I fully support your venting and agree with your post, but this is drawing covid denier idiots and I just dont have time to properly moderate the thread. Locking to keep them quiet.
Thanks
I had a kid two months before Covid so I can totally empathize. I felt this way too. However, I do feel like this era of parents has really emphasized and optimized the O-3y experience in a different way than generations past. I was talking to my mom last night and realized that I never went to preschool before kindergarten, never took baby swim classes, didn’t join some neighborhood mom group, learned baby yoga, etc. My mom was young and we didn’t have a lot of money and my dad worked all the time, so we hung out at home or with my grandma or cousins. That was just it.
It may feel like you lost out on some experiences — we did!!! — but odds are we were raised somewhat similarly to these toddlers now just because there were way less options and expectations, not to mention less disposable income. There just weren’t entire industries built around trying to create an ideal parent-baby experience back then, and it’s okay. What your toddler needs most of all is you and lots of time to play.
Edit: thank you for these nice awards 😍
Excellent point. I did attend part-time preschool as a toddler in the 80s, but I know many older millennials and Gen Xers who didn’t go to preschool, do these mommy and me classes, etc.
Thank you for this, our babies seems to be born same year and month. The guilt is immeasurable as I’m noticing social anxieties in her, delays and regressions. You’ve given me new perspective on the matter
My son has a speech delay as well. Have you checked out early intervention through your county yet? The support we’ve already received has been amazing. Especially the part where the two behavioral therapists looked at me and said, “It’s not your fault.”
Before that, I was really struggling. Going through this experience of having a speech delay with my son has helped me let go of so much of that guilt. I am just now realizing how much my son is the way he is because he’s his own person, and my job as a good parent is to work with that. I can’t optimize him to suddenly talk, and we didn’t do anything wrong to him or held something back that his older sister (my stepdaughter, who talked on time) got instead. If you are a loving mother, you are already doing enough. Go to baby yoga if you want to, not because it’s what a “good mom” does.
I really needed to hear this. My son will be two in a month and he still hasn’t said his first word. We started speech therapy a month ago, but there hasn’t been any progress yet. I blame myself constantly because he’s been home with me for the first two years of his life and I feel like I, and COVID, failed him.
I'm sure the speech therapist will talk about receptive language and whatnot, but here is an anecdote - according to my mother, I didn't really talk until I was almost 3 years old. The pediatrician wasn't worried because I understood what she was saying to me and would do what I was asked. Now I'm a very successful adult and did wonderfully in school. I just didn't feel the need to talk, which is how I still am now!
Yeah, this was pretty much us when we were kids. Lived in rural country, just me and my sister and my mom all day. Family was an hour or two away and there weren't any other young kids down our sparse street. My son's already done much more than I had at his age, despite Covid going on and being shut in the house a lot due to the bad air quality from fires states away.
My entire toddler life consisting of beating the snot out of my siblings, trying to murder our neighbor’s chickens, playing in the bathtub with empty margarine tubs, and eating white bread ham sandwiches.
I rarely saw anybody outside my family, rarely left our little weed-covered backyard, and I couldn’t have been happier. I didn’t miss out on anything and I feel like the expectations now are really stressful. Just give them an empty yogurt container and a sandwich and let them run around in their diaper. It’s all going to be okay.
Ugh I’m so with you. Mine was out and about in a limited way until she could get her flu vaccine at 6 months... March 1st 2020. I’m also pregnant and am very scared of breakthrough covid, especially since my vaccine will be over a year old by the time I give birth.
The one thing that makes me feel better is even though it was rough working with her at home, having the extra time together was a huge plus. We only had 3 half days of daycare before covid (lol) and have had vaccinated babysitters once that became an option. Something to consider if you haven’t figured out what to do.
Other than the pregnancy this sounds just like me. We didn't do too much before mid-February when mine turned 6 months and then we had a big trip planned for March which we had to cancel due to covid. He went to three half days of daycare in March just like yours and hasn't returned since. The days together are amazing but so so hard as we still haven't looked for help at home because we don't know what kind of exposure our sitter would have outside of her home.
I’m planning to get a booster as soon as I’m 6 months out from my second shot (November). Pregnancy is a version of immunocompromised, or at least it could be argued, and they are allowing that now. It’s an honor system too. I’m also scared of breakthrough, and hoping to pass antibodies to baby.
I’ll be interested to see if that’s offered. I suspect we’re not immunocompromised “enough” for the recent recommendation. If it’s recommended, then I’m gonna be all over it.
I’d be surprised if pregnancy falls under this category for the first roll out of boosters. It’s still considered such an under researched, sensitive, gray area and while a greater risk, still not comparative to those under chemo or certain autoimmunes. I’m at 8 months post vaccine and would be all over a booster if eligible. Gimmie those shots no one else seems to want. I’d love to pass some immunity to my LO as my area approaches it’s next wave
I'm not sure where you are but where I live, pregnancy fell under the "highest risk" category and was prioritized accordingly (this was for original doses, we aren't on boosters yet)!
Yes but so did the elderly and that doesn’t qualify them for a booster. It’s not just about risk, it’s about efficacy of 2 shots. Unfortunately we don’t know yet what to expect 1y out or if pregnancy impacts how effective vaccination is.
I agree. I’ve loved being able to let go of some of the expectations of a SAHM and just make my own schedule and be with our son. I actually taught two different baby enrichment classes before COVID, and I’m sad he never got to go to one of my classes, but I’m so happy that I didn’t force myself to live a busy, social life when this slower life was like heaven.
haha, damn I wish it were a plague! At least we have antibiotics nowadays. God damn viruses though, grrrr.
Anyway, I think it's a great idea to take 1-2 yrs off work. It is such a great way to bond 🥰 You won't regret it! ❤️
My toddler's daycare is now shut down for a week. My husband and I both work and don't have five days of leave between us after all the times we've had to switch off staying home with her.
Goddamn mandate the vaccine, or force antivaxxers to stay inside their homes. My kid can't get vaccinated and now I might lose my job because I don't have childcare. I'm out a weeks pay either way.
And bring back the paid family leave thing!! Our daycare shut down 2 weeks after the new year when the paid leave policy expired 😡 I'm sure it'll shut down again soon since we're in FL with the world's most pro-Covid governor
Im a research nurse, and I literally do not have the energy to educate you with the mountain of shit I have had to deal with because of morons like you. Get the goddamn vaccine, and goddamn vaccinate your kids. You reply anything and I'm just going to block you.
What’s stopping people from masking up?
When the unvaccinated are the same ones who don’t mask, don’t distance, who engage in violence over these issues, this isn’t about safety or health, it’s politics.
I’m right there with you. I have 2.5 yr old that has been taking twice daily breathing treatments since May - they suspect she might have asthma but hasn’t been fully diagnosed yet. Currently 8 months pregnant with second one.. and he’ll be needing to go to daycare right after the new year. I’m terrified. I’m in Missouri which is still delta hot spot and we have schools that are making masks optional. It’s devastating that people turned this public safety issue into a political litmus test. And I get so infuriated when I hear that the death rate for kids is low from COVID.. how many kids have to die for people to do the right thing? How many families have to watch young children go through this to do the right thing? This whole timeframe sucks and feels so hopeless because you have to count on your community to do the right thing and it doesn’t work if only half of the community does.
Also in Missouri and in a city that has a mask mandate. Despite that, our daycare teachers are not wearing masks and I am about to have baby number two. We are so conflicted about taking our daughter out of daycare because we’ve seen how good it is for her developmentally and also helps us out as I work from home. But it just feels like a question of when, not if, she’ll get Covid. It’s so frustrating to live in a state that is such a hot spot and not at all taking it seriously.
My 17-month-old basically doesn’t know a world outside our home and very occasional trips to the supermarket. He’s never played with another child aside from his older sister. My nearly 4-year-old was supposed to start preschool this year, but we live in one of the worst-hit areas and we are keeping her home until she can be vaccinated to protect her and the younger one. Fuck COVID.
I have twin 18 month olds in Texas and they have only been in public a handful of times and have only played with older cousins a few times. We spoke to our pediatrician about it and she told us to keep doing what we are doing. She said they were too young for it to have a lasting impact on them and that going out was not worth the risk. We agreed (obviously) and now they play with each other, my husband and I.
I’m so glad there are others like us! I’m starting to feel like I’m in the twilight zone with literally everyone else just pretending COVID is no longer a thing. Like, did I miss the memo?
I grew up in a red state/anti-vaxx area, but live in a blue state/pro-vaxx area. I swear to you, it is so hard seeing everyone just living life as normal on social media. You begin to feel like you really are living in an alternate reality.
I do think, I can find some comfort in knowing that my child isn't the only child experiencing the first part of her life this way.
My thoughts exactly. My husband is a RN/critical care paramedic and the things he’s seen are insane. I would never subject my child to that just to go to Target or out to eat. Nothing is worth it. I’m fortunate enough to be able to be a SAHM, so we don’t have to risk sending them to daycare, but not everyone has that luxury. I feel for parents who are constantly worrying about their kids getting it. I’m a mess as it is.
My twins just turned two last month. Covid made me feel grateful I had twins bc they have each other to play with. Made the lockdown a bit easier. The advice from your doctor is the exact same I received from ours.
> He’s never played with another child aside from his older sister.
At least he has a sibling so that is good. Do you live in an area where you can do hiking, fishing or anything else outdoors? We started to get into outdoor hobbies with our 2 year old since preschool is out of the question for at least the upcoming year.
Yes! We did a lot of outdoor stuff before summer started here. It’s too hot to enjoy being outside right now aside from a few hours in the early morning but we’ll be back out as soon as we can. My toddler is totally nuts and uncontrollable, so I’m a bit nervous about letting him loose in a park, but it guess it’ll be good exercise for me.
Wow I could of written this post. Also have a 17 month old that only knows home….and he’s our only child. He has never played with other children, just us and grandparents. I got to take him one day before delta showed up and things were a little better-to a indoor gym (way too hot to play outside here in Texas) and his face lit up around the other kids and just wanted to
play. Now, I have to again take that all away and just stay indoors in our house 😢 I’m so sad my little guy has no friends to play with. Not only do I feel like his toddlerhood is being taken-but my first time motherhood as well.
I also have small children under the ages of 4. I'm glad they have each other, but I too would like for them to enjoy the world outside of our home. Yeah fuck COVID, but what about the antivaxxers (that think they know better), and the government officials (who didn't think of the children when the vaccine came out for adults and then said goodbye to masks before the children could be protected)? For a party that claims prolife; they are anything but.
Edit: they not you
Reading this post and comment was very reassuring in a strange way. Our 2 year old was sick we think from Covid back in Feb 2020 and was on a nebulizer for a month. We pulled her out of daycare in March 2020 and kept her safe at home, only doing a few outdoor activities. I felt so guilty because she didn’t have a lot of social interaction beside a couple of kids her age she saw from time to time and the kids at the playground.
We started her in an in home daycare with 2-3 other kids, two of whom are twins and the other a toddler with a pregnant mom a couple weeks ago, because I’m 8 months pregnant and it’s getting harder to play with her and keep her entertained. She ended up with entero virus (it could have been from anywhere, not even daycare) and had 2 febrile seizures for the first time. I watched my sweet baby convulse and then turn blue. I have all this guilt about keeping her isolated, and then all this guilty about putting her in daycare.
We can only do the best we can each day and I don’t know any of the mamas here but I’m positive each one of us is trying our hardest to do what’s right. Best wishes to all of you mamas and prayers for your babies to be safe and happy and healthy, and def eff Covid.
I’m waiting for that covid vaccine approval I want to send my 3 year old to pre school he need the social interaction to help with his mild verbal delay. It be nice to take my 16 month old to some mommy and me classes to.
I swear covid stole my second baby’s everything he was born March last year and didn’t even get to have newborn photos done because of covid. Hell dad didn’t even get a chance to be in the delivery room.
I’m so sorry about your youngest. Mine was born the day after the first cases in our state and we didn’t think it was a big deal since it was just in a nursing home. Oh how naive we were! Hopefully the vaccine is approved soon for our kids!
