MoCo Childcare Forum Thread

[Anonymous]

There is no end game for DHHS. They are creating their own standard that puts greater restrictions on the under 5s than the state, when MoCo is doing better than the rest of the state. They are going to keep restrictions in place much longer than elsewhere in the state and certainly than elsewhere jn the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no end game for DHHS. They are creating their own standard that puts greater restrictions on the under 5s than the state, when MoCo is doing better than the rest of the state. They are going to keep restrictions in place much longer than elsewhere in the state and certainly than elsewhere jn the country.

Yes and I also think that they will be ever changing. I think even if they relax them soon they will bring them back with the next variant or increase in cases out of an absurdity of caution.

It is really depressing for parents. The question is, what recourse do we have? How can we make change happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no end game for DHHS. They are creating their own standard that puts greater restrictions on the under 5s than the state, when MoCo is doing better than the rest of the state. They are going to keep restrictions in place much longer than elsewhere in the state and certainly than elsewhere jn the country.

Yes and I also think that they will be ever changing. I think even if they relax them soon they will bring them back with the next variant or increase in cases out of an absurdity of caution.

It is really depressing for parents. The question is, what recourse do we have? How can we make change happen?

Unfortunately, I think the only recourse is to hire a nanny or find a center outside of Montgomery County. I don’t think they are changing anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am listening to it now. They are setting up to get you to accept stricter guidelines. I'm shocked at how many times someone has said "children under 5 are at the greatest risk." Someone should ask them exactly how. Also, why are the two healthcare officers psychologists? A Psy.D. and Ph.D. in Family Science. These are the health officers of MoCo making decisions about a virus? WTF?

Bridgers and Stoddard later clarified kids aren’t actually at significant risk. They're worried about transmissions from the kids to adults, except that those adults can be vaccinated/boosted.

Yeah, what is the end game? How long are they going to be overly worried about vaccinated/boosted adults? When a higher authority declares it as endemic rather than pandemic? I really want to know how long we are going to continue to ask kids to sacrifice for adults.

Kids are getting very sick to. We all need to sacrifice for each other. Sadly that is impossible for you and you’d rather complain.

Some do. Just like some get very sick from RSV or the flu. The reaction to Covid is out of proportion to the risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no end game for DHHS. They are creating their own standard that puts greater restrictions on the under 5s than the state, when MoCo is doing better than the rest of the state. They are going to keep restrictions in place much longer than elsewhere in the state and certainly than elsewhere jn the country.

Yes and I also think that they will be ever changing. I think even if they relax them soon they will bring them back with the next variant or increase in cases out of an absurdity of caution.

It is really depressing for parents. The question is, what recourse do we have? How can we make change happen?

Unfortunately, I think the only recourse is to hire a nanny or find a center outside of Montgomery County. I don’t think they are changing anything.

I'm going to try to find the positive in it. A 5-day quarantine with the option to test to return is very similar to the state's guidance with the addition of the test and a huge improvement over the previous situation. The 10-day isolation obviously is a big difference, but presumably it has been quarantines rather than isolation that have been more disruptive for most parents. I don't believe the masks are changing any time soon. We live about 10 minutes from another county that is following the state's guidelines. It is tempting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no end game for DHHS. They are creating their own standard that puts greater restrictions on the under 5s than the state, when MoCo is doing better than the rest of the state. They are going to keep restrictions in place much longer than elsewhere in the state and certainly than elsewhere jn the country.

Yes and I also think that they will be ever changing. I think even if they relax them soon they will bring them back with the next variant or increase in cases out of an absurdity of caution.

It is really depressing for parents. The question is, what recourse do we have? How can we make change happen?

Unfortunately, I think the only recourse is to hire a nanny or find a center outside of Montgomery County. I don’t think they are changing anything.

I'm going to try to find the positive in it. A 5-day quarantine with the option to test to return is very similar to the state's guidance with the addition of the test and a huge improvement over the previous situation. The 10-day isolation obviously is a big difference, but presumably it has been quarantines rather than isolation that have been more disruptive for most parents. I don't believe the masks are changing any time soon. We live about 10 minutes from another county that is following the state's guidelines. It is tempting.

I agree it’s the quarantines that are more of an issue because they can happen over and over. So I am pleased about that although we have yet to see updated guidance from our center, I know it’s been confusing and hope this clears things up for them.

