Will masks be required for 2-5 year olds in the fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m pretty sure I have commented on this thread before. I am a daycare worker and masks 2 is pure safety theater. Try as they might, they do not wear their mask in a safe and effective in fashion. Their masks often fall below their noses, it gets wet with spit and drool, they chew on it, they are constantly touching it and repositioning it. The gross part is when they have spit on their masks, touch it and then touch the toys. There is no point in them wearing masks all day long.

Have you brought this up with your director and have they broached the topic with licensing/local health dept? I feel like the people who make the decisions are pretty out of touch with the day-to-day reality of masking toddlers.

Licensing does not care about our opinion and her expertise. All directives are top down. Nothing goes from the bottom up even though we are there working with the kids every day. I work in Maryland and the office of child care could care less about our documented experiences.

Ok, but the STATE of MD does not actually require masks until 5, it's merely a recommendation from 2-5, so the directive is coming from the county, no? Heck I know of family daycares in MoCo who aren't requiring masks anyway.

[Anonymous]

Who do you recommend we contact about mask usage for 2-5 year olds? My son is going to a preschool that requires them in the fall and honestly I think it is an awful idea. He is already really hard to understand and even more so with a mask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who do you recommend we contact about mask usage for 2-5 year olds? My son is going to a preschool that requires them in the fall and honestly I think it is an awful idea. He is already really hard to understand and even more so with a mask.

Contact your county council person, OCC and MSDE. Tweet, facebook and email them all but it needs to be public so they don't sweep it under the rug. The more parents contact the powers-that-be, the more chances are they will listen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who do you recommend we contact about mask usage for 2-5 year olds? My son is going to a preschool that requires them in the fall and honestly I think it is an awful idea. He is already really hard to understand and even more so with a mask.

It depends on where the school is located. In Virginia there is no state or county mandate requiring kids to wear a mask under the age of 5, so it's up to the school's discretion. In that case, I would contact the daycare director and the parent company. If you're in Montgomery County or DC (I can't find info for PG), where it's mandated by the county/district you should contact your council person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who do you recommend we contact about mask usage for 2-5 year olds? My son is going to a preschool that requires them in the fall and honestly I think it is an awful idea. He is already really hard to understand and even more so with a mask.

It depends on where the school is located. In Virginia there is no state or county mandate requiring kids to wear a mask under the age of 5, so it's up to the school's discretion. In that case, I would contact the daycare director and the parent company. If you're in Montgomery County or DC (I can't find info for PG), where it's mandated by the county/district you should contact your council person.

I agree with this. I’ve noticed that the preschools in MoCo (stricter as you get closer to DC) are very strict with masks or at the very least, try their best to enforce masks for ages 2-5. Perhaps it is a County requirement? However, a friend in NoVa said that masks are NOT required for her 4-5 year old’s class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who do you recommend we contact about mask usage for 2-5 year olds? My son is going to a preschool that requires them in the fall and honestly I think it is an awful idea. He is already really hard to understand and even more so with a mask.

It depends on where the school is located. In Virginia there is no state or county mandate requiring kids to wear a mask under the age of 5, so it's up to the school's discretion. In that case, I would contact the daycare director and the parent company. If you're in Montgomery County or DC (I can't find info for PG), where it's mandated by the county/district you should contact your council person.

I agree with this. I’ve noticed that the preschools in MoCo (stricter as you get closer to DC) are very strict with masks or at the very least, try their best to enforce masks for ages 2-5. Perhaps it is a County requirement? However, a friend in NoVa said that masks are NOT required for her 4-5 year old’s class.

Our provider has communicated to us that it is a County requirement. There is a general mask mandate for everyone over the age of 2 (I think the state's mask mandate is 5 and up). https://apps.montgomerycountymd.gov/ccllims/DownloadFilePage?FileName=10006_1_14354_Resolution_19-794_Adopted_20210420.pdf If you read this and the state order linked in it, they are a little ambiguous as to whether child care facilities are included, but I know our provider is religious about following all of the regs, that's part of why we chose them pre-pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who do you recommend we contact about mask usage for 2-5 year olds? My son is going to a preschool that requires them in the fall and honestly I think it is an awful idea. He is already really hard to understand and even more so with a mask.