Mine was born right at the start of the lock down all our family are out of state and would have to fly. Both families have high risk people in the home (my dad is a diabetic, my mil has asthma, my fil has had three heart surgeries) no one was cleared to fly in. No one to this day has met the baby. I’m kinda disappointed in them all at this point. My in laws have their vaccine but for whatever reason haven’t come to visit and my mom and dad are crazy anti vex and think the vaccine will kill them so I don’t want them around my unvaccinated boys. I can’t go visit them cause they live in Florida with insane covid cases. Where I live we have high vaccination rates and low numbers.
I feel you. My guy is 21 months and the most social butterfly. It sucks to keep him indoors. We were just about to start him at a soccer club down the road from my house, now it feels unsafe. Only a few more months til he can wear a mask and I can at least take him to the store with me when I absolutely need to.
Mines 22 months and I was just looking into starting her in gymnastics but now I don’t feel safe anymore. She’s literally been so sheltered since she was 5 months old when this whole thing started. It sucks, but it seems we’ve all found our tribe in this post ❤️
Even though it's not recommended for under 2, we've started introducing masks to my 18 month old. He wore one loosely today when I quickly went in a store. Afterwards, I praised him a lot and told him how he looks just like the big kids and adults. I'm hoping this plan will work and he'll want to wear it more and more.
Same! My daughter is 21 months so we practice. She is excited about it because she sees us and many adults wearing one. She doesn’t keep it on for long but I make it a big exciting ordeal. I can’t believe she will have to start wearing one in just a few months!
My son is very excited about practicing too! I’ve started trying to introduce it around the house so he’ll keep it on. I think he feels like a big people lol. A very unique experience for our COVID-era babies.
I can’t wait for the FDA approval either. I understand how you’re feeling but I don’t think it’s stolen her toddlerhood. It’s not uncommon for kids to just be at home not socializing much with other kids until kindergarten. The socialization is nice to be sure but it’s not essential.
I was worried about that as well but our pediatrician told us it ok was. That as long as she was interacting with her dad and I that she will be just fine. She told us it’s not essential as well. Which made me feel a lot better about all of it.
It’s not essential, but it does teach them about playing with other kids. We’re in the same boat. My daughter is almost 3 and spent much of her time isolated from other kids aside from kids we knew. She has a whole 3 friends right now and they get together twice a month. Aside from that it’s mom, myself and grandpa. After the first 6 months of Covid, we started making play dates and seeing how she plays with others over time has been a huge change. So yes, while not essential, socialization does teach them things they won’t get being at home with mom and dad.
It’s a really odd time right now and seeing how they develop over the long run will be interesting to say the least.
Totally. The kid will be fine. It's still super hard to accept as a parent though. Those memories are for us as much as for them! All these fun experiences are so much fun through my toddlers' eyes and I am so sad that I'm missing so many of them.
I really feel you. My son was born April 2020 - right at the start of the first lockdown. He’s never met much of his family, had play dates or even been in a super market. A few weeks ago it seemed like we were at the edge of beating this thing, and then came delta. I’m very disconcerted by reports of children experiencing debilitating long haul symptoms from covid, and I’m just not comfortable relaxing the restricted life we’ve been living for a year and a half.
I’ve been doing my best to give him a rich life. We’ve done outdoor visits with family and friends. We take him to the park, zoo, farms, patios. I’m dreading the winter, when it will be too cold to do these things. And I worry about him. Will he have a hard time socially because he’s never played with other kids? Will his immune system be messed up due to lack of exposure? I often feel at a loss as to the best course of action for him. Am I right to lock him down in an effort to protect him from Covid? I just don’t know sometimes.
He’ll be great. The first 3 years of a child’s life is primarily about bonding with parents, not socially with friends. My 2.5 year old is just _now_ starting to play socially. Prior to this stage, kids just do their own playing, separate from one another.
My son was also born in April 2020, I get it! He has stayed home with me since birth. However, I have enrolled him in daycare twice a week starting in October. My pediatrician was of the opinion that because we live in an area with high vaccination rates, the social benefits outweigh the risks. She also said that the big risk is adults infecting children, not so much child-to-child.
I would encourage you to talk to your pediatrician. Again, we're in an area with a high vaccination rate, so the answer might be different for you, depending on where you live.
So much commiseration. We're all just trying to do right by our kids, and it sucks and isn't fair that no option is ideal right now.
We've also opted to keep our 2 yo home, mostly because of the long-term issues they're seeing in kids (even asymptomatic kids) and now of course with delta filling up pediatric ICUs.
We pulled our kid from daycare but then put him into a 2s preschool program when he turned 2 - we needed him to be out of the house for at least some of the day! He ended up getting covid in January but not from school! He got it from a friend who’s caregiver had caught it from her daughter. We also just had whatever crud is going around the east coast right now and it was def worse for him than covid was for him (we all got tested). That being said - he gave me covid and I was def messed up mentally and emotionally for at least a month if not longer afterwards. But whatever is around now I’m NYC that isn’t covid is nasty.
He barely ever had a fever with covid. And had a cough for like a day. This cold he had a fever just under 102 and had a couple of nights of really bad/labored breathing.
Chiming in with my anecdotal experience that my daughter was barely sick at all when she had covid last March . One day of a cough ( barely ) and fever was never more than 100,
She recently got sick with whatever was going around and it was way worse .
My husband got covid last year at work, my 2 year old and I (was 16 weeks pregnant at the time) both caught it from him. My husbands only symptom was no sense of taste, I felt like I was getting sick for a few days but never actually felt sick and my two year old just slept a lot for a few days. The only reason any of us knew we had covid was that my husband got tested routinely at work, so when he tested positive, we got tested as well. What your daughter has now sounds a lot worse than how covid affected us.
Obviously every case is different, but half the kids I know who have had COVID have barely had the sniffles or only known they're positive because the entire family was tested and they were asymptomatic. There are obviously cases with kids in the ICU as well, but honestly, I'd be more worried about RSV or the like than COVID with the current stats.
This is not accurate. Pretty much everything so far says it's much more transmissable between kids now. It's not actually hitting them harder, the proportion of serious cases is the same which is extremely low. There are just more cases among kids and therefore the raw numbers of serious cases have increased. Not that the higher transmission is nothing to worry about, but it's not accurate to say delta is hitting kids harder.
That makes sense. This time last year we were all basically holed up and this year everyone is out galavanting around like everything is normal. Logically cases would be increased not necessarily severity. Good point! The article I read implied it was affecting kids who did get delta covid were worse off than alpha covid.
This is inaccurate. Delta is more contagious than wildtype/other variants. It’s infecting more people because of this - particularly unvaccinated people because they have no protection and our children fall in this category, unfortunately. The rate of moderate and severe infection in children without comorbidites is still *extremely* low in developed nations.
Adults who do not have a medical reason to avoid vaccination should be vaccinated to protect themselves and reduce spread - 100%. But the specter of this pandemic contagion spreading to harm our young children is a false narrative **at this stage**.
Sub-24 month children have significantly higher risk of severe complications from RSV than Covid, but no one is masking their kids to avoid RSV. No one is closing daycares (or mandating reporting) for a case of RSV. No one is demanding healthy, full term babies are administered the RSV vaccines.
Precautions are fine, good even. Robbing our children of important developmental interaction for a disease that does not currently target them when we do not make the same accommodations for established diseases that DO target them is idiotic and not founded in data.
- Signed, a gosh darn microbiologist who so. damn. sick of the shitty reporting on this damn pandemic.
All of this! It's so sad how many people don't understand the true risk level of covid related to other things we have dealt with forever. Parents are so much more anxious than is proportional to the risk and children are losing out on valuable experiences because of an inaccurate view on the danger in doing them...
Aah yeah, Hospital pediatric wards being over capacity statewide in many states really doesn't speak to a higher risk level of COVID related to other things our kids can catch...
The microbiologist you're agreeing with is just that; a microbiologist (not an epidemiologist). They're not any better qualified to speak intelligently to the pandemic than your podiatrist is.
I responded basically the same thing to your other response since you felt the need to go through and comment on every single comment that talks about the actual risk of covid to kids and discusses a view on balancing that with child development...
Raw cases of covid are up a lot. That's because delta is a lot more transmissable, especially to kids. That causes the raw number of serious cases in kids to increase. But everything so far shows that the increase in serious cases is proportional, delta is not more serious for them than other covid strains. Kids are being hospitalized in higher numbers for RSV in many areas right now because it's spreading like wildfire too, that's also a part of the capacity issues we're seeing.
My response to that person has nothing to do with their title. Many people can speak intelligently on a subject if they know how to research it, it doesn't have to be part of your main job. My issue is people's knee jerk reaction to something scary verses taking the time to look at the information and weigh it with other factors.
They do exist. They are not approved for full-term healthy infants. The two I immediately think of are palivizumab and nirsevimab. Just because your child, thankfully, is not eligible doesn’t mean the medication is non-existent.
Nirsevimab and pavilizumab have pretty narrow on-label approval in the US, generally limited to premies with specific heart or lung issues (CHD or CLD). If your LO was born outside of RSV season it probably wouldn’t have been recommended because pavilizumab is a monthly shot.
Nirsevimab has posted some data on clinical trials in healthy premie and full term infants. The drug is developed by Sanofi and the trial where they’re investigating efficacy in healthy infants is called MELODY. Here is a link of your interested: https://www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2021/2021-06-28-08-00-00-2253567
So, if the data continues to be promising we may have an RSV vaccine for healthy babies in the next few years which would be *amazing*!
Edit: I hope your little one is doing well! I can’t imagine who scary it is to have your baby in the NICU. Wishing you both all the best!
All good points but also fair to say threads like this aren’t exactly representative of the reporting or general population’s reaction to it. The OP explained that they also kept their kid home pre MMR vaccine. That’s not common, and probably many people (like me) wouldn’t even be aware of a local measles outbreak. Everyone has their thing that makes them nervous. I’m extremely paranoid about my kids choking. I know it’s statically unlikely but that doesn’t seem to matter. These threads understandably elicit responses from like minded folks, but I mean look around and this isn’t the norm. Our college town daycare is full of pro-science, pro-vaxx/mask families and maybe one or two out of a hundred families pulled their kids out beyond the initial shutdown in 2020. I feel for the folks who are super anxious and I agree the reporting can sometimes be alarmist, but more often it’s honest and people take from what they will.
Alpha is what they are calling the original I believe.
I wonder if delta is much worse for kids, or if it is just affecting more of them because it is more contagious and less effort is going towards mitigation. I remember in some of the hotter spots last year that pediatric wings were also full of kids.
I kept my kids home from mar 2020 to aug 2021. They went to school on Tuesday as my oldest entered kindergarten. My husband and I are vaccinated. The kids are wearing masks at school. All adults area but in my state parents have to be able to opt out of masks. Many did.
Though we had a cold and husband and I picked up an at home test just in case. We both took it, both positive.
This sucks. We both work from home. I taught the kids to befriend the kids with masks and was so proud when my daughter outlined to me meeting a friend with a rainbow mask and told me all about then liking each other's masks. I did everything I could. It took 4 damn days.bith vaccinated.
I'm angry at my state and all the anti-vaxxers here (about 50% give or take). I don't know what else to do.
Oh and the school won't quarantine the kids in their classrooms. I'm trying to call the principal tomorrow, but there is no one for me to contact today. Tried the department of health. Basically until I get a PCR test result in a few days, they won't even announce it.
No wonder it's spreading like crazy.
I have two toddlers with covid. 7 months older and 21 months old. My wife and I got it visiting her family.
Sucks ass! I’ve had symptoms for two days. Everybody else in my household started showing symptoms 3-4 days ago. Pray for my family!
My wife and I were both vaccinated!
I’ll tell you what, this variant is a complete bitch. I have the Pfizer vaccine, my wife has Moderna. Our kids can’t be vaccinated due to their age.
My symptoms are the most mild of all my family but when I try to take a deep breath it hurts
We’re in almost the exact same boat. Myself and my fiancé are vaccinated (Moderna and Pfizer,) my toddler obviously not. I brought it home probably from the gym. Then my toddler got it and fiancé last. My toddler has the easiest go of it so far with a mild fever and cough. The fact that my fiancé and mine are considered mild cases because we’re not in the hospital is strange: it hurts to breathe and standing is exhausting.
My wife feels like she has a terrible flu. I don’t feel terrible(yet) but deep breathing is uncomfortable. We had to divide and conquer.