I sometimes wonder if the county is purposely trying to push the more middle families out- the ones that can’t afford a nanny but well off enough to move to a neighboring county. Part of the reason we live in MoCo over say, HoCo is for commuting reasons. That’s not as much of a case anymore as my telework options have expanded greatly. I’ve been very discouraged by how this county has treated kids and families during the pandemic, and it feels never ending. I’m tired of always being on edge about a potential quarantine or school shutdown, and our ped is concerned about my 3yos garbled speech (which she says is becoming common in young kids that wear masks all day in childcare) so now I need to find a speech therapist too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am listening to it now. They are setting up to get you to accept stricter guidelines. I'm shocked at how many times someone has said "children under 5 are at the greatest risk." Someone should ask them exactly how. Also, why are the two healthcare officers psychologists? A Psy.D. and Ph.D. in Family Science. These are the health officers of MoCo making decisions about a virus? WTF?

Bridgers and Stoddard later clarified kids aren’t actually at significant risk. They're worried about transmissions from the kids to adults, except that those adults can be vaccinated/boosted.

Yeah, what is the end game? How long are they going to be overly worried about vaccinated/boosted adults? When a higher authority declares it as endemic rather than pandemic? I really want to know how long we are going to continue to ask kids to sacrifice for adults.

Kids are getting very sick to. We all need to sacrifice for each other. Sadly that is impossible for you and you’d rather complain.

Some do. Just like some get very sick from RSV or the flu. The reaction to Covid is out of proportion to the risk.

Exactly. But they care nothing about the science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am listening to it now. They are setting up to get you to accept stricter guidelines. I'm shocked at how many times someone has said "children under 5 are at the greatest risk." Someone should ask them exactly how. Also, why are the two healthcare officers psychologists? A Psy.D. and Ph.D. in Family Science. These are the health officers of MoCo making decisions about a virus? WTF?

Bridgers and Stoddard later clarified kids aren’t actually at significant risk. They're worried about transmissions from the kids to adults, except that those adults can be vaccinated/boosted.

Yeah, what is the end game? How long are they going to be overly worried about vaccinated/boosted adults? When a higher authority declares it as endemic rather than pandemic? I really want to know how long we are going to continue to ask kids to sacrifice for adults.

Kids are getting very sick to. We all need to sacrifice for each other. Sadly that is impossible for you and you’d rather complain.

LMAO, if the population at large was getting "very sick" at the rate the under 5s are, the reaction and restrictions would be 100% different. Would it even have been called a pandemic? Or just a new strain of the cold?

No one is sacrificing for the kids, it's the kids doing the bulk of the sacrificing. My vaccinated-but-high-risk ILs are on a CRUISE right now.

[Anonymous]

We have a community of parents who are trying to work to improve this situation. Please join us if you support hastening a return to normalcy for kids 5 and under:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/614497649624490/

[Anonymous]

I am someone who is very concerned about masking of young children, furious that the CDC and AAP don't even care to investigate possible developmental risks, and impacted by extended quarantines and isolation periods to the detriment of my career.

And I just feel I need to comment that some of the discourse I see on Twitter directed at folks like Dr. Stoddard is shameful and embarrassing. I can't associate myself with people who are so rude and classless. I think it is great for members of the community to engage with public officials on these issues, and I wish the officials would do better to address our concerns, but people who resort to rudeness and snark are really hindering any progress on this front.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am listening to it now. They are setting up to get you to accept stricter guidelines. I'm shocked at how many times someone has said "children under 5 are at the greatest risk." Someone should ask them exactly how. Also, why are the two healthcare officers psychologists? A Psy.D. and Ph.D. in Family Science. These are the health officers of MoCo making decisions about a virus? WTF?

Bridgers and Stoddard later clarified kids aren’t actually at significant risk. They're worried about transmissions from the kids to adults, except that those adults can be vaccinated/boosted.

Yeah, what is the end game? How long are they going to be overly worried about vaccinated/boosted adults? When a higher authority declares it as endemic rather than pandemic? I really want to know how long we are going to continue to ask kids to sacrifice for adults.

That logic is bizarre though because wouldn’t that apply to older grades and students who are around adults? The whole thing is ridiculous.

