Getting 2yo to wear a mask

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you really want her to wear a mask, then make it a condition of the thing she wants to do. No mask, no playground. No mask, no [insert the activity] and enforce it every single time. If DC takes the mask off, you go home. We only had to do this with our 26 month old a few times before she got it. Now she wears a mask every time we go outside without any issues. It is just a thing we do now, like wearing shoes to go outside.

This is way harder to follow through with when you have two kids. If the 4yo is being good, why do they lose playground time because of the 2yo's behavior? It's rarely an option to leave one kid home or with someone else if they don't comply, so the non-compliant one has to be brought along anyway and so you can't make that one's ability to come along to be conditional.

Who says I have 1 kid? I have two, exactly the same ages, 4 and 2. If we need to go home because the 2yo is being non-compliant, then the 4 year old gets a special treat at home to make up for having to come home early. Like I said, we did it like 2-3 times, had a few tantrums, and then everyone got it.

I am the oldest in my family. No, your oldest didn’t forget that her sister ruined her day and you let it happen.

Look, we’ve had to come home from the playground because the baby had a diaper blowout, because my older one fell climbing something he wasn’t supposed to, because I forgot to bring water. Was one or both of my kids mad? Yes, of course. Was it fair they couldn’t do something because of someone else? No, but I teach my kids that we are a family and sometimes we can’t do something we want because another family member needs something different. My goal is to raise resilient kids. If you are old enough to be on DCUM and still bitter about having to leave the playground a few times as a child, I don’t know what to tell you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Wear the mask and when we get home, you can have a lollipop."

Never had an issue.

My two year old would not understand this. His entire frame of reference is at best, a few minutes into the future. Promising him something that is more than 1-2 minutes in the future has zero meaning for him.

Even trying to bribe him to do something he doesn’t want to do (like stop playing and come eat) where he gets an immediate reward (vitamin gummy) only works some of the time.

I think people extrapolate what works on a 3-6 year old onto a 2 year old, forgetting that their language comprehension and even understand of cause and effect is much more limited than even a just turned 3 year old.

[Anonymous]

My kid is also 26 mo and won’t wear a mask or a hat. We’ve tried rewards. We’ve even tried just leaving the park if he takes his mask off, but I don’t believe he understands the relationship between the two things. By the time we’ve left the park (and he’s stopped the epic tantrum that ensues), I don’t think he remembers it or that he realizes the reason we left is because of the mask.

I’m at the point where I’m like, come at me bro. I don’t care. Yell at me at the playground. Call the cops. I’ve done my best. We’re still going to the park. If you’re that scared that my barely turned 2 year old might make your kid sick, maybe you shouldn’t be at the park.

You know in Europe, masking isn’t even a thing for kids under 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is also 26 mo and won’t wear a mask or a hat. We’ve tried rewards. We’ve even tried just leaving the park if he takes his mask off, but I don’t believe he understands the relationship between the two things. By the time we’ve left the park (and he’s stopped the epic tantrum that ensues), I don’t think he remembers it or that he realizes the reason we left is because of the mask.

I’m at the point where I’m like, come at me bro. I don’t care. Yell at me at the playground. Call the cops. I’ve done my best. We’re still going to the park. If you’re that scared that my barely turned 2 year old might make your kid sick, maybe you shouldn’t be at the park.

You know in Europe, masking isn’t even a thing for kids under 5.

+100. I live in a VERY liberal area in a very liberal state. People wore masks everywhere even before the mandate. Under state law kids under 5 don't have to wear a mask, because it's not evidence based. Per my pediatrician, a 26 month old playing outside has a close to nil chance of contracting it.

I wear a mask everywhere, even outside. But putting one on a young toddler is cruel during a terrible time for them. If I lived in DC I would tell people to call the cops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 26 month old does not need to wear a mask at the park.

It’s the law in DC if she will have anything more than fleeting contact with another person, which she will in a playground unless it is basically empty. So yes, she does need one.

https://coronavirus.dc.gov/maskorder

f. A person is aged two (2) years old or younger;

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 26 month old does not need to wear a mask at the park.