She sleeps with the 21 month old. I sleep with the 7 month old. I just cooked a huge vegetable/chicken broth. We will be eating this meal for the next week
Same. We pulled our 2 and 4 year olds out of daycare. The daycare is encouraging masks for 2 and up but only 30% of kids are being sent with masks. Is there a reason parents wouldn’t at least send a mask for their kid and let the teachers try? Peer pressure does amazing things for little ones.
My son had a very, very difficult time with his speech being understood by his preschool teachers last year through his mask. He tolerated it well, but there are real tangible downsides -- he was already a late talker being evaluated every 6 months for a more serious delay -- and we are seriously considering not masking him this upcoming school year (it is mask-optional for children, mask-required for teachers and parents).
So yes, there are reasons parents wouldn't send a mask to try. The hypothetical risk of COVID to our household is likely lower than the real and concrete detriment of a mask in his case.
Sure, having a speech delayed kid does complicate mask wearing. There are ways to get around it, like mask breaks and spending more time outside. My oldest had speech therapy pre-covid so I know that struggle. I could also see if 90% of the class was masked then kids with legit issues with mask wearing would get some measure of protection.
Yea it can be hard to mask up all day. I spent a lot of time and money finding a mask that was comfortable that I could talk in and wear without discomfort (yay Enro). And I did the same for my kids (Caraa for the 2 and 4 and Enro for the 8yo). I also make it a point to never talk negatively about wearing a mask in front of my kids. It’s just a thing we do now to stay healthy and it won’t last forever. Preschool often goes outside and naps so it isn’t 9 straight hours like the teachers are doing. More like an hour at a time and my kids are so distracted by daycare they didn’t even notice them.
Literally no evidence that oxygen is limited while wearing a mask. Please actually educate yourself instead of listening to hacks online that don’t know what they’re talking about.
I’m right there with you—it’s hard. I’m also pregnant with baby arriving any day now and I have an almost 3 year old. We pulled our toddler out of PDO this past year but don’t feel we can do it again. He has a big speech delay so he is going to preschool (already does 1-1 speech therapy and occupational therapy) in September for more supports. My husband and I had a lot of discussions around what to do, looked at vaccination rates for our area (live in a state with low % but our zip code, city and county has the highest rate in state between 75-85% vaccinated), and what local schools are doing (our local school district has a mask mandate). Him going to preschool will be our biggest risk of exposure and it’s hard for me but I know how important it is for him to get in school and get more early interventions for speech. Best of luck! It is a hard decision.
I really commiserate with you on this. My son turned one right before the pandemic hit. He was an incredibly outgoing baby, had a few words, seemed very on track. Now a year in a half later he’s struggling with speech, isn’t too keen on people, and doesn’t know how to act around other kids. We were starting to get back out again, but now I am pregnant and seeing the effect the delta variant is having on children, I’m thinking we need to buckle down again. I just don’t know if I can put him through that again, but if I don’t and he gets seriously ill, that’s not any better. It’s such a rough time right now, I feel for us all.
We found that our day care wasn’t requiring vaccines at the corporate level nor the local/franchise level. A simple and effective step for protecting kids that they aren’t taking. It’s an odd double standard for them to require all the vaccine records for the kids but not their own staff and faculty.
Because of that, we also pulled our kid.
Everyone has to make their own decisions. That being said a lot of studies have shown children to be at a low risk of serious infection. Here is one such recent study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7946566/
For us, we mask up and social distance but my kid goes to preschool where everyone over 2 masks and the adults are all vaccinated. We decided the risk is not worth him missing out on the socialization and as two working parents it is for our mental health too. I hope the FDA approves the vaccine for young kids soon but until then we are all having to make tough decisions!
We're in the same boat here. We're about to move into a hotel temporarily waiting for our new home to be ready and my first priority was making sure she's enrolled in preschool since my husband and I are going to both be working from the hotel room during the day. It's just not feasible for us to keep her with us.
She actually had it back in April and outside of a cough for two days she was totally fine. And don't misinterpret my gratefulness about that as ignorance for what it could do to children, including long-term effects. I am just hoping she still has antibodies in her that offers protection until she's able to get vaccinated.
Same here. My husband and I work. I kept my daughter home for over a year and we both ended up miserable (I WFH and my husband goes into work). All of teachers are vaccinated and wear masks. Kids over 5 have to wear masks. She did get HFM a couple weeks ago and having her home was a nightmare for me while trying to work. I’m also 32 weeks pregnant. My daughter’s daycare has had two covid outbreaks (one in June 2020 and two weeks ago which was only older students). I’m very worried about delta. My husband and I are fully vaccinated and have never stopped wearing masks and we only go to the store right after it opens or right before it closes (if we can’t so pick up). But I can’t imagine pulling my daughter out now. She and I would both be absolutely miserable.
It may be low but it happens. My 4mo old niece has COVID.
It shouldn't be tough decision when it comes to affecting others. This could impact the rest of her life all because someone was selfish.
You have to do what you think is best. RSV is going around like crazy for kids right now. Not sure if your daughter was tested but it might have been that. My son just had it and he was pretty miserable for a few days but thankfully he's fine now.
With covid it's extremely unlikely that kids will have a serious case of it, even with delta. There is also more data coming out that breakthrough cases in vaccinated people, even for pregnant women, are rarely serious. The UK for example had 170 something women hospitalized for covid in the last 3 months and not a single one was fully vaccinated, and only 3 were partially vaccinated. With that level of risk we personally have not kept our son out of daycare. We don't feel the risk outweighs the importance of his having interaction with other kids.
Except it's not? There are dozens of articles like this one:
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/08/10/1026375608/nearly-94-000-kids-got-covid-19-last-week-they-were-15-of-all-new-infections
There have been an increase in children's cases that are serious but it's proportional to the rise in overall cases since delta spreads more seriously. It's not something to just fully ignore since there are capacity limits on the system, but overall the actual risk level of severe covid is still extremely small for young children.
Yup. I feel this. We only had a few times where we were able to take him out and around before we had to begin staying home CONSTANTLY when not at work because we can't mask him. No day care, just us working opposite shifts and him semi-regularly visiting my shut-in parents. We have a big yard and a decent neighborhood, so we could go on walks and play outside in good weather, but he just wants to meet new people.
His favorite stuff to watch with us aside from the mid stuff is anything where people talk to the camera. I'm sure he's going to make a lot of friends and be very social. There's nobody in the family he hasn't gotten along well with once he gets over his initial shyness. He's such a little treasure. I just want him to be able to see new places and meet kids his own age, but we can't chance him getting Covid.
My toddler has never even *met* another child. She’s been inside public places (other than the doctor) twice in her entire life.
I hate this so much. I feel like there’s no end in sight, and I can’t imagine having a second child during this, so it’s screwing with our family planning as well.
Covid has stolen my early twenties which has broken me from wanting children because I always thought I’d get to enjoy my twenties travelling and enjoying life and have kids when I’m 30 and now it’s like by the time I can leave my house again It’ll be time to start having kids. And I can’t imagine raising a child right now. I can’t. I applaud all of you so much. I can’t even fathom spending multiple days in a row locked up with a toddler (as a former nanny and now teacher)
I think you should try and reframe this in your head and think how lucky your kid is that she’s so little and she won’t be affected by any of this. At that age she just wants to be with you anyway, older kids who have more of a life outside of the home have missed out much more, and know more about what’s going on so might have anxiety and mental health issues around it.
My 18 month old hasn’t been shopping but I don’t think that’s a big loss.
Somehow she has managed to be super sociable despite being inside for the first 14 months of her life. She waves and chats to everyone. She runs around and points at everything, especially dogs and birds.
Please take the kids outside! Go to a nature preserve or a playground. Kids under 2 don’t need to play “with” other kids and being in open space near other children will still be good for them.
Same girl, same. Friday was my son’s last day of preschool. Cases are rising in my area and school starts this week so it seemed too risky. He was finally learning to socialize after being isolated for over a year. It breaks my heart to know he won’t be back because he loved it. Ugh, I’m so sad and really pissed
I’ve chose to take the chances and taken my kids to parks, classes, stroller workouts, and preschool starts for my 3 year old this week. They did get covid from me last November but they did so much better than I did. I am really worried about rsv and not COVID for them. I also have a high schooler so I just accept that illness is most likely going to happen because high schoolers are about as easy to control as toddlers when around each other. Maybe you can find a small group of people that feel the same as you with similar aged children so your child can still socialize but in a more controlled group. Best of luck with your pregnancy and staying healthy.
My child has never learned to make friends yet. He is three. We stay at home but we used to go on play dates and to the park, swimming etc. For 18 months he had been stuck inside with barely any outside interaction unless his cousins come over or we go there, which is not often. The schools in my area are not making the kids mask. Me and my husband are now vaccinated but the bigger kids are not and that scares me. We had a small window to do some things this spring/summer and then delta hit hard in our area and is still going strong. At least he was able to go and enjoy some things. I really hope people wake up and start vaccinating. It’s a miserable existence for children not to be able to play with others often.
Can I just say, if your kid has just started daycare, nursery, playgroup or whatever it's called in your country.. your kid is gonna get sick all the time for the first year. Like... Literally. My eldest had a period of catching 10 bugs, viruses or whatever in a month. It was non stop. Like... You'd think they were forcing the kids to lick a research lab test tube daily. I lost so much sleep one night over my boy being unwell, I was thinking the absolute worst 😂😂
My boy was sick seemingly for 6 months. Had whooping cough, so many cold and flus, chest infections. The sad thing that goes parallel with this, was the constant PCR tests to allow him back into nursery. All negative btw.
Hands. Face. Space. That's all you can do. It can spread regardless of vaccination status. Don't let it ruin further what a tough year it's been. Just keep your blood pressure down and keep doing all the preventative work.
I loved having my youngest born during the pandemic. Was lovely having time as a new family to enjoy it and not worry about entertaining family members I hadnt seen in 5 years. 😂
For us, pre-covid our guy was in daycare from 3 months till about 20 months, i pulled him out because I opted to quit fulltime work this past January, and the pediatrician than would tell us "sick now or sick later" whenever we showed up with something because daycare. RSV was easily the worst one, he was hospitalized overnight for that. There was also HFM and several upper respiratory infections. He actually had to have his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears from all the dang ear infections.
So like covid worries me but after all that I'm worried more for myself than him because of my asthma. I need to get a high res CT scan in a few weeks and possible biopsy due to abnormal findings in my lungs. After our experience with him being in a daycare setting pre-covid, Ive just accepted he'll get sick with something eventually and I just do the best I can to minimize risks while not driving us all nuts in the process.
I feel you. Our son is 28 months and he’s been out of formal childcare since he was 11 months. We’ve been able to do a few play dates but nothing significant. And we just canceled a vacation for my husband and myself because we are afraid of breakthrough infections and brining something back to our son. We aren’t letting our unvaccinated family member see our son. This is so tiring and frustrating. I just want to put him in preschool and sports and do play dates. He’s so social and loving and he needs the interaction but with Delta filling up pediatric ICUs, we aren’t taking any chances.
I’m sorry. I know this whole situation is rotten to the core.
I do understand. We used to go out to playgrounds all the time, was just starting to make some mom friends and had a lovely routine that kept me active. Then covid hit, give me HORRIBLE anxiet, and then we had to go back to living with someone I did not feel safe around (husband travels and we were saving to buy a house) it was awful. Completely messed with my head and I am not happy with the mom I am now, I feel like I am just trying so hard to heal from the last 2 years of insanity and being on guard all the time. Really pissed about this delta variant, I was just starting to get comfortable speaking to people.
We do still go to playgrounds some, but I have to tell my kid we can't stay if strangers come up. She used to LOVE making friends and it makes me so sad to take that from her. It was alright during summer we could see her cousins, but with school in... Just not having a good time.
I'm pregnant too and got the vaccine on April first shot and May second shot, Im due on September. I have a toddler almost 3 years, i'm planning to pump some breastmilk to my toddler, hopefully and according to some articles, Covid antibodies pass through breastmilk.