Probably because they can be vaccinated, but I don't think I've ever seen any numbers on the likelihood of spreading the virus broken out by age and vaccination status. Like is an unvaccinated 2yo really any more likely to spread it than a 18yo vaccinated person?

There was data from earlier in the pandemeic which indeed illustrated this. For example: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/study-finds-kids-under-10-unlikely-to-spread-coronavirus-at-school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am listening to it now. They are setting up to get you to accept stricter guidelines. I'm shocked at how many times someone has said "children under 5 are at the greatest risk." Someone should ask them exactly how. Also, why are the two healthcare officers psychologists? A Psy.D. and Ph.D. in Family Science. These are the health officers of MoCo making decisions about a virus? WTF?

Bridgers and Stoddard later clarified kids aren’t actually at significant risk. They're worried about transmissions from the kids to adults, except that those adults can be vaccinated/boosted.

Yeah, what is the end game? How long are they going to be overly worried about vaccinated/boosted adults? When a higher authority declares it as endemic rather than pandemic? I really want to know how long we are going to continue to ask kids to sacrifice for adults.

That logic is bizarre though because wouldn’t that apply to older grades and students who are around adults? The whole thing is ridiculous.

Probably because they can be vaccinated, but I don't think I've ever seen any numbers on the likelihood of spreading the virus broken out by age and vaccination status. Like is an unvaccinated 2yo really any more likely to spread it than a 18yo vaccinated person?

There was data from earlier in the pandemeic which indeed illustrated this. For example: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/study-finds-kids-under-10-unlikely-to-spread-coronavirus-at-school

DP this is helpful but unfortunately that information was pre-Delta and pre-Omicron. I know from personal friends that work in public health on Covid that there is absolutely transmission occurring in schools. Doesn't mean schools should close, and of course if schools were closed who knows if that would reduce transmission since most people could not and would not just stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am someone who is very concerned about masking of young children, furious that the CDC and AAP don't even care to investigate possible developmental risks, and impacted by extended quarantines and isolation periods to the detriment of my career.

And I just feel I need to comment that some of the discourse I see on Twitter directed at folks like Dr. Stoddard is shameful and embarrassing. I can't associate myself with people who are so rude and classless. I think it is great for members of the community to engage with public officials on these issues, and I wish the officials would do better to address our concerns, but people who resort to rudeness and snark are really hindering any progress on this front.

What rudeness and snark? I’m genuinely curious. I have seen people ask for change and call for them to adopt the state guidelines, but I haven’t seen what I consider rudeness—but it may be that I’m just not on Twitter enough to read those tweets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am someone who is very concerned about masking of young children, furious that the CDC and AAP don't even care to investigate possible developmental risks, and impacted by extended quarantines and isolation periods to the detriment of my career.

And I just feel I need to comment that some of the discourse I see on Twitter directed at folks like Dr. Stoddard is shameful and embarrassing. I can't associate myself with people who are so rude and classless. I think it is great for members of the community to engage with public officials on these issues, and I wish the officials would do better to address our concerns, but people who resort to rudeness and snark are really hindering any progress on this front.

What rudeness and snark? I’m genuinely curious. I have seen people ask for change and call for them to adopt the state guidelines, but I haven’t seen what I consider rudeness—but it may be that I’m just not on Twitter enough to read those tweets.

I mean if you're not on Twitter, then you wouldn't have seen it. I'm not going to dig up the tweets for you. If you don't believe me, I really don't care. I'm not getting involved in this "movement".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am someone who is very concerned about masking of young children, furious that the CDC and AAP don't even care to investigate possible developmental risks, and impacted by extended quarantines and isolation periods to the detriment of my career.

And I just feel I need to comment that some of the discourse I see on Twitter directed at folks like Dr. Stoddard is shameful and embarrassing. I can't associate myself with people who are so rude and classless. I think it is great for members of the community to engage with public officials on these issues, and I wish the officials would do better to address our concerns, but people who resort to rudeness and snark are really hindering any progress on this front.

What rudeness and snark? I’m genuinely curious. I have seen people ask for change and call for them to adopt the state guidelines, but I haven’t seen what I consider rudeness—but it may be that I’m just not on Twitter enough to read those tweets.

I mean if you're not on Twitter, then you wouldn't have seen it. I'm not going to dig up the tweets for you. If you don't believe me, I really don't care. I'm not getting involved in this "movement".

I am on Twitter, and I haven't seen that at all.