They do in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 26 month old does not need to wear a mask at the park.

It’s the law in DC if she will have anything more than fleeting contact with another person, which she will in a playground unless it is basically empty. So yes, she does need one.

https://coronavirus.dc.gov/maskorder

f. A person is aged two (2) years old or younger;

Not sure why they didn’t write “under 3” because I’m pretty sure many are with misreading or interpret it as required on 2 and up. I’ve even seen it reported in the media this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is also 26 mo and won’t wear a mask or a hat. We’ve tried rewards. We’ve even tried just leaving the park if he takes his mask off, but I don’t believe he understands the relationship between the two things. By the time we’ve left the park (and he’s stopped the epic tantrum that ensues), I don’t think he remembers it or that he realizes the reason we left is because of the mask.

I’m at the point where I’m like, come at me bro. I don’t care. Yell at me at the playground. Call the cops. I’ve done my best. We’re still going to the park. If you’re that scared that my barely turned 2 year old might make your kid sick, maybe you shouldn’t be at the park.

You know in Europe, masking isn’t even a thing for kids under 5.

I was pregnant at the beginning of this before we knew how sick pregnant woman and babies would get and was very concerned about getting covid. So I got a n95 mask instead of trying to become a petty fascist.

I doubt masks even work on kids at all because they have their hands in their faces all the time anyway. The virus is supposed to die almost instantly in UV light so people need to take a chill pill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is also 26 mo and won’t wear a mask or a hat. We’ve tried rewards. We’ve even tried just leaving the park if he takes his mask off, but I don’t believe he understands the relationship between the two things. By the time we’ve left the park (and he’s stopped the epic tantrum that ensues), I don’t think he remembers it or that he realizes the reason we left is because of the mask.

I’m at the point where I’m like, come at me bro. I don’t care. Yell at me at the playground. Call the cops. I’ve done my best. We’re still going to the park. If you’re that scared that my barely turned 2 year old might make your kid sick, maybe you shouldn’t be at the park.

You know in Europe, masking isn’t even a thing for kids under 5.

+100. I live in a VERY liberal area in a very liberal state. People wore masks everywhere even before the mandate. Under state law kids under 5 don't have to wear a mask, because it's not evidence based. Per my pediatrician, a 26 month old playing outside has a close to nil chance of contracting it.

I wear a mask everywhere, even outside. But putting one on a young toddler is cruel during a terrible time for them. If I lived in DC I would tell people to call the cops.

+1. Seems like some jurisdictions are requiring masks starting at 2 more for the “it can’t hurt so why not” factor. I’ll accept that logic for an older child or adult- I’ll wear my mask on a hike to ease the anxiety of passing strangers, whatever. But I get pretty annoyed at security theater when it’s not only not necessary but a total PITA- have to wonder wonder if any of the people involved have toddlers themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is also 26 mo and won’t wear a mask or a hat. We’ve tried rewards. We’ve even tried just leaving the park if he takes his mask off, but I don’t believe he understands the relationship between the two things. By the time we’ve left the park (and he’s stopped the epic tantrum that ensues), I don’t think he remembers it or that he realizes the reason we left is because of the mask.

I’m at the point where I’m like, come at me bro. I don’t care. Yell at me at the playground. Call the cops. I’ve done my best. We’re still going to the park. If you’re that scared that my barely turned 2 year old might make your kid sick, maybe you shouldn’t be at the park.

You know in Europe, masking isn’t even a thing for kids under 5.

+100. I live in a VERY liberal area in a very liberal state. People wore masks everywhere even before the mandate. Under state law kids under 5 don't have to wear a mask, because it's not evidence based. Per my pediatrician, a 26 month old playing outside has a close to nil chance of contracting it.

I wear a mask everywhere, even outside. But putting one on a young toddler is cruel during a terrible time for them. If I lived in DC I would tell people to call the cops.

+1. Seems like some jurisdictions are requiring masks starting at 2 more for the “it can’t hurt so why not” factor. I’ll accept that logic for an older child or adult- I’ll wear my mask on a hike to ease the anxiety of passing strangers, whatever. But I get pretty annoyed at security theater when it’s not only not necessary but a total PITA- have to wonder wonder if any of the people involved have toddlers themselves.