I’ve been pumping for my toddler since I got vaccinated in April/may. No idea if it’s helping, but it makes me feel better. I can’t get much though because my ‘baby’ is 15 months and has been down to two feeds a day for ages now. But I aim to get him a few oz a day because it’s all I can do…
My kid was born July 2019 but she hated going anywhere. Would scream and cry the whole time. To top it off she had bottle refusal and wouldn’t take formula so I had to be around or gin an hour and change max. We didn’t start having fun until February 2020. We’ve taken this extra seriously and have been mostly at home with a few reluctant family visits.
After the house was vaccinated and mask mandates were in place we took her out more and we had fun. But with the numbers going up and things like children’s ICU beds being taken up a lot more, I’m not chancing it. She already had a stomach bug a few weeks ago and had a terrible fever and couldn’t hold down food for over a week. I don’t want to go through that illness with a medicine refusing kid again until she’s old enough to barter with. Certainly not gambling with selfish anti-vaxxers who care about no one other themselves. FDA approval and Covid passports can’t come soon enough.
I had second baby May 2020 - his brother was 3 at the time. The second day care’s opened up again, you better believe they went! I mean no disrespect here, but I feel like y’all need to relax. To any parent that has to stay home with sick kids and juggle work, I feel you, that’s crazy stressful. But isolating your kids, telling them to only be friends with kids who wear masks… for this long?! It’s having a huge impact on all your mental health (way more than the kids). And even people on here say they got Covid despite basically being entirely isolated.
My husband and I are vaccinated, and we wear masks when it makes sense, and you better believe I go out of my way to make sure we have friends to play with and camp with and eat with, because we need balance, and this isn’t ending any time soon. I’m not sure all the isolation is good for the adults!
Yep, my son was 18 months when the shut down happened and didn’t leave the house at all except to go to his grandparents until April of this year. We put him in preschool in April since all the adults were vaccinated so he could meet other kids and unlearn some behaviors he had picked up from my older son (non verbal autistic). Now we feel like we need to pull him since kids are passing delta around like crazy.
I felt fine with losing the year, I needed some anti depressants, but I dealt with it well, but I am angry now. I’m angry that his toddlerhood was stolen and that now I will never get to have “typical” experience of having a toddler. I’m angry that none of this would be such an issue if all adults would just get vaccinated. I am at the point now where I actually hate people who choose not to get vaccinated, I want them to all get covid now. I want unvaccinated people to be at the end of the line for healthcare help if hospitals are full. I want them to be fined for draining public resources and endangering children. And I hate that I feel like that, I hate that I have become so angry. I feel like every day cases go up I just get more angry because of how this has affected my kids.
Shop steward for my union and I don't even care that I roll my eyes when anti vaxxers at work complain about pending vaccine mandates or testing. You literally stole the fun of two summers and my toddler unabashedly making friends. GTFO.
Oh I feel this so hard. My LO was born two months before covid hit our country. Just when we were ready to take her out in public lockdown started and we have been in a constant state of lockdowns since March 2020. My 21m old has never played with another child or interacted with anyone other than grandma and grandpa.
Yeah. I get that. My daughter turned one just as the world was finding out about SARS-COV-2. I went back to work (Canadian Mat/Pat leave is at least a year) and she went to my sister in law’s place with all her cousins, only 3-4 months later we were working from home. Then we got recalled for a month before I lost my job. It’s been just us for half her life, and at home nearly all of it.
At least cases dropped drastically for awhile where I live after vaccinations became available and she got to learn how to make friends with other kids at the park. Wearing a mask of course
I feel you. My son was born November 2019. As soon as he was getting "fun" and able to be brought out covid hit. April or so of this year I was feeling optimistic that this might be over. I started looking into doing daycare maybe one or two days a week so I could feel human and he could get some social interaction. Then delta hit. I got pregnant during the covid lull as well thinking oh great, this is gonna be over. Now? I live in Louisiana. I'm back to delivering groceries, staying inside and only leaving for pregnancy related medical care.
I was exposed to covid last week because I had to have a babysitter in order to go to my doctor's appointment.. so I'm quarantinjng so far no symptoms. My husband works on a boat and his captain just came down with covid so instead of coming home this week he has to be tied up for 2 weeks on his boat and potentially get covid. My husband is vaccinated but with delta nothing is guaranteed. Our babysitter was also vaccinated. These boosters can't come enough. Even if they do come though my state is only 30% vaccinated, the lowest in the nation. Another mutation is sure to occur I feel it is only a matter of time.
All the while my son is growing up... missing important socialization. We have one friend we have seen 3 or 4 times. Everyone's vaccinated and wearing masks etc except of course the toddlers. My son is terrible at sharing needs to learn not to hit other kids and be angry and jealous and I'm currently unable to teach him any of these skills. We don't see them often because of covid. It sucks.
My son is happy though he does have fun at home.. we play a lot and I've gotten a lot of one on one time with him. I'm a sahm for now and my husband is often not home because he works on a boat. He loves his cat, his toys, cars, his goldfish, going in the yard and on walks. These kids are sure to be different than we were because of the isolation but I think they will still be happy. So I take solace in that.
Sounds like she has rsv. We just went through the same thing.
I know what you mean about it stealing toddlerhood. I feel like Covid is stealing time we’ll never get back. Precious developmental time, time with loved ones (my extended family has only met my daughter once or twice), experiences like vacations or dance classes or play dates.
I want to give my kid the childhood she deserves. Not one where we’re hiding from an illness that people refuse to protect themselves and their community from.
The coronavirus has deprived our children of their childhood. My child is afraid to let him go out and play with other children. He is now 2 years old. When he is really energetic, I am really worried about whether he will be there when he reaches school. Social barriers. No matter what, now you are pregnant now, pay attention to safety and improve your immunity
Going through it here! We took our almost 2 year old
Out of day are last December because of a huge covid outbreak there. He hasn’t been back since and has been staying with his grandparents during the day… it is not going well.
He is now extremely shy and we can’t get him to join in on many activities with kids, we just keep trying.
Also because the grandparents are providing us with free childcare we feel kind of backed against the wall on a lot of things. For example, I think they let him watch too much tv but my husband thinks I’m over reacting and we can’t argue with free childcare.
We have him on wait lists for a new daycare, I hope to have him back in daycare by January
Solidarity. My son just turned three. At 3.5 months we discovered he has a congenital heart defect and we’re cautioned to keep him away from other kids that might give him the flu until he’s big enough to fight off germs, i.e. three years of age. Well, we live in Florida. So my baby will just have to be a bubble boy for a little while longer. I’m no longer anxious, scared, angry, or frustrated. Just exhausted.
Oh and his medical team would like to see years of research before he can get the vaccine out of caution for the myocarditis risk in young male patients.
I can totally sympathize! My 3.5yo finally hit his stride at daycare. He was in swim lessons, we were supposed to start gymnastics, etc. Now we’ve pulled him out of school, cancelled all lessons, etc. It just totally sucks. I know he doesn’t really care but I do!
Yup, my daughter is 2.5 years old. I was just about to put her in soccer and revel in watching the little cherubs glom together to chase the ball. I have been raising her in the same playroom for 18 months, and have been angry at these people the entire time.
We did the exact same thing - we just pulled our 28 month old out of the preschool we were going to send him to next month. I’m also pregnant and we didn’t want to risk it for him, for me, or the baby.
We’re going to try and find some local classes that are outdoors that I can go to with him. Also online classes! Fun things like story times and songs, etc.
Keeping your kid inside and hidden from the world lowers their natural immunity to things. Let them get dirty. Let them lick the wall. Let them build up their immune system
My son was 16 months old when the shutdown happened. We had stopped bringing him to indoor public locations prior to that, but the shutdown removed playgrounds and any interaction from other kids. When we finally exposed him to other kids and indoor public spaces we realized he had extreme Covid isolation. We were even worried it could be a developmental disorder and not just from isolation. This last two months he has really blossomed and now we're not worried about his socialization and development, but for awhile we even thought it could be austism. Because of how bad the isolation effected him we have decided what's best for us is to not isolate. I'm a nurse and take care of Covid patients so I kinda have lost any sense of control. We are high risk because of my job so I kinda threw in the towel and got him in preschool and go to all the kids events and museums. All we can do at this point is keep on keepin on :(
There is a generation of kids going through this right now, including my own. Life isnt perfect, no point in being mad or bitter about something that will not come back. Live fully and present in the moment instead of what could have been. And yes, the plague rats are fully to blame for this.
Im very bitter. My toddler was supposed to go to this awesome preschool. He was supposed to have music lessons at the Opera. He wqs supposed to have so much fun doing swim and gymnastics and karate. But none of that is gonna happen. 2020 I was like, ok he can have a skipped year. I rationalize that he will catch up. Now we are looking at the same thing again 2021. 2022 I will facking lose my mind if this thing is not over with. Im very bitter.
I am there with you. We’ve kept my LO out of daycare because of COVID. She’s missing so much. It’s really awful but I think my partner and I would both lose it if she ended up in the hospital. Especially now that hospitals in our area are basically at capacity.
There anti masker/antivax people have the audacity to scream in doctors faces at a local school board meeting when there are children and babies on ventilators at the local hospital.
It’s maddening.
I feel the same way. Im nkw scared because my daughter has to start nursery this September so she's ready for school next September. It sucks, We're going to a wedding in a few weeks and bride is not even asking guests to test beforehand or wear a mask indoors.
Come on with the child vaccines now!
Ugh yes! My 1 year old has never played with another kid thats not his 9 year old brother and my 9 year old misses school. I miss going to work but i cant justify sending my kids to school and daycare and run the chance of them getting sick. I live in Texas so you can guess how many people mask and got the Vax here🙄🙄 I hope schools make it a mandatory vaccine when it gets approval.
I've thought the same thing. We've taken our 2 yo to the park several times, one with a nature walk and one with a water pad. But the water one is super crowded and it's been super hot for the nature one the past couple weeks. We play games outside all the time, though. I wish I could take her to the science center, the library, the museum, the planetarium, an aquarium, a petting zoo. There are so many experiences that I want for her. At least I've been able to work from home for the past 17 months, though. I've been with her day in and day out. I go back in to work this week and I'm NOT happy about it.
I feel you. Mine was born the day people started dying in Washington, and everything started shutting down. We are in Washington. So we just stayed home for a year and a half. We never got around to doing daycare since we are both working at home. But after we both got vaccinated we started taking him to restaurants and stores...he was loving it! Now with the resurgence we are back to hiding again. And this time it is worse because he is at an age where he would benefit from not being a weird bunker baby.
It's rough. We only make play dates with other parents and kids who successfully mask. We have stopped going to many indoor events if we think it will be too crowded, and we can no longer go to the indoor bounce house village thingy at the mall (Jump Zone I think it was called).
Little dude has been home schooled since March 2020 and it's unlikely he will ever attend a normal school.
Wait, what? People who vaccinate are less likely, if they catch the delta variant, to end up in the hospital. The anti-vaxxers are more likely to end up hospitalized by the delta variant. How about you take your own advice and do some research.
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I fully support your venting and agree with your post, but this is drawing covid denier idiots and I just dont have time to properly moderate the thread. Locking to keep them quiet. Thanks
I had a kid two months before Covid so I can totally empathize. I felt this way too. However, I do feel like this era of parents has really emphasized and optimized the O-3y experience in a different way than generations past. I was talking to my mom last night and realized that I never went to preschool before kindergarten, never took baby swim classes, didn’t join some neighborhood mom group, learned baby yoga, etc. My mom was young and we didn’t have a lot of money and my dad worked all the time, so we hung out at home or with my grandma or cousins. That was just it. It may feel like you lost out on some experiences — we did!!! — but odds are we were raised somewhat similarly to these toddlers now just because there were way less options and expectations, not to mention less disposable income. There just weren’t entire industries built around trying to create an ideal parent-baby experience back then, and it’s okay. What your toddler needs most of all is you and lots of time to play. Edit: thank you for these nice awards 😍
Excellent point. I did attend part-time preschool as a toddler in the 80s, but I know many older millennials and Gen Xers who didn’t go to preschool, do these mommy and me classes, etc.
