Were you able to get your toddler to wear a mask?

[Anonymous]

To paraphrase Emily Oster, I "maybe just try not to think about that too much." My daughter is 20 months. I dread it and frankly I'm hoping it won't be a thing by then as vaccination rates rise/scientists learn more about child transmission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is 2 next month and we haven’t tried the mask thing at all and probably won’t. 2 year olds don’t have to wear masks at his preschool, so the only time he’d need to wear one is the doctors office and I’m sure we’ll just suffer through it the best we can. When the Covid thing started he was only 6-7 months-ish and I never thought he’d have to wear a mask!

My DD turned 2 a few months after the mask mandate started, and the only place we took her that required a mask was the doctor's office. Luckily, they were pretty lax about her wearing it, as she ripped it off every 5 seconds. We tried again recently, since one of her activities requires one, and now that she's closer to 3, she'll wear one without issue. 2 is such a stubborn age to try to introduce masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is 2 next month and we haven’t tried the mask thing at all and probably won’t. 2 year olds don’t have to wear masks at his preschool, so the only time he’d need to wear one is the doctors office and I’m sure we’ll just suffer through it the best we can. When the Covid thing started he was only 6-7 months-ish and I never thought he’d have to wear a mask!

My DD turned 2 a few months after the mask mandate started, and the only place we took her that required a mask was the doctor's office. Luckily, they were pretty lax about her wearing it, as she ripped it off every 5 seconds. We tried again recently, since one of her activities requires one, and now that she's closer to 3, she'll wear one without issue. 2 is such a stubborn age to try to introduce masks.

Thank you! My older child was 4 when Covid started and took to a mask pretty easily. 2 just seems like such a bad age to insist that kids wear masks. 3 or 4, sure. But I think all the people wanting a 2 year old to wear a mask have never met most 2 year olds.

[Anonymous]

A couple tips (I have a 2 year old who wears a mask at daycare):

Bring lots of masks with you (like 10) because they get wet, gross, and lost.

Buy the masks with adjustable pieces on the ears so that it has a chance of staying up on the nose.

Wear a mask yourself (even if it isn't required for you).

I framed the mask as polite. "It's polite to wear a mask. We are polite." Repeat forever and ever. This worked so well that it back fired on me. When the CDC said we didn't need to wear masks at the playground anymore, my toddler forced us to keep wearing it to "be polite."

Get cool prints on the mask. Whatever your kid likes, just lean in.

Bring snacks on the flight so that you can use that as an excuse if things are really going sideways. (I'm not anti-mask. I'm just anti-tantrum on airplanes.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is 2 next month and we haven’t tried the mask thing at all and probably won’t. 2 year olds don’t have to wear masks at his preschool, so the only time he’d need to wear one is the doctors office and I’m sure we’ll just suffer through it the best we can. When the Covid thing started he was only 6-7 months-ish and I never thought he’d have to wear a mask!

+1. My almost-two-year-old is going to be "twenty-three months old" for a very long time.

Ugh, yes. Same situation. We have tried everything and he just will not keep a mask on. It's a tough "sweet spot" age of needing to wear one per the guidelines but not able to really reason with him about it.

I guess it depends where you are - I’m OP and I’m in Virginia and when we had the mask mandate it started at 5. I don’t know what the various day cares and preschools are doing, but ours doesn’t require masks until the 3 year old class although some 2 year olds do wear them. And honestly if some place does require a mask at 2, well they can deal with my kid screaming and pulling it off his face or wearing it under his nose or whatever.

I’m in Virginia too and my newly 2 year old will be required at her school to wear a mask this fall. Dreading it but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple tips (I have a 2 year old who wears a mask at daycare):

Bring lots of masks with you (like 10) because they get wet, gross, and lost.

Buy the masks with adjustable pieces on the ears so that it has a chance of staying up on the nose.

Wear a mask yourself (even if it isn't required for you).

I framed the mask as polite. "It's polite to wear a mask. We are polite." Repeat forever and ever. This worked so well that it back fired on me. When the CDC said we didn't need to wear masks at the playground anymore, my toddler forced us to keep wearing it to "be polite."

Get cool prints on the mask. Whatever your kid likes, just lean in.

Bring snacks on the flight so that you can use that as an excuse if things are really going sideways. (I'm not anti-mask. I'm just anti-tantrum on airplanes.)

I think this would work for my people-pleaser kid. I have gotten her to do things because they're "nice."

[Anonymous]

Try the disposables, my little prefers that too fabric. The rest is just peer pressure. Preschool helped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is 2 next month and we haven’t tried the mask thing at all and probably won’t. 2 year olds don’t have to wear masks at his preschool, so the only time he’d need to wear one is the doctors office and I’m sure we’ll just suffer through it the best we can. When the Covid thing started he was only 6-7 months-ish and I never thought he’d have to wear a mask!

+1. My almost-two-year-old is going to be "twenty-three months old" for a very long time.

Ugh, yes. Same situation. We have tried everything and he just will not keep a mask on. It's a tough "sweet spot" age of needing to wear one per the guidelines but not able to really reason with him about it.

I guess it depends where you are - I’m OP and I’m in Virginia and when we had the mask mandate it started at 5. I don’t know what the various day cares and preschools are doing, but ours doesn’t require masks until the 3 year old class although some 2 year olds do wear them. And honestly if some place does require a mask at 2, well they can deal with my kid screaming and pulling it off his face or wearing it under his nose or whatever.

I’m in Virginia too and my newly 2 year old will be required at her school to wear a mask this fall. Dreading it but it is what it is.

Our daycare requires them at 2 as well but they are not expecting perfection- it’s a process and they are understanding with young kids. Mine got used to it sooner than I would have expected although she was a few months over 2 when we moved her there. Prior to starting at daycare I couldn’t get her to keep it on even for the doctors office. There really is a difference in newly 2 and 2.5 in a lot of ways, masks included!