Image - A teacher in a biosecurity suit gives a lesson to a girl in her home in Cali, Colombia. Credit: Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty
The infants born during the pandemic scored lower, on average, on tests of gross motor, fine motor and communication skills compared with those born before it (both groups were assessed by their parents using an established questionnaire). It didn’t matter whether their birth parent had been infected with the virus or not; there seemed to be something about the environment of the pandemic itself. Families from low-income background and boys are affected the most.
⭐️ Some babies born during the past two years might be experiencing developmental delays, whereas others might have thrived.
🔑 What made the difference?
1️⃣more one-to-one time that babies and toddlers need with carers if they are at home for extended periods
2️⃣ more opportunities for siblings to interact.
🔑 the children’s language and executive functioning skills were stronger if they had received group care during the pandemic (received daycare or attended preschool during the pandemic), and that these benefits were more pronounced among children from lower-income backgrounds
😷 Potential developmental effects of masking?
⭐️ Marks do not interfere Parents-babies connection. Although babies noticed when their parents put on masks — they would briefly change their facial expression, look away or point at the mask — they would then continue interacting with their parents as they had before.
⭐️ Face masks don’t seem to interfere all that much with emotional or language perception. although face masks made it harder for school-age children to perceive adults’ emotions — about as difficult as when adults were wearing sunglasses — the kids were still, for the most part, able to make accurate inferences, by using other cues like vocal expressions, body expressions, context.
⭐️ Early data suggest that the use of masks has not negatively affected children’s emotional development. But prenatal stress might contribute to some changes in brain connectivity.
⭐️Prenatal pandemic-related stress during pregnancy could be negatively affecting fetal brain development in some children, but it can be changed by being more responsive to your babies’ and toddlers’ needs after birth. Although stress in the womb can be harmful to babies, it doesn’t always have lasting effects.
⭐️ The ways parents and carers interacting with their young children is related to a child’s physical and mental abilities.
🔒 What can you do?
🔑 Have lots of language stimulation - speak more to your babies/ children
🔑 get as much gross motor practice as usual, i.e. regularly playing with other children or going to playgrounds.
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