Reply to Getting 2yo to wear a mask

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[quote=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.[/quote]

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