And what about the psychological damage of turning kids into neurotic germaphobes?

[Anonymous]

Well I actually agree with those saying that kids under 5 really should have to wear masks outside. However, since the law requires kids over 2 to wear them many other places (or PK requires them, for instance), I think it's worthwhile to start teaching your 2-year-old how to wear one.

Here's what I did with my 2-year-old (who is now 3 and will wear a mask whenever asked for as long as needed):

I made it a game. I took her out in low stakes situations and I would say "okay, we're going to wear our masks for five minutes, and when the five minutes are up, we get to have some goldfish!" Five minutes is nothing, though for a kid who doesn't want to wear a mask, it's a long time. So we started there until that was easy. Then I slowly lengthened it. I never did it in a situation where she would be punished if she couldn't do it the whole time. It was just a game and if she couldn't keep it on, I'd say "oh well, we can try again later."

Once she could keep it on for 15 minutes without a problem, I told her that now she could go into a store with me sometimes. I'd take her to CVS or to pick up a to-go cup from a coffee shop. She hadn't been in a location like that since before the pandemic, so this was really a treat for her. And I'd let her remove the mask as soon as we left the store.

We stretched this some more and now she can wear for a full morning at her PK (where it is required, and was our primary incentive for making this happen). Also no problem wearing it on the playground or anytime we are indoors. I still don't make her wear one outdoors unless we can't guarantee social distance. So she wears one on a playground, but not if we're just playing on a field together. And she'll wear it if we have to walk through busy area with lots of pedestrians, but generally does not wear one on the residential streets around our house, where if we pass someone it will be very fleeting.

I honestly think people just need to chill out a little bit around kids and masks. Of course it's possible to get them to wear them -- kids learn to do all kinds of uncomfortable things and complain way less than adults about them. But also, the combination of very young kids plus being outside plus space to distance should be enough to set people at ease. I've seen people leave playgrounds because the little ones aren't wearing masks, which is crazy to me. A 6 year old? Yes, he needs a mask. A 2 year old? It's fine as long as their parent keeps them some distance from other kids. Just use common sense! It doesn't need to be a whole drama.

[Anonymous]

I think PP provides some great tips and things to try.

Based on your description though, it sounds like your DD was close to 2.5 when you started masking, not just turned 2. And even still, it sounds like it was truly a months long process to get where you are now.

I still think masking of just turned 2 year olds is going to be incredibly difficult, and very different from working with an almost 3 year old.

I think when you’re out of the weeds with 2 year olds, it’s easy to forget how stubborn and defiant they can be, and how you really have to pick your battles.

[Anonymous]

Two years and three month old refuses to wear a mask. Rewards fail. Staying home fails. Choosing his own mask fails. He says he can’t breathe right and his face gets sweaty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think PP provides some great tips and things to try.

Based on your description though, it sounds like your DD was close to 2.5 when you started masking, not just turned 2. And even still, it sounds like it was truly a months long process to get where you are now.

I still think masking of just turned 2 year olds is going to be incredibly difficult, and very different from working with an almost 3 year old.

I think when you’re out of the weeds with 2 year olds, it’s easy to forget how stubborn and defiant they can be, and how you really have to pick your battles.

PP here. Yes, she was about 2.5 when we started training her to wear a mask. I agree that trying to mask a just-turned-2 year old would be tough and would probably wait a few months to start. Like I said, I don't think it's a big deal to see 2 year olds out and about without masks (though I would avoid bringing them inside places).

I do want to note, though, that if you think a parent of a 3 year old is "out of the weeds" regarding a stubborn and defiant young child.... hahahahahahaha. Oh, girl, I'm sorry. But no. They do not get less challenging at 3.

[Anonymous]

I have been having the same problem with my 2 year old. To make matters worse she is teething and thus drooling a lot. The mask gets wet, and then ice cold because we are outside and she rips it off. Ill try a giving her a second mask but at that point she is done and I cant get her to keep it on.