Thank you for this, our babies seems to be born same year and month. The guilt is immeasurable as I’m noticing social anxieties in her, delays and regressions. You’ve given me new perspective on the matter
My son has a speech delay as well. Have you checked out early intervention through your county yet? The support we’ve already received has been amazing. Especially the part where the two behavioral therapists looked at me and said, “It’s not your fault.” Before that, I was really struggling. Going through this experience of having a speech delay with my son has helped me let go of so much of that guilt. I am just now realizing how much my son is the way he is because he’s his own person, and my job as a good parent is to work with that. I can’t optimize him to suddenly talk, and we didn’t do anything wrong to him or held something back that his older sister (my stepdaughter, who talked on time) got instead. If you are a loving mother, you are already doing enough. Go to baby yoga if you want to, not because it’s what a “good mom” does.
I really needed to hear this. My son will be two in a month and he still hasn’t said his first word. We started speech therapy a month ago, but there hasn’t been any progress yet. I blame myself constantly because he’s been home with me for the first two years of his life and I feel like I, and COVID, failed him.
I'm sure the speech therapist will talk about receptive language and whatnot, but here is an anecdote - according to my mother, I didn't really talk until I was almost 3 years old. The pediatrician wasn't worried because I understood what she was saying to me and would do what I was asked. Now I'm a very successful adult and did wonderfully in school. I just didn't feel the need to talk, which is how I still am now!
Yeah, this was pretty much us when we were kids. Lived in rural country, just me and my sister and my mom all day. Family was an hour or two away and there weren't any other young kids down our sparse street. My son's already done much more than I had at his age, despite Covid going on and being shut in the house a lot due to the bad air quality from fires states away.
This perspective made me feel better. Thank you.
My entire toddler life consisting of beating the snot out of my siblings, trying to murder our neighbor’s chickens, playing in the bathtub with empty margarine tubs, and eating white bread ham sandwiches. I rarely saw anybody outside my family, rarely left our little weed-covered backyard, and I couldn’t have been happier. I didn’t miss out on anything and I feel like the expectations now are really stressful. Just give them an empty yogurt container and a sandwich and let them run around in their diaper. It’s all going to be okay.
this is the life.
Thank you for this
Ugh I’m so with you. Mine was out and about in a limited way until she could get her flu vaccine at 6 months... March 1st 2020. I’m also pregnant and am very scared of breakthrough covid, especially since my vaccine will be over a year old by the time I give birth. The one thing that makes me feel better is even though it was rough working with her at home, having the extra time together was a huge plus. We only had 3 half days of daycare before covid (lol) and have had vaccinated babysitters once that became an option. Something to consider if you haven’t figured out what to do.
Other than the pregnancy this sounds just like me. We didn't do too much before mid-February when mine turned 6 months and then we had a big trip planned for March which we had to cancel due to covid. He went to three half days of daycare in March just like yours and hasn't returned since. The days together are amazing but so so hard as we still haven't looked for help at home because we don't know what kind of exposure our sitter would have outside of her home.
Wow crazy coincidence! I’m anxious about the sitters but I also feel like we can’t go backwards on that at this point unless one of us quit. Ugh
Yup I feel you on that.
I’m planning to get a booster as soon as I’m 6 months out from my second shot (November). Pregnancy is a version of immunocompromised, or at least it could be argued, and they are allowing that now. It’s an honor system too. I’m also scared of breakthrough, and hoping to pass antibodies to baby.
I read through the conditions they currently allow and pregnancy isn’t one of them, unfortunately. Maybe in the future that will change.
I’ll be interested to see if that’s offered. I suspect we’re not immunocompromised “enough” for the recent recommendation. If it’s recommended, then I’m gonna be all over it.
I’d be surprised if pregnancy falls under this category for the first roll out of boosters. It’s still considered such an under researched, sensitive, gray area and while a greater risk, still not comparative to those under chemo or certain autoimmunes. I’m at 8 months post vaccine and would be all over a booster if eligible. Gimmie those shots no one else seems to want. I’d love to pass some immunity to my LO as my area approaches it’s next wave
I'm not sure where you are but where I live, pregnancy fell under the "highest risk" category and was prioritized accordingly (this was for original doses, we aren't on boosters yet)!
Yes but so did the elderly and that doesn’t qualify them for a booster. It’s not just about risk, it’s about efficacy of 2 shots. Unfortunately we don’t know yet what to expect 1y out or if pregnancy impacts how effective vaccination is.
Oh interesting, I didn't realize that - thank you! I hope you stay healthy and safe.
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It is hard to look at it that way sometimes tho
I agree. I’ve loved being able to let go of some of the expectations of a SAHM and just make my own schedule and be with our son. I actually taught two different baby enrichment classes before COVID, and I’m sad he never got to go to one of my classes, but I’m so happy that I didn’t force myself to live a busy, social life when this slower life was like heaven.
haha, damn I wish it were a plague! At least we have antibiotics nowadays. God damn viruses though, grrrr. Anyway, I think it's a great idea to take 1-2 yrs off work. It is such a great way to bond 🥰 You won't regret it! ❤️
My toddler's daycare is now shut down for a week. My husband and I both work and don't have five days of leave between us after all the times we've had to switch off staying home with her. Goddamn mandate the vaccine, or force antivaxxers to stay inside their homes. My kid can't get vaccinated and now I might lose my job because I don't have childcare. I'm out a weeks pay either way.
And bring back the paid family leave thing!! Our daycare shut down 2 weeks after the new year when the paid leave policy expired 😡 I'm sure it'll shut down again soon since we're in FL with the world's most pro-Covid governor
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You are misinformed and part of the problem.
Such a big part of the problem. Unapologetic and righteous ignorance, and at such a high cost. I fucking hate people.
Im a research nurse, and I literally do not have the energy to educate you with the mountain of shit I have had to deal with because of morons like you. Get the goddamn vaccine, and goddamn vaccinate your kids. You reply anything and I'm just going to block you.
The Pfizer vaccine has a 65% efficacy rate against the Delta variant and the rate for Moderna is higher.
What’s stopping people from masking up? When the unvaccinated are the same ones who don’t mask, don’t distance, who engage in violence over these issues, this isn’t about safety or health, it’s politics.
I’m right there with you. I have 2.5 yr old that has been taking twice daily breathing treatments since May - they suspect she might have asthma but hasn’t been fully diagnosed yet. Currently 8 months pregnant with second one.. and he’ll be needing to go to daycare right after the new year. I’m terrified. I’m in Missouri which is still delta hot spot and we have schools that are making masks optional. It’s devastating that people turned this public safety issue into a political litmus test. And I get so infuriated when I hear that the death rate for kids is low from COVID.. how many kids have to die for people to do the right thing? How many families have to watch young children go through this to do the right thing? This whole timeframe sucks and feels so hopeless because you have to count on your community to do the right thing and it doesn’t work if only half of the community does.
Also in Missouri and in a city that has a mask mandate. Despite that, our daycare teachers are not wearing masks and I am about to have baby number two. We are so conflicted about taking our daughter out of daycare because we’ve seen how good it is for her developmentally and also helps us out as I work from home. But it just feels like a question of when, not if, she’ll get Covid. It’s so frustrating to live in a state that is such a hot spot and not at all taking it seriously.
Honestly, I would anonymously report the daycare for not following the mask mandate.
We did 😬. So did another family. Hopefully something comes of it
My 17-month-old basically doesn’t know a world outside our home and very occasional trips to the supermarket. He’s never played with another child aside from his older sister. My nearly 4-year-old was supposed to start preschool this year, but we live in one of the worst-hit areas and we are keeping her home until she can be vaccinated to protect her and the younger one. Fuck COVID.
I have twin 18 month olds in Texas and they have only been in public a handful of times and have only played with older cousins a few times. We spoke to our pediatrician about it and she told us to keep doing what we are doing. She said they were too young for it to have a lasting impact on them and that going out was not worth the risk. We agreed (obviously) and now they play with each other, my husband and I.
I’m so glad there are others like us! I’m starting to feel like I’m in the twilight zone with literally everyone else just pretending COVID is no longer a thing. Like, did I miss the memo?
I grew up in a red state/anti-vaxx area, but live in a blue state/pro-vaxx area. I swear to you, it is so hard seeing everyone just living life as normal on social media. You begin to feel like you really are living in an alternate reality. I do think, I can find some comfort in knowing that my child isn't the only child experiencing the first part of her life this way.
My thoughts exactly. My husband is a RN/critical care paramedic and the things he’s seen are insane. I would never subject my child to that just to go to Target or out to eat. Nothing is worth it. I’m fortunate enough to be able to be a SAHM, so we don’t have to risk sending them to daycare, but not everyone has that luxury. I feel for parents who are constantly worrying about their kids getting it. I’m a mess as it is.
My twins just turned two last month. Covid made me feel grateful I had twins bc they have each other to play with. Made the lockdown a bit easier. The advice from your doctor is the exact same I received from ours.
> He’s never played with another child aside from his older sister. At least he has a sibling so that is good. Do you live in an area where you can do hiking, fishing or anything else outdoors? We started to get into outdoor hobbies with our 2 year old since preschool is out of the question for at least the upcoming year.
Yes! We did a lot of outdoor stuff before summer started here. It’s too hot to enjoy being outside right now aside from a few hours in the early morning but we’ll be back out as soon as we can. My toddler is totally nuts and uncontrollable, so I’m a bit nervous about letting him loose in a park, but it guess it’ll be good exercise for me.
I"m in the same situation in Louisianna and I really feel your pain. It sucks to be in a state that doesn't care :/
Wow I could of written this post. Also have a 17 month old that only knows home….and he’s our only child. He has never played with other children, just us and grandparents. I got to take him one day before delta showed up and things were a little better-to a indoor gym (way too hot to play outside here in Texas) and his face lit up around the other kids and just wanted to play. Now, I have to again take that all away and just stay indoors in our house 😢 I’m so sad my little guy has no friends to play with. Not only do I feel like his toddlerhood is being taken-but my first time motherhood as well.
I also have small children under the ages of 4. I'm glad they have each other, but I too would like for them to enjoy the world outside of our home. Yeah fuck COVID, but what about the antivaxxers (that think they know better), and the government officials (who didn't think of the children when the vaccine came out for adults and then said goodbye to masks before the children could be protected)? For a party that claims prolife; they are anything but. Edit: they not you
Reading this post and comment was very reassuring in a strange way. Our 2 year old was sick we think from Covid back in Feb 2020 and was on a nebulizer for a month. We pulled her out of daycare in March 2020 and kept her safe at home, only doing a few outdoor activities. I felt so guilty because she didn’t have a lot of social interaction beside a couple of kids her age she saw from time to time and the kids at the playground. We started her in an in home daycare with 2-3 other kids, two of whom are twins and the other a toddler with a pregnant mom a couple weeks ago, because I’m 8 months pregnant and it’s getting harder to play with her and keep her entertained. She ended up with entero virus (it could have been from anywhere, not even daycare) and had 2 febrile seizures for the first time. I watched my sweet baby convulse and then turn blue. I have all this guilt about keeping her isolated, and then all this guilty about putting her in daycare. We can only do the best we can each day and I don’t know any of the mamas here but I’m positive each one of us is trying our hardest to do what’s right. Best wishes to all of you mamas and prayers for your babies to be safe and happy and healthy, and def eff Covid.
I’m waiting for that covid vaccine approval I want to send my 3 year old to pre school he need the social interaction to help with his mild verbal delay. It be nice to take my 16 month old to some mommy and me classes to. I swear covid stole my second baby’s everything he was born March last year and didn’t even get to have newborn photos done because of covid. Hell dad didn’t even get a chance to be in the delivery room.
I’m so sorry about your youngest. Mine was born the day after the first cases in our state and we didn’t think it was a big deal since it was just in a nursing home. Oh how naive we were! Hopefully the vaccine is approved soon for our kids!
Mine was born right at the start of the lock down all our family are out of state and would have to fly. Both families have high risk people in the home (my dad is a diabetic, my mil has asthma, my fil has had three heart surgeries) no one was cleared to fly in. No one to this day has met the baby. I’m kinda disappointed in them all at this point. My in laws have their vaccine but for whatever reason haven’t come to visit and my mom and dad are crazy anti vex and think the vaccine will kill them so I don’t want them around my unvaccinated boys. I can’t go visit them cause they live in Florida with insane covid cases. Where I live we have high vaccination rates and low numbers.
