A physician in general medicine with more than 5 years of clinical experience to her credit.
When your baby can’t see faces
The coronavirus pandemic has caused many changes in our lives. It totally altered the routine of
nearly every aspect of our existence. Many unannounced guests joined our lives, and one of
them was the face mask, that saved our lives. It is considered that you are what your expression
is, if facemasks have to be used, it entirely masks your identity. People began to have difficulty
identifying their own loved ones. Our babies are the most affected by this. What does it mean
for our infants to be surrounded by adults wearing masks? Is it important to consider our babies
while wearing a face mask? Let’s see.
Does Facemask impede a toddler’s development?
Toddlers study our expressions for hints about communication and behavioural circumstances.
That is why it is critical that they can see our faces without being obstructed by anything, such
as a face mask that covers our lips and nose. Object permanence is the concept that objects
continue to exist even though they can be viewed, heard or sensed. It is one of many major
developmental milestones you will experience with your child. Babies acquire abilities such as
memory development, exploration, language learning, and so on with the help of this. Most
newborns do not understand the idea of object permanence until they are nearly 8 months old.
So a toddler seeing you in a mask is unable to comprehend the fact that the rest of you exists
behind the mask. In addition to this infants read our faces to get ideas about how to interpret
situations and with people hiding their faces, an infant's capacity to perceive a situation is
limited, which can be distressing for them. It is essential that we protect ourselves from the
spread of the coronavirus. However, there are methods to keep everyone secure while enabling
infants to view the faces of adults.
How to Help Your Baby
Masks are uncomfortable for communication, but they are necessary for protection from the
virus. So it is essential to preserve your health as well as appropriate communication with
toddlers. Parents can take extra precautions to prevent getting viral infections and spend time
with infants without a mask. But things are going to change when they are exposed to the
public. So the first step is to introduce the face mask to infants in a familiar setting, such as your
house, before introducing them to the world of covered faces. Also allow your infant to see and
touch your mask, as well as try it on you, to reduce confusion about a face mask. While wearing
a mask, you may make funny noises and sing silly tunes to cheer them up. For older toddlers,
consider placing masks on their toys or stuffies and then removing them, making it a fun game
for your child.
While the benefits of using masks as a precaution are obvious, face masks may be quite
disturbing to a newborn. Children flourish when they feel loved, supported, and protected, and
seeing their parents with their faces hidden might make them uneasy and afraid. So, always use
the proper tactics with your babies and remember to embrace them safe and strong during this
pandemic.
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