Pandemic Babies and Speech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

I believe that across a population, mask wearing by a significant caregiver causes more speech delays that would happen without masks. I do not believe that mask wearing causes speech delays in every child. I choose to roll the dice on speech delays by sending my children to daycare with masked caregivers and I’m not advocating for them to be unmasked since I am more concerned about illness in the caregiver than increased risk of speech delay for my children but I would love to see some population level studies on this to actually see what the relative risks actually are.

How exactly would you design a study that would account for the endless variables?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

I believe that across a population, mask wearing by a significant caregiver causes more speech delays that would happen without masks. I do not believe that mask wearing causes speech delays in every child. I choose to roll the dice on speech delays by sending my children to daycare with masked caregivers and I’m not advocating for them to be unmasked since I am more concerned about illness in the caregiver than increased risk of speech delay for my children but I would love to see some population level studies on this to actually see what the relative risks actually are.

How exactly would you design a study that would account for the endless variables?

Absolutely no idea! Science especially social science where you can’t do really controlled studies is endlessly baffling to me. I’m making my decision right now based on no data just like everyone else; hoping someone might some day figure out how to have data but I’m not holding my breath tbh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

Me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I challenge any pediatrician to say that keeping your mouth covered while speaking to a baby or toddler might not have any speech development consequences.
However, one may certainly debate exactly how severe the consequences will be, dependent on endless individual circumstances.

Then, if you are so concerned, don't send your kids to child care and keep them home and talk to them all day.

Wrong answer. Withdrawing our kids doesn’t fix the problem. Some of us may be privileged in that we can afford to pull our kids out temporarily or permanently, but change is achieved when people instead stay where they are and advocate to make the system better for all.

Not to mention - I like my job and am not quitting

I’d add that we have kept DD at home. I took a break from work and then individual child care. She has great language skills but I am worried about her social interactions. She doesn’t see other kids often and now that it’s winter we go to the park less or go and few or no kids her age are there. So you change one set of problems for another.

This has little to do with masks in a childcare setting, right? You can’t force other people to socialize with your child if they prefer to be cautious during a global pandemic.

This thread is intended to focus on speech issues, with an emphasis on daycare. It is not a demonstration on who rides the highest horse on COVID cautiousness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

Me.

And how would you say, do babies and toddlers learn to speak?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

Me.

And how would you say, do babies and toddlers learn to speak?

From people around them. Do you have your children in daycare 24/7?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

Me.

And how would you say, do babies and toddlers learn to speak?

From people around them. Do you have your children in daycare 24/7?

OP here. Please move on and put your time to more constructive use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

Me.

And how would you say, do babies and toddlers learn to speak?

From people around them. Do you have your children in daycare 24/7?

OP here. Please move on and put your time to more constructive use.

This is aimed at the poster who keeps making the inane 24/7 comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS (second kid) was born in mid-summer of 2020 and has been in daycare since fall 2020. He has lots of conversations with me, and plenty of voice inflection, but only has actual words for me, DH, and the dog. His sister was a late talker and now will not stop talking, so for the past couple months I’ve been taking a wait and see approach. Listening to muffled speech from masking obviously doesn’t help.

Is anyone else’s pandemic baby in the same boat? What’s the wait on an evaluation these days?

Of course muffled speech coming from a hidden mouth is contributing to delayed speech development. Yes, get extra professional guidance right away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

Me.

And how would you say, do babies and toddlers learn to speak?

From people around them. Do you have your children in daycare 24/7?

OP here. Please move on and put your time to more constructive use.

This is aimed at the poster who keeps making the inane 24/7 comment.

You could do the same with your time instead of trying to simply prove your viewpoint over and over. When every single child who has been in daycare during the pandemic presents with a speech delay then you might have more of an argument. My child had a delay, I got them promptly into early intervention and speech therapy and they’re all caught up with speech now after almost a year of therapies. In their case masking had little to do with the speech delay.
If you’re concerned get help instead of simply trying to prove you’re right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

Me.

And how would you say, do babies and toddlers learn to speak?

From people around them. Do you have your children in daycare 24/7?

OP here. Please move on and put your time to more constructive use.