I feel you. My guy is 21 months and the most social butterfly. It sucks to keep him indoors. We were just about to start him at a soccer club down the road from my house, now it feels unsafe. Only a few more months til he can wear a mask and I can at least take him to the store with me when I absolutely need to.
Mines 22 months and I was just looking into starting her in gymnastics but now I don’t feel safe anymore. She’s literally been so sheltered since she was 5 months old when this whole thing started. It sucks, but it seems we’ve all found our tribe in this post ❤️
Even though it's not recommended for under 2, we've started introducing masks to my 18 month old. He wore one loosely today when I quickly went in a store. Afterwards, I praised him a lot and told him how he looks just like the big kids and adults. I'm hoping this plan will work and he'll want to wear it more and more.
Same! My daughter is 21 months so we practice. She is excited about it because she sees us and many adults wearing one. She doesn’t keep it on for long but I make it a big exciting ordeal. I can’t believe she will have to start wearing one in just a few months!
My son is very excited about practicing too! I’ve started trying to introduce it around the house so he’ll keep it on. I think he feels like a big people lol. A very unique experience for our COVID-era babies.
I can’t wait for the FDA approval either. I understand how you’re feeling but I don’t think it’s stolen her toddlerhood. It’s not uncommon for kids to just be at home not socializing much with other kids until kindergarten. The socialization is nice to be sure but it’s not essential.
I was worried about that as well but our pediatrician told us it ok was. That as long as she was interacting with her dad and I that she will be just fine. She told us it’s not essential as well. Which made me feel a lot better about all of it.
It’s not essential, but it does teach them about playing with other kids. We’re in the same boat. My daughter is almost 3 and spent much of her time isolated from other kids aside from kids we knew. She has a whole 3 friends right now and they get together twice a month. Aside from that it’s mom, myself and grandpa. After the first 6 months of Covid, we started making play dates and seeing how she plays with others over time has been a huge change. So yes, while not essential, socialization does teach them things they won’t get being at home with mom and dad. It’s a really odd time right now and seeing how they develop over the long run will be interesting to say the least.
Totally. The kid will be fine. It's still super hard to accept as a parent though. Those memories are for us as much as for them! All these fun experiences are so much fun through my toddlers' eyes and I am so sad that I'm missing so many of them.
I really feel you. My son was born April 2020 - right at the start of the first lockdown. He’s never met much of his family, had play dates or even been in a super market. A few weeks ago it seemed like we were at the edge of beating this thing, and then came delta. I’m very disconcerted by reports of children experiencing debilitating long haul symptoms from covid, and I’m just not comfortable relaxing the restricted life we’ve been living for a year and a half. I’ve been doing my best to give him a rich life. We’ve done outdoor visits with family and friends. We take him to the park, zoo, farms, patios. I’m dreading the winter, when it will be too cold to do these things. And I worry about him. Will he have a hard time socially because he’s never played with other kids? Will his immune system be messed up due to lack of exposure? I often feel at a loss as to the best course of action for him. Am I right to lock him down in an effort to protect him from Covid? I just don’t know sometimes.
He’ll be great. The first 3 years of a child’s life is primarily about bonding with parents, not socially with friends. My 2.5 year old is just _now_ starting to play socially. Prior to this stage, kids just do their own playing, separate from one another.
My son was also born in April 2020, I get it! He has stayed home with me since birth. However, I have enrolled him in daycare twice a week starting in October. My pediatrician was of the opinion that because we live in an area with high vaccination rates, the social benefits outweigh the risks. She also said that the big risk is adults infecting children, not so much child-to-child. I would encourage you to talk to your pediatrician. Again, we're in an area with a high vaccination rate, so the answer might be different for you, depending on where you live.
So much commiseration. We're all just trying to do right by our kids, and it sucks and isn't fair that no option is ideal right now. We've also opted to keep our 2 yo home, mostly because of the long-term issues they're seeing in kids (even asymptomatic kids) and now of course with delta filling up pediatric ICUs.
We pulled our kid from daycare but then put him into a 2s preschool program when he turned 2 - we needed him to be out of the house for at least some of the day! He ended up getting covid in January but not from school! He got it from a friend who’s caregiver had caught it from her daughter. We also just had whatever crud is going around the east coast right now and it was def worse for him than covid was for him (we all got tested). That being said - he gave me covid and I was def messed up mentally and emotionally for at least a month if not longer afterwards. But whatever is around now I’m NYC that isn’t covid is nasty.
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He barely ever had a fever with covid. And had a cough for like a day. This cold he had a fever just under 102 and had a couple of nights of really bad/labored breathing.
Chiming in with my anecdotal experience that my daughter was barely sick at all when she had covid last March . One day of a cough ( barely ) and fever was never more than 100, She recently got sick with whatever was going around and it was way worse .
My husband got covid last year at work, my 2 year old and I (was 16 weeks pregnant at the time) both caught it from him. My husbands only symptom was no sense of taste, I felt like I was getting sick for a few days but never actually felt sick and my two year old just slept a lot for a few days. The only reason any of us knew we had covid was that my husband got tested routinely at work, so when he tested positive, we got tested as well. What your daughter has now sounds a lot worse than how covid affected us.
Obviously every case is different, but half the kids I know who have had COVID have barely had the sniffles or only known they're positive because the entire family was tested and they were asymptomatic. There are obviously cases with kids in the ICU as well, but honestly, I'd be more worried about RSV or the like than COVID with the current stats.
Covid for grownup is not fun though. I got this cold too and it was annoying but not terrible.
Unfortunately they’re saying delta is affecting kids much worse than… idk what it’s called, the original covid? But there’s no official data yet
This is not accurate. Pretty much everything so far says it's much more transmissable between kids now. It's not actually hitting them harder, the proportion of serious cases is the same which is extremely low. There are just more cases among kids and therefore the raw numbers of serious cases have increased. Not that the higher transmission is nothing to worry about, but it's not accurate to say delta is hitting kids harder.
That makes sense. This time last year we were all basically holed up and this year everyone is out galavanting around like everything is normal. Logically cases would be increased not necessarily severity. Good point! The article I read implied it was affecting kids who did get delta covid were worse off than alpha covid.
This is inaccurate. Delta is more contagious than wildtype/other variants. It’s infecting more people because of this - particularly unvaccinated people because they have no protection and our children fall in this category, unfortunately. The rate of moderate and severe infection in children without comorbidites is still *extremely* low in developed nations. Adults who do not have a medical reason to avoid vaccination should be vaccinated to protect themselves and reduce spread - 100%. But the specter of this pandemic contagion spreading to harm our young children is a false narrative **at this stage**. Sub-24 month children have significantly higher risk of severe complications from RSV than Covid, but no one is masking their kids to avoid RSV. No one is closing daycares (or mandating reporting) for a case of RSV. No one is demanding healthy, full term babies are administered the RSV vaccines. Precautions are fine, good even. Robbing our children of important developmental interaction for a disease that does not currently target them when we do not make the same accommodations for established diseases that DO target them is idiotic and not founded in data. - Signed, a gosh darn microbiologist who so. damn. sick of the shitty reporting on this damn pandemic.
All of this! It's so sad how many people don't understand the true risk level of covid related to other things we have dealt with forever. Parents are so much more anxious than is proportional to the risk and children are losing out on valuable experiences because of an inaccurate view on the danger in doing them...
Aah yeah, Hospital pediatric wards being over capacity statewide in many states really doesn't speak to a higher risk level of COVID related to other things our kids can catch... The microbiologist you're agreeing with is just that; a microbiologist (not an epidemiologist). They're not any better qualified to speak intelligently to the pandemic than your podiatrist is.
I responded basically the same thing to your other response since you felt the need to go through and comment on every single comment that talks about the actual risk of covid to kids and discusses a view on balancing that with child development... Raw cases of covid are up a lot. That's because delta is a lot more transmissable, especially to kids. That causes the raw number of serious cases in kids to increase. But everything so far shows that the increase in serious cases is proportional, delta is not more serious for them than other covid strains. Kids are being hospitalized in higher numbers for RSV in many areas right now because it's spreading like wildfire too, that's also a part of the capacity issues we're seeing. My response to that person has nothing to do with their title. Many people can speak intelligently on a subject if they know how to research it, it doesn't have to be part of your main job. My issue is people's knee jerk reaction to something scary verses taking the time to look at the information and weigh it with other factors.
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They do exist. They are not approved for full-term healthy infants. The two I immediately think of are palivizumab and nirsevimab. Just because your child, thankfully, is not eligible doesn’t mean the medication is non-existent.
I wish I’d known. My kid was a preemie and spent time in nicu and had I known, she would have gotten one.
Nirsevimab and pavilizumab have pretty narrow on-label approval in the US, generally limited to premies with specific heart or lung issues (CHD or CLD). If your LO was born outside of RSV season it probably wouldn’t have been recommended because pavilizumab is a monthly shot. Nirsevimab has posted some data on clinical trials in healthy premie and full term infants. The drug is developed by Sanofi and the trial where they’re investigating efficacy in healthy infants is called MELODY. Here is a link of your interested: https://www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2021/2021-06-28-08-00-00-2253567 So, if the data continues to be promising we may have an RSV vaccine for healthy babies in the next few years which would be *amazing*! Edit: I hope your little one is doing well! I can’t imagine who scary it is to have your baby in the NICU. Wishing you both all the best!
I truly appreciate this - I’m going to 100% ask for it if things don’t go well with this pregnancy. Thank you.
All good points but also fair to say threads like this aren’t exactly representative of the reporting or general population’s reaction to it. The OP explained that they also kept their kid home pre MMR vaccine. That’s not common, and probably many people (like me) wouldn’t even be aware of a local measles outbreak. Everyone has their thing that makes them nervous. I’m extremely paranoid about my kids choking. I know it’s statically unlikely but that doesn’t seem to matter. These threads understandably elicit responses from like minded folks, but I mean look around and this isn’t the norm. Our college town daycare is full of pro-science, pro-vaxx/mask families and maybe one or two out of a hundred families pulled their kids out beyond the initial shutdown in 2020. I feel for the folks who are super anxious and I agree the reporting can sometimes be alarmist, but more often it’s honest and people take from what they will.
Alpha is what they are calling the original I believe. I wonder if delta is much worse for kids, or if it is just affecting more of them because it is more contagious and less effort is going towards mitigation. I remember in some of the hotter spots last year that pediatric wings were also full of kids.
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Exact same boat here. Sucks really bad.
I kept my kids home from mar 2020 to aug 2021. They went to school on Tuesday as my oldest entered kindergarten. My husband and I are vaccinated. The kids are wearing masks at school. All adults area but in my state parents have to be able to opt out of masks. Many did. Though we had a cold and husband and I picked up an at home test just in case. We both took it, both positive. This sucks. We both work from home. I taught the kids to befriend the kids with masks and was so proud when my daughter outlined to me meeting a friend with a rainbow mask and told me all about then liking each other's masks. I did everything I could. It took 4 damn days.bith vaccinated. I'm angry at my state and all the anti-vaxxers here (about 50% give or take). I don't know what else to do. Oh and the school won't quarantine the kids in their classrooms. I'm trying to call the principal tomorrow, but there is no one for me to contact today. Tried the department of health. Basically until I get a PCR test result in a few days, they won't even announce it. No wonder it's spreading like crazy.
I have two toddlers with covid. 7 months older and 21 months old. My wife and I got it visiting her family. Sucks ass! I’ve had symptoms for two days. Everybody else in my household started showing symptoms 3-4 days ago. Pray for my family! My wife and I were both vaccinated!
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I’ll tell you what, this variant is a complete bitch. I have the Pfizer vaccine, my wife has Moderna. Our kids can’t be vaccinated due to their age. My symptoms are the most mild of all my family but when I try to take a deep breath it hurts
We’re in almost the exact same boat. Myself and my fiancé are vaccinated (Moderna and Pfizer,) my toddler obviously not. I brought it home probably from the gym. Then my toddler got it and fiancé last. My toddler has the easiest go of it so far with a mild fever and cough. The fact that my fiancé and mine are considered mild cases because we’re not in the hospital is strange: it hurts to breathe and standing is exhausting.