It depends on where the school is located. In Virginia there is no state or county mandate requiring kids to wear a mask under the age of 5, so it's up to the school's discretion. In that case, I would contact the daycare director and the parent company. If you're in Montgomery County or DC (I can't find info for PG), where it's mandated by the county/district you should contact your council person.

I agree with this. I’ve noticed that the preschools in MoCo (stricter as you get closer to DC) are very strict with masks or at the very least, try their best to enforce masks for ages 2-5. Perhaps it is a County requirement? However, a friend in NoVa said that masks are NOT required for her 4-5 year old’s class.

Our provider has communicated to us that it is a County requirement. There is a general mask mandate for everyone over the age of 2 (I think the state's mask mandate is 5 and up). https://apps.montgomerycountymd.gov/ccllims/DownloadFilePage?FileName=10006_1_14354_Resolution_19-794_Adopted_20210420.pdf If you read this and the state order linked in it, they are a little ambiguous as to whether child care facilities are included, but I know our provider is religious about following all of the regs, that's part of why we chose them pre-pandemic.

I actually wonder what will happen as MoCo moves through the reopening phases- it sounds like once the county reaches 50% fully vaccinated that they will defer to the state? Does this include masks too?

As an aside, I don’t know how much teeth the county requirement has for childcare facilities because of the way they are licensed by the state. I doubt anyone from the county could go shut a daycare down for not requiring masks for kids. Someone correct me if I’m wrong though. I’d be happy if daycare would start by just letting kids take off the masks for outside time. I really don’t think whatever minimal benefit masking outside provides outweighs the sheer discomfort of wearing a mask while being active outside in hot/humid weather. Especially with that age group where they may have trouble communicating that discomfort.

[Anonymous]

we've had several cases at our pre-school since it opened in September, but no child to child spread because they all wear masks (2-5 years old) All cases came from parents giving it to their children and then those children didn't give it to others in their class because of masks and other measures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we've had several cases at our pre-school since it opened in September, but no child to child spread because they all wear masks (2-5 years old) All cases came from parents giving it to their children and then those children didn't give it to others in their class because of masks and other measures.

Or because they are kids. That fact alone inhibits spread pretty effectively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we've had several cases at our pre-school since it opened in September, but no child to child spread because they all wear masks (2-5 years old) All cases came from parents giving it to their children and then those children didn't give it to others in their class because of masks and other measures.

Or because they are kids. That fact alone inhibits spread pretty effectively.

Source?

[Anonymous]

Now that Maryland Governor Hogan repealed the state’s outdoor masking mandate (except large-scale ticketed venues like concerts/sporting events)... does that mean preschools will also repeal the outdoor masking mandate for 2-5 year olds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we've had several cases at our pre-school since it opened in September, but no child to child spread because they all wear masks (2-5 years old) All cases came from parents giving it to their children and then those children didn't give it to others in their class because of masks and other measures.

Or because they are kids. That fact alone inhibits spread pretty effectively.

kids get it and spread it. that's a fact
masks also work. another fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now that Maryland Governor Hogan repealed the state’s outdoor masking mandate (except large-scale ticketed venues like concerts/sporting events)... does that mean preschools will also repeal the outdoor masking mandate for 2-5 year olds?

the masks still apply if can't effectively distance like 2-5 year olds when they are in class or playing even outside

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that Maryland Governor Hogan repealed the state’s outdoor masking mandate (except large-scale ticketed venues like concerts/sporting events)... does that mean preschools will also repeal the outdoor masking mandate for 2-5 year olds?

the masks still apply if can't effectively distance like 2-5 year olds when they are in class or playing even outside

Yeah unfortunately 2-5 you can’t distance, plus some counties will keep the mandate in effect in perpetuity. Gotta be stricter than the state, always!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we've had several cases at our pre-school since it opened in September, but no child to child spread because they all wear masks (2-5 years old) All cases came from parents giving it to their children and then those children didn't give it to others in their class because of masks and other measures.

My daycare does not require masks for 2-5. I'm aware of one case in a child. No spread.

Has anyone seen any studies on masked versus unmasked daycare spread? I can't find anything, and I'm curious about the impact.