other ways and only 1 month behind in speaking. So my question is, how many other factors were in those participating families that this study didn't take into account, like multi-language (which is normal in multi-cultural place like NYC), or some other additional stress/complications like a medical field/healthcare parent working during global pandemic? They don't talk about that.

You're calling the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics b*llshit? As well as the authors who are psychiatrists, epidemiologists, obstetricians, and neurologists from Columbia University? I'm sure they're happy to take your esteemed opinion into account.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2787479?guestAccessKey=c9b1b677-15f4-4ab6-8784-262a2b319fac

Yep. Sorry. I listed the reasons above. I also have a degree related to child development, and have an idea of what I am talking about. Too many factors are not taken into account, and the 0-6 months age tested? Nope.

Those kids are all 2 now, so we'll soon get results for 6-12 months and 12-24 months. Not that I believe you'll be at all interested in the science and facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And some babies only know faces in masks. Terrible for development too.

Horrible for daycare babies with the adults masked-up all day long. The first twelve months of life are the MOST critical in forming a strong foundation for life.