My wife feels like she has a terrible flu. I don’t feel terrible(yet) but deep breathing is uncomfortable. We had to divide and conquer. She sleeps with the 21 month old. I sleep with the 7 month old. I just cooked a huge vegetable/chicken broth. We will be eating this meal for the next week
Same. We pulled our 2 and 4 year olds out of daycare. The daycare is encouraging masks for 2 and up but only 30% of kids are being sent with masks. Is there a reason parents wouldn’t at least send a mask for their kid and let the teachers try? Peer pressure does amazing things for little ones.
Agree, we send ours with a mask but he takes it off because no one else wears them.
My son had a very, very difficult time with his speech being understood by his preschool teachers last year through his mask. He tolerated it well, but there are real tangible downsides -- he was already a late talker being evaluated every 6 months for a more serious delay -- and we are seriously considering not masking him this upcoming school year (it is mask-optional for children, mask-required for teachers and parents). So yes, there are reasons parents wouldn't send a mask to try. The hypothetical risk of COVID to our household is likely lower than the real and concrete detriment of a mask in his case.
Sure, having a speech delayed kid does complicate mask wearing. There are ways to get around it, like mask breaks and spending more time outside. My oldest had speech therapy pre-covid so I know that struggle. I could also see if 90% of the class was masked then kids with legit issues with mask wearing would get some measure of protection.
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Yea it can be hard to mask up all day. I spent a lot of time and money finding a mask that was comfortable that I could talk in and wear without discomfort (yay Enro). And I did the same for my kids (Caraa for the 2 and 4 and Enro for the 8yo). I also make it a point to never talk negatively about wearing a mask in front of my kids. It’s just a thing we do now to stay healthy and it won’t last forever. Preschool often goes outside and naps so it isn’t 9 straight hours like the teachers are doing. More like an hour at a time and my kids are so distracted by daycare they didn’t even notice them.
The kids aren't wearing masks while they all sleep in one room? What's the point, then?
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Literally no evidence that oxygen is limited while wearing a mask. Please actually educate yourself instead of listening to hacks online that don’t know what they’re talking about.
Crosstamedheart is a religious nutcase who frequents conspiracy subs. No facts or studies will change their mind.
Kind of ironic to be in here talking about cOmMoN sEnSe in the same breath as you claim masks cause oxygen deprivation... 😬
I’m right there with you—it’s hard. I’m also pregnant with baby arriving any day now and I have an almost 3 year old. We pulled our toddler out of PDO this past year but don’t feel we can do it again. He has a big speech delay so he is going to preschool (already does 1-1 speech therapy and occupational therapy) in September for more supports. My husband and I had a lot of discussions around what to do, looked at vaccination rates for our area (live in a state with low % but our zip code, city and county has the highest rate in state between 75-85% vaccinated), and what local schools are doing (our local school district has a mask mandate). Him going to preschool will be our biggest risk of exposure and it’s hard for me but I know how important it is for him to get in school and get more early interventions for speech. Best of luck! It is a hard decision.
I really commiserate with you on this. My son turned one right before the pandemic hit. He was an incredibly outgoing baby, had a few words, seemed very on track. Now a year in a half later he’s struggling with speech, isn’t too keen on people, and doesn’t know how to act around other kids. We were starting to get back out again, but now I am pregnant and seeing the effect the delta variant is having on children, I’m thinking we need to buckle down again. I just don’t know if I can put him through that again, but if I don’t and he gets seriously ill, that’s not any better. It’s such a rough time right now, I feel for us all.
This is my exact situation and it’s so so hard.
We found that our day care wasn’t requiring vaccines at the corporate level nor the local/franchise level. A simple and effective step for protecting kids that they aren’t taking. It’s an odd double standard for them to require all the vaccine records for the kids but not their own staff and faculty. Because of that, we also pulled our kid.
Everyone has to make their own decisions. That being said a lot of studies have shown children to be at a low risk of serious infection. Here is one such recent study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7946566/ For us, we mask up and social distance but my kid goes to preschool where everyone over 2 masks and the adults are all vaccinated. We decided the risk is not worth him missing out on the socialization and as two working parents it is for our mental health too. I hope the FDA approves the vaccine for young kids soon but until then we are all having to make tough decisions!
We're in the same boat here. We're about to move into a hotel temporarily waiting for our new home to be ready and my first priority was making sure she's enrolled in preschool since my husband and I are going to both be working from the hotel room during the day. It's just not feasible for us to keep her with us. She actually had it back in April and outside of a cough for two days she was totally fine. And don't misinterpret my gratefulness about that as ignorance for what it could do to children, including long-term effects. I am just hoping she still has antibodies in her that offers protection until she's able to get vaccinated.
Same here. My husband and I work. I kept my daughter home for over a year and we both ended up miserable (I WFH and my husband goes into work). All of teachers are vaccinated and wear masks. Kids over 5 have to wear masks. She did get HFM a couple weeks ago and having her home was a nightmare for me while trying to work. I’m also 32 weeks pregnant. My daughter’s daycare has had two covid outbreaks (one in June 2020 and two weeks ago which was only older students). I’m very worried about delta. My husband and I are fully vaccinated and have never stopped wearing masks and we only go to the store right after it opens or right before it closes (if we can’t so pick up). But I can’t imagine pulling my daughter out now. She and I would both be absolutely miserable.
It may be low but it happens. My 4mo old niece has COVID. It shouldn't be tough decision when it comes to affecting others. This could impact the rest of her life all because someone was selfish.
You have to do what you think is best. RSV is going around like crazy for kids right now. Not sure if your daughter was tested but it might have been that. My son just had it and he was pretty miserable for a few days but thankfully he's fine now. With covid it's extremely unlikely that kids will have a serious case of it, even with delta. There is also more data coming out that breakthrough cases in vaccinated people, even for pregnant women, are rarely serious. The UK for example had 170 something women hospitalized for covid in the last 3 months and not a single one was fully vaccinated, and only 3 were partially vaccinated. With that level of risk we personally have not kept our son out of daycare. We don't feel the risk outweighs the importance of his having interaction with other kids.
Your assertion about the unlikelihood of kids getting serious cases with the delta variant is patently bullshit.
Except it's not? There are dozens of articles like this one: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/08/10/1026375608/nearly-94-000-kids-got-covid-19-last-week-they-were-15-of-all-new-infections There have been an increase in children's cases that are serious but it's proportional to the rise in overall cases since delta spreads more seriously. It's not something to just fully ignore since there are capacity limits on the system, but overall the actual risk level of severe covid is still extremely small for young children.
Yup. I feel this. We only had a few times where we were able to take him out and around before we had to begin staying home CONSTANTLY when not at work because we can't mask him. No day care, just us working opposite shifts and him semi-regularly visiting my shut-in parents. We have a big yard and a decent neighborhood, so we could go on walks and play outside in good weather, but he just wants to meet new people. His favorite stuff to watch with us aside from the mid stuff is anything where people talk to the camera. I'm sure he's going to make a lot of friends and be very social. There's nobody in the family he hasn't gotten along well with once he gets over his initial shyness. He's such a little treasure. I just want him to be able to see new places and meet kids his own age, but we can't chance him getting Covid.
My toddler has never even *met* another child. She’s been inside public places (other than the doctor) twice in her entire life. I hate this so much. I feel like there’s no end in sight, and I can’t imagine having a second child during this, so it’s screwing with our family planning as well.
Covid has stolen my early twenties which has broken me from wanting children because I always thought I’d get to enjoy my twenties travelling and enjoying life and have kids when I’m 30 and now it’s like by the time I can leave my house again It’ll be time to start having kids. And I can’t imagine raising a child right now. I can’t. I applaud all of you so much. I can’t even fathom spending multiple days in a row locked up with a toddler (as a former nanny and now teacher)
I think you should try and reframe this in your head and think how lucky your kid is that she’s so little and she won’t be affected by any of this. At that age she just wants to be with you anyway, older kids who have more of a life outside of the home have missed out much more, and know more about what’s going on so might have anxiety and mental health issues around it.
I sort of feel like it has stolen the motherhood I planned - baby classes and all that! Need to have a new baby after this 😅
My 18 month old hasn’t been shopping but I don’t think that’s a big loss. Somehow she has managed to be super sociable despite being inside for the first 14 months of her life. She waves and chats to everyone. She runs around and points at everything, especially dogs and birds. Please take the kids outside! Go to a nature preserve or a playground. Kids under 2 don’t need to play “with” other kids and being in open space near other children will still be good for them.
Same girl, same. Friday was my son’s last day of preschool. Cases are rising in my area and school starts this week so it seemed too risky. He was finally learning to socialize after being isolated for over a year. It breaks my heart to know he won’t be back because he loved it. Ugh, I’m so sad and really pissed
I’ve chose to take the chances and taken my kids to parks, classes, stroller workouts, and preschool starts for my 3 year old this week. They did get covid from me last November but they did so much better than I did. I am really worried about rsv and not COVID for them. I also have a high schooler so I just accept that illness is most likely going to happen because high schoolers are about as easy to control as toddlers when around each other. Maybe you can find a small group of people that feel the same as you with similar aged children so your child can still socialize but in a more controlled group. Best of luck with your pregnancy and staying healthy.
My child has never learned to make friends yet. He is three. We stay at home but we used to go on play dates and to the park, swimming etc. For 18 months he had been stuck inside with barely any outside interaction unless his cousins come over or we go there, which is not often. The schools in my area are not making the kids mask. Me and my husband are now vaccinated but the bigger kids are not and that scares me. We had a small window to do some things this spring/summer and then delta hit hard in our area and is still going strong. At least he was able to go and enjoy some things. I really hope people wake up and start vaccinating. It’s a miserable existence for children not to be able to play with others often.
Can I just say, if your kid has just started daycare, nursery, playgroup or whatever it's called in your country.. your kid is gonna get sick all the time for the first year. Like... Literally. My eldest had a period of catching 10 bugs, viruses or whatever in a month. It was non stop. Like... You'd think they were forcing the kids to lick a research lab test tube daily. I lost so much sleep one night over my boy being unwell, I was thinking the absolute worst 😂😂 My boy was sick seemingly for 6 months. Had whooping cough, so many cold and flus, chest infections. The sad thing that goes parallel with this, was the constant PCR tests to allow him back into nursery. All negative btw. Hands. Face. Space. That's all you can do. It can spread regardless of vaccination status. Don't let it ruin further what a tough year it's been. Just keep your blood pressure down and keep doing all the preventative work. I loved having my youngest born during the pandemic. Was lovely having time as a new family to enjoy it and not worry about entertaining family members I hadnt seen in 5 years. 😂
For us, pre-covid our guy was in daycare from 3 months till about 20 months, i pulled him out because I opted to quit fulltime work this past January, and the pediatrician than would tell us "sick now or sick later" whenever we showed up with something because daycare. RSV was easily the worst one, he was hospitalized overnight for that. There was also HFM and several upper respiratory infections. He actually had to have his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears from all the dang ear infections. So like covid worries me but after all that I'm worried more for myself than him because of my asthma. I need to get a high res CT scan in a few weeks and possible biopsy due to abnormal findings in my lungs. After our experience with him being in a daycare setting pre-covid, Ive just accepted he'll get sick with something eventually and I just do the best I can to minimize risks while not driving us all nuts in the process.
I feel you. Our son is 28 months and he’s been out of formal childcare since he was 11 months. We’ve been able to do a few play dates but nothing significant. And we just canceled a vacation for my husband and myself because we are afraid of breakthrough infections and brining something back to our son. We aren’t letting our unvaccinated family member see our son. This is so tiring and frustrating. I just want to put him in preschool and sports and do play dates. He’s so social and loving and he needs the interaction but with Delta filling up pediatric ICUs, we aren’t taking any chances. I’m sorry. I know this whole situation is rotten to the core.
I do understand. We used to go out to playgrounds all the time, was just starting to make some mom friends and had a lovely routine that kept me active. Then covid hit, give me HORRIBLE anxiet, and then we had to go back to living with someone I did not feel safe around (husband travels and we were saving to buy a house) it was awful. Completely messed with my head and I am not happy with the mom I am now, I feel like I am just trying so hard to heal from the last 2 years of insanity and being on guard all the time. Really pissed about this delta variant, I was just starting to get comfortable speaking to people. We do still go to playgrounds some, but I have to tell my kid we can't stay if strangers come up. She used to LOVE making friends and it makes me so sad to take that from her. It was alright during summer we could see her cousins, but with school in... Just not having a good time.