This is aimed at the poster who keeps making the inane 24/7 comment.

You could do the same with your time instead of trying to simply prove your viewpoint over and over. When every single child who has been in daycare during the pandemic presents with a speech delay then you might have more of an argument. My child had a delay, I got them promptly into early intervention and speech therapy and they’re all caught up with speech now after almost a year of therapies. In their case masking had little to do with the speech delay.
If you’re concerned get help instead of simply trying to prove you’re right.

OP here. I am going to get an evaluation. I have not ruled out any reason that may be contributing to this.

I am not interested in proving a point. We disagree on whether masking should be ruled out a root cause and whether 35 hours of daycare a week is considered a significant period of time, but that is not the point of this thread.

I am interested in exercises, videos, etc. that may have helped other families. Some people have provided that, and I am grateful for that feedback. More of that would be constructive.

[Anonymous]

This is what I believe contributed to my child’s advanced speech development:

1. Zero screen time at home, so she had lots of opportunity to hear herself making her own sounds/words.

2. Rather than tons of books (where child is usually focused on the pictures, I tried to do the nursery rhymes that I knew. That way, she could focus directly on my face to see how I was distinctly pronouncing each word, and she also saw my enjoyment.

3. Lots of repetition so she could easily start to try to repeat familiar words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

I believe that across a population, mask wearing by a significant caregiver causes more speech delays that would happen without masks. I do not believe that mask wearing causes speech delays in every child. I choose to roll the dice on speech delays by sending my children to daycare with masked caregivers and I’m not advocating for them to be unmasked since I am more concerned about illness in the caregiver than increased risk of speech delay for my children but I would love to see some population level studies on this to actually see what the relative risks actually are.

What about emotional learning? I once smiled at my 2 yo daughter with my mask on when were out of the house somewhere and she was completely unresponsive. I smiled again and again no response. She couldn't tell I was smiling with my mask on. I finally got a smile back when I pulled down my mask and smiled at her a third time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

I believe that across a population, mask wearing by a significant caregiver causes more speech delays that would happen without masks. I do not believe that mask wearing causes speech delays in every child. I choose to roll the dice on speech delays by sending my children to daycare with masked caregivers and I’m not advocating for them to be unmasked since I am more concerned about illness in the caregiver than increased risk of speech delay for my children but I would love to see some population level studies on this to actually see what the relative risks actually are.

What about emotional learning? I once smiled at my 2 yo daughter with my mask on when were out of the house somewhere and she was completely unresponsive. I smiled again and again no response. She couldn't tell I was smiling with my mask on. I finally got a smile back when I pulled down my mask and smiled at her a third time.

I also don’t know about emotional learning. My 2-year-old reacts when I smile at her with my mask on (my eyes crinkle a lot when I smile maybe?), but your experience definitely makes me think this might be another situation where there are definitely delays across a population even if they don’t effect every kid the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone here believe that mask wearing by a significant caregiver does not delay the speech development of babies and toddlers?

I believe that across a population, mask wearing by a significant caregiver causes more speech delays that would happen without masks. I do not believe that mask wearing causes speech delays in every child. I choose to roll the dice on speech delays by sending my children to daycare with masked caregivers and I’m not advocating for them to be unmasked since I am more concerned about illness in the caregiver than increased risk of speech delay for my children but I would love to see some population level studies on this to actually see what the relative risks actually are.

What about emotional learning? I once smiled at my 2 yo daughter with my mask on when were out of the house somewhere and she was completely unresponsive. I smiled again and again no response. She couldn't tell I was smiling with my mask on. I finally got a smile back when I pulled down my mask and smiled at her a third time.

I also don’t know about emotional learning. My 2-year-old reacts when I smile at her with my mask on (my eyes crinkle a lot when I smile maybe?), but your experience definitely makes me think this might be another situation where there are definitely delays across a population even if they don’t effect every kid the same way.

This makes me think of the Harvard quiz of trying to recognize emotions from just the eyes. I wonder if today's toddlers will be a lot more perceptive of that. Unfortunately, my three year old has been very focused on my forehead lines as a barometer of how I'm feeling.