Hi everyone, we received a lot of requests for a petition to update COVID-19 policies in daycares to allow optional masking and modified quarantines. Here it is; please sign and share widely:

https://chng.it/QmGYKmvRy2

Anonymous wrote:If you're concerned cloth masks aren't effective there are plenty of effective masks for kids now ( kn94, kn95. Etc)

Those aren't available for 2-year olds. Moreover, those masks need to be fit-tested to provide a benefit over cloth masks, and are extremely uncomfortable for long periods of time. Have you ever tried wearing one 8 hours a day, 5 days a week?

Most importantly, when the rest of the world doesn't recommend masking children under 6 at all, and we are talking about putting them in KN95s, we really need to think about the evidence base for this policy.

For those who agree that the US should align with the international consensus on masking the youngest children, please take part in our advocacy and spread the word.

DC daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/57sapzjy

Montgomery County daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/yd2jr5pu

I would politely ask them to restate to you that they won’t kick someone out for not wearing one. Then firmly tell them you are working on it with your child, but you don’t want them bringing it up again. I see very little benefit to masking toddlers, so if you feel it’s stressing your child out, listen to your instincts.

I did the above last year and our preschool backed off. Never heard another word about it. This year we switched to a school (in NoVa) where masks are optional for under 5s.

If you're concerned cloth masks aren't effective there are plenty of effective masks for kids now ( kn94, kn95. Etc)

Sickening. Even the health”experts” on cnn are now saying cloth masks aren’t effective. Unless you are putting an n95 on your toddler …. what are doing to these kids?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why would you want to increase your unvaccinated toddler's risk of covid by advocating for looser restrictions?

I'm a new poster with a 4 year old in MD. I have an older child who went to preschool in the precovide

Pp.please share data about how masks on young children prevent covid spread. I haven't found much and numbers are not different in NoVa (with masks not required on little kids) and MoCO we. Masking is largely security theater for kids this age, and it comes at the cost of speech and social learning.

Fwiw, my 3 year old has been about as sick with other stuff as the older one in the pre-mask era.

Hi there, I haven't found the exact data you're looking for (because I don't think such evidence exists), but I have compiled everything else I could find into these advocacy guides. A group of us in MoCo and DC is using them to press public officials to consider easing restrictions in daycares. Please do contact the officials in these documents and spread the word!

DC daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/57sapzjy

Montgomery County daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/yd2jr5pu

Anonymous wrote:why would you want to increase your unvaccinated toddler's risk of covid by advocating for looser restrictions?

I'm a new poster with a 4 year old in MD. I have an older child who went to preschool in the precovide

Pp.please share data about how masks on young children prevent covid spread. I haven't found much and numbers are not different in NoVa (with masks not required on little kids) and MoCO we. Masking is largely security theater for kids this age, and it comes at the cost of speech and social learning.

Fwiw, my 3 year old has been about as sick with other stuff as the older one in the pre-mask era.

OP if it’s just one teacher giving you a hard time can you turn it around on her? When she tells you your daughter won’t keep a mask on reply with something like “I know; I haven’t found a way for her to realize that it’s important. What do you recommend we do at home to support you teaching her?” If it was all the staff I might suggest looking for somewhere else but it seems like it’s just one person? My daycare request makes at 2 but they definitely don’t send that militant about perfect compliance immediately. (Although my kid isn’t quite two yet so I haven’t actually experienced it. And she will wear a mask but only for short periods of time so it will be fun when she moves up…)

why would you want to increase your unvaccinated toddler's risk of covid by advocating for looser restrictions?

Hi everyone, a group of parents in DC and Montgomery County is advocating to ease restrictions in daycares, including pushing for optional masking and test-to-stay or the elimination of close-contact quarantines.

Our advocacy guides are below. They include contacts for key decision-makers, context on Omicron, and responses to common counterarguments in the last few pages.

DC daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/57sapzjy

Montgomery County daycare advocacy guide: https://tinyurl.com/yd2jr5pu

Please feel free to use and share.

Our NoVA preschool is required but lenient with 2s, required for 3+. We’ve had isolated cases but zero spread within the school, so I feel good about the balance - certainly my now almost 5 year old shows zero negative impact on speech, connection, etc. from masking with her classmates since the school reopened from its initial closures - and it seems like peer pressure works pretty well. Just keep trying and emphasizing the helping protect our teachers and classmates language

PP, just to add on, your Preschool’s attitude is coming from an intense fear of covid and intolerance towards two year olds. I am as pro mask as they come and I promise you there will be other preschools that understand two year olds and will have a more guiding attitude towards masks. I was so gobsmacked as I had sent my child to summer camp at another preschool and they were actively teaching and guiding DD. Once I switched DD the experience has been so much more pleasant. Don’t take crap from this school regarding your kid.

This just happened to me actually. The preschool would not give my two year old any leeway and ran around slapping a mask on her if she took it off even for the slightest moment. If she decided to tantrum they would try to force the mask on her. There was no training, no hand holding, unlike when my kid went to summer camp. I had to go to a parent teacher conference and heard the director calling my kid not like the other two year olds, needing too much resources, problem child.

From my experience OP, it’s time to bail. I toured a bunch of other preschools and no one was as insane as this. They understood they had to teach the two year olds, pretty much like potty training. I switched my kid and it’s been so much better with a more tolerant policy and understanding what two year olds are like. Ironically my kid wears a mask pretty good now.

Our toddler's daycare requires it for age 2 and up, except during meal times and nap.

Our kid started school not wanting to wear a mask, we tried so hard to teach him for the month of August. The teachers did an amazing job transitioning him to a mask over the course of the first week. He now happily wears a mask all day, no issues.

Talk to your instructors and then trust them. They are now experienced with getting kids to wear a mask. They know all the tricks. But they should also be nicer to you. Your teachers don't sound very empathetic; everyone understands that masking with toddlers will be a crapshoot.