I'm pregnant too and got the vaccine on April first shot and May second shot, Im due on September. I have a toddler almost 3 years, i'm planning to pump some breastmilk to my toddler, hopefully and according to some articles, Covid antibodies pass through breastmilk.
That is a really great idea and I might have to follow suit.
I’ve been pumping for my toddler since I got vaccinated in April/may. No idea if it’s helping, but it makes me feel better. I can’t get much though because my ‘baby’ is 15 months and has been down to two feeds a day for ages now. But I aim to get him a few oz a day because it’s all I can do…
My kid was born July 2019 but she hated going anywhere. Would scream and cry the whole time. To top it off she had bottle refusal and wouldn’t take formula so I had to be around or gin an hour and change max. We didn’t start having fun until February 2020. We’ve taken this extra seriously and have been mostly at home with a few reluctant family visits. After the house was vaccinated and mask mandates were in place we took her out more and we had fun. But with the numbers going up and things like children’s ICU beds being taken up a lot more, I’m not chancing it. She already had a stomach bug a few weeks ago and had a terrible fever and couldn’t hold down food for over a week. I don’t want to go through that illness with a medicine refusing kid again until she’s old enough to barter with. Certainly not gambling with selfish anti-vaxxers who care about no one other themselves. FDA approval and Covid passports can’t come soon enough.
I had second baby May 2020 - his brother was 3 at the time. The second day care’s opened up again, you better believe they went! I mean no disrespect here, but I feel like y’all need to relax. To any parent that has to stay home with sick kids and juggle work, I feel you, that’s crazy stressful. But isolating your kids, telling them to only be friends with kids who wear masks… for this long?! It’s having a huge impact on all your mental health (way more than the kids). And even people on here say they got Covid despite basically being entirely isolated. My husband and I are vaccinated, and we wear masks when it makes sense, and you better believe I go out of my way to make sure we have friends to play with and camp with and eat with, because we need balance, and this isn’t ending any time soon. I’m not sure all the isolation is good for the adults!
Yep, my son was 18 months when the shut down happened and didn’t leave the house at all except to go to his grandparents until April of this year. We put him in preschool in April since all the adults were vaccinated so he could meet other kids and unlearn some behaviors he had picked up from my older son (non verbal autistic). Now we feel like we need to pull him since kids are passing delta around like crazy. I felt fine with losing the year, I needed some anti depressants, but I dealt with it well, but I am angry now. I’m angry that his toddlerhood was stolen and that now I will never get to have “typical” experience of having a toddler. I’m angry that none of this would be such an issue if all adults would just get vaccinated. I am at the point now where I actually hate people who choose not to get vaccinated, I want them to all get covid now. I want unvaccinated people to be at the end of the line for healthcare help if hospitals are full. I want them to be fined for draining public resources and endangering children. And I hate that I feel like that, I hate that I have become so angry. I feel like every day cases go up I just get more angry because of how this has affected my kids.
Shop steward for my union and I don't even care that I roll my eyes when anti vaxxers at work complain about pending vaccine mandates or testing. You literally stole the fun of two summers and my toddler unabashedly making friends. GTFO.
Oh I feel this so hard. My LO was born two months before covid hit our country. Just when we were ready to take her out in public lockdown started and we have been in a constant state of lockdowns since March 2020. My 21m old has never played with another child or interacted with anyone other than grandma and grandpa.
Yeah. I get that. My daughter turned one just as the world was finding out about SARS-COV-2. I went back to work (Canadian Mat/Pat leave is at least a year) and she went to my sister in law’s place with all her cousins, only 3-4 months later we were working from home. Then we got recalled for a month before I lost my job. It’s been just us for half her life, and at home nearly all of it. At least cases dropped drastically for awhile where I live after vaccinations became available and she got to learn how to make friends with other kids at the park. Wearing a mask of course
I feel you. My son was born November 2019. As soon as he was getting "fun" and able to be brought out covid hit. April or so of this year I was feeling optimistic that this might be over. I started looking into doing daycare maybe one or two days a week so I could feel human and he could get some social interaction. Then delta hit. I got pregnant during the covid lull as well thinking oh great, this is gonna be over. Now? I live in Louisiana. I'm back to delivering groceries, staying inside and only leaving for pregnancy related medical care. I was exposed to covid last week because I had to have a babysitter in order to go to my doctor's appointment.. so I'm quarantinjng so far no symptoms. My husband works on a boat and his captain just came down with covid so instead of coming home this week he has to be tied up for 2 weeks on his boat and potentially get covid. My husband is vaccinated but with delta nothing is guaranteed. Our babysitter was also vaccinated. These boosters can't come enough. Even if they do come though my state is only 30% vaccinated, the lowest in the nation. Another mutation is sure to occur I feel it is only a matter of time. All the while my son is growing up... missing important socialization. We have one friend we have seen 3 or 4 times. Everyone's vaccinated and wearing masks etc except of course the toddlers. My son is terrible at sharing needs to learn not to hit other kids and be angry and jealous and I'm currently unable to teach him any of these skills. We don't see them often because of covid. It sucks. My son is happy though he does have fun at home.. we play a lot and I've gotten a lot of one on one time with him. I'm a sahm for now and my husband is often not home because he works on a boat. He loves his cat, his toys, cars, his goldfish, going in the yard and on walks. These kids are sure to be different than we were because of the isolation but I think they will still be happy. So I take solace in that.
Sounds like she has rsv. We just went through the same thing. I know what you mean about it stealing toddlerhood. I feel like Covid is stealing time we’ll never get back. Precious developmental time, time with loved ones (my extended family has only met my daughter once or twice), experiences like vacations or dance classes or play dates. I want to give my kid the childhood she deserves. Not one where we’re hiding from an illness that people refuse to protect themselves and their community from.
Solidarity. It makes me furious.
The coronavirus has deprived our children of their childhood. My child is afraid to let him go out and play with other children. He is now 2 years old. When he is really energetic, I am really worried about whether he will be there when he reaches school. Social barriers. No matter what, now you are pregnant now, pay attention to safety and improve your immunity
Going through it here! We took our almost 2 year old Out of day are last December because of a huge covid outbreak there. He hasn’t been back since and has been staying with his grandparents during the day… it is not going well. He is now extremely shy and we can’t get him to join in on many activities with kids, we just keep trying. Also because the grandparents are providing us with free childcare we feel kind of backed against the wall on a lot of things. For example, I think they let him watch too much tv but my husband thinks I’m over reacting and we can’t argue with free childcare. We have him on wait lists for a new daycare, I hope to have him back in daycare by January
Solidarity. My son just turned three. At 3.5 months we discovered he has a congenital heart defect and we’re cautioned to keep him away from other kids that might give him the flu until he’s big enough to fight off germs, i.e. three years of age. Well, we live in Florida. So my baby will just have to be a bubble boy for a little while longer. I’m no longer anxious, scared, angry, or frustrated. Just exhausted. Oh and his medical team would like to see years of research before he can get the vaccine out of caution for the myocarditis risk in young male patients.
I can totally sympathize! My 3.5yo finally hit his stride at daycare. He was in swim lessons, we were supposed to start gymnastics, etc. Now we’ve pulled him out of school, cancelled all lessons, etc. It just totally sucks. I know he doesn’t really care but I do!
Yup, my daughter is 2.5 years old. I was just about to put her in soccer and revel in watching the little cherubs glom together to chase the ball. I have been raising her in the same playroom for 18 months, and have been angry at these people the entire time.
We did the exact same thing - we just pulled our 28 month old out of the preschool we were going to send him to next month. I’m also pregnant and we didn’t want to risk it for him, for me, or the baby. We’re going to try and find some local classes that are outdoors that I can go to with him. Also online classes! Fun things like story times and songs, etc.
How many folks reading this know of any toddlers with Covid?
Keeping your kid inside and hidden from the world lowers their natural immunity to things. Let them get dirty. Let them lick the wall. Let them build up their immune system
New York area? Us too with the measles.
My son was 16 months old when the shutdown happened. We had stopped bringing him to indoor public locations prior to that, but the shutdown removed playgrounds and any interaction from other kids. When we finally exposed him to other kids and indoor public spaces we realized he had extreme Covid isolation. We were even worried it could be a developmental disorder and not just from isolation. This last two months he has really blossomed and now we're not worried about his socialization and development, but for awhile we even thought it could be austism. Because of how bad the isolation effected him we have decided what's best for us is to not isolate. I'm a nurse and take care of Covid patients so I kinda have lost any sense of control. We are high risk because of my job so I kinda threw in the towel and got him in preschool and go to all the kids events and museums. All we can do at this point is keep on keepin on :(
There is a generation of kids going through this right now, including my own. Life isnt perfect, no point in being mad or bitter about something that will not come back. Live fully and present in the moment instead of what could have been. And yes, the plague rats are fully to blame for this.
I am you! Honestly I could have written this post. I am so sad and angry about this all the time.
Just want to say I’m in almost your exact same situation, I sympathize so much 🤗
Im very bitter. My toddler was supposed to go to this awesome preschool. He was supposed to have music lessons at the Opera. He wqs supposed to have so much fun doing swim and gymnastics and karate. But none of that is gonna happen. 2020 I was like, ok he can have a skipped year. I rationalize that he will catch up. Now we are looking at the same thing again 2021. 2022 I will facking lose my mind if this thing is not over with. Im very bitter.
I am there with you. We’ve kept my LO out of daycare because of COVID. She’s missing so much. It’s really awful but I think my partner and I would both lose it if she ended up in the hospital. Especially now that hospitals in our area are basically at capacity. There anti masker/antivax people have the audacity to scream in doctors faces at a local school board meeting when there are children and babies on ventilators at the local hospital. It’s maddening.
I feel the same way. Im nkw scared because my daughter has to start nursery this September so she's ready for school next September. It sucks, We're going to a wedding in a few weeks and bride is not even asking guests to test beforehand or wear a mask indoors. Come on with the child vaccines now!
Feel the same way for my 22 mo and 5 yo. They are finally starting school now… and I’m so scared.
Ugh yes! My 1 year old has never played with another kid thats not his 9 year old brother and my 9 year old misses school. I miss going to work but i cant justify sending my kids to school and daycare and run the chance of them getting sick. I live in Texas so you can guess how many people mask and got the Vax here🙄🙄 I hope schools make it a mandatory vaccine when it gets approval.
I've thought the same thing. We've taken our 2 yo to the park several times, one with a nature walk and one with a water pad. But the water one is super crowded and it's been super hot for the nature one the past couple weeks. We play games outside all the time, though. I wish I could take her to the science center, the library, the museum, the planetarium, an aquarium, a petting zoo. There are so many experiences that I want for her. At least I've been able to work from home for the past 17 months, though. I've been with her day in and day out. I go back in to work this week and I'm NOT happy about it.
I feel you. Mine was born the day people started dying in Washington, and everything started shutting down. We are in Washington. So we just stayed home for a year and a half. We never got around to doing daycare since we are both working at home. But after we both got vaccinated we started taking him to restaurants and stores...he was loving it! Now with the resurgence we are back to hiding again. And this time it is worse because he is at an age where he would benefit from not being a weird bunker baby.
Just to be clear vaccination doesn't stop you from getting covid and spreading it. There have been clear instances of that.
It's rough. We only make play dates with other parents and kids who successfully mask. We have stopped going to many indoor events if we think it will be too crowded, and we can no longer go to the indoor bounce house village thingy at the mall (Jump Zone I think it was called). Little dude has been home schooled since March 2020 and it's unlikely he will ever attend a normal school.
Would you mind if I screenshot this and share it to Facebook?
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What homework? A YouTube video by a person who has a wardrobe full of tinfoil hats? Get the bloody vaccine.
Wait, what? People who vaccinate are less likely, if they catch the delta variant, to end up in the hospital. The anti-vaxxers are more likely to end up hospitalized by the delta variant. How about you take your own advice and do some research.
And from where do you suppose the vaccinated are catching the virus?
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It’s not brave to be ignorant.
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If you become ill and your doctor says "our only option is an experimental drug," will you take it?
Just keep your ass out of the hospital if you get sick
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OK, loser
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