Little humans constantly tug on and tug on the masks. Children don’t just stop there. They let the tops fall under their noses, and sometimes they even throw things under their mouths just because they can.
Despite all of these child protests in countries where facial coatings are new to them, masks are a must.
That means now is the time to finally have the kids on board, if you haven’t already, with the new reality. We meet kids from all over the world who already know how to wear masks – it’s just part of their routine when they leave the house.
How do you take your son there? We have asked doctors, psychologists and parents what their best strategies are for the little ones to use facial covers and keep them on. Here are his top five suggestions.
Know your son
Every child is different, which means it is up to parents to take time to think about how each of their children can relate to face covers.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all thing,” said Jennifer Sciolla, senior director of child and family services at Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. “You always want to make that time and space up front for parents to consider their children.”
Parents should ask themselves a series of questions before trying to formulate a strategy for getting children to cover their faces, Sciolla suggested.
Among them: What is important to my child? How does my child understand the information? How aware of the outside world is my child? To what extent can a mask or the possibility of a mask cause anxiety for my child?
Another factor: a child’s developmental needs.
Stephanie Ranno, whose 7-year-old daughter Emmy is on the autism spectrum, said her daughter has trouble covering her face for an extended period. Ranno, who lives outside of Baltimore, added that it is difficult to know why her daughter does not like masks because she has a delay in expressive language, which means that she cannot always communicate properly.
“Emmy is learning to interpret facial expressions for appropriate social interactions and the masks make it almost impossible for that to happen,” Ranno wrote in a text message. “Our main concerns when sending her back to school are difficulties in her ability to interact safely and positively with teachers and classmates.”
Explain what happens
Parents and guardians can’t just wait for little ones to understand why they should wear face covers – moms and dads should explain it in words and concepts that children can understand.
For preschool-age children, this could mean offering a pandemic tag version on Sesame Street: The virus is bad, and humans must do what we can to protect our lungs and bodies from it. For others, especially older children, it could mean a more detailed and sophisticated summary of public health and our individual responsibility towards a greater good.
Parents can emphasize kindness so that children understand that wearing face covers is not just about them, recommended Liza Suarez, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Maki Katsuki, mother of three children, agreed.
Katsuki moved to Sonoma County, California from Niseko, Japan in 2017, and she remembers what she learned about covering her face as a child in Asia.
“Everyone was taught that wearing a mask when you are sick is key because you don’t want to spread germs to other people,” he said.
Katsuki added that over the years she has repeatedly demanded that her children cover their faces and said, “We also wear masks to avoid (getting sick) when others are sick.”
Involve and involve your children
Another way to get kids excited about facial coatings is to make them part of the process. This can be as simple as letting children select their own masks, or as complicated as inviting them to sit on the sewing machine.
For Melissa Cousino Hood, the wonder was letting your 3-year-old daughter pick a face covering. The girl loves purple and took the opportunity to choose a mask that was her favorite color. Children generally appreciate being able to comment on the style of masks they wear, added Cousino Hood.
“You would let them choose a shirt,” said Cousino Hood, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development. “Why wouldn’t you let them choose a face covering?”
Courtney Fitzgerald, who lives in Shawnee, Kansas, has taken the engagement pledge one step further, having her three children (ages 3, 5, and 10) help her make masks.
Fitzgerald said he has made about two dozen masks since the pandemic began, including some with rainbow tie-dye, floral-patterned fabric, one with the Kansas City Chiefs logo, and a print with dinosaurs and trolls.
Specifically, he said the children have helped cut the fabric and make the folds in the masks.
“It reminds me of the professionals’ advice on how to get your children to eat new foods – it involves them in the process,” said Fitzgerald, who admitted to having raided her mother’s cloth stash by some of the most difficult-to-find patterns. . “(Often) I find them digging through the pile of cloth and picking the next one they want me to do.”
Practice practice practice
Once parents have sold children on the idea of wearing face covers, it is essential that parents make them accept it. At a minimum, this means getting kids to wear the masks, and getting them to wear the masks the right way.
Parents can try to get children to wear their masks around the house for short periods to feel more comfortable, said Suárez, the psychiatrist. Cousino Hood added that another fun activity is having children put on masks and look in the mirror to become familiar with the different permutations of “smiling” or smiling with their eyes. (She called this “medical game”).
“Because we have this association in our culture with (scary) public health, it’s essential to have (cover your face) as part of the game,” said Robertson, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Medicine School of Medicine. Missouri-Kansas City.
“Make it like a doll. I also love having masks in the playroom and in their room so that (the kids) can play with them and research them. We want the masks to be part of their normal environment.”
Dr. Mary Mason, a St. Louis-based internist, also believes in this approach.
Earlier this year, his company launched Face Cover Kits comprising two fabric face covers, a 6 foot tape measure, and a sticker sheet that says BACK UP 6 FEET, I AM SOCIAL DISTANCING, MY GOOD HABIT IS WASH MY HANDS and more.
“We don’t want children to think they need the mask of a real surgeon, but we want to make sure they understand the science,” Mason said. “When you give children the facts and the science behind them, it empowers them to search for the truth.”
Communicate repeatedly
Especially with younger children, repetition is a key to ensuring compliance with the new rules. This means that as much as you don’t want to scold, you may have to sound like a scratched record for your children to take facial covers seriously and understand the seriousness of the situation in the midst of a global pandemic.
The name of the game is consistency, Suarez said, noting that parents should relentlessly remind children of this rule: they simply cannot move around the world right now without wearing a mask to protect themselves and others.
“It really is like anything with parenting; this is not going to happen overnight,” he said. Instead, parents must accept that they are laying the groundwork that requires incremental increments of time. Gradually, parents get the message across. “
Lenneia Elmore, who lives in Orlando, Florida, understands this challenge fundamentally.
Elmore recently joked that he has been so into a message lately that he has practically developed a mask-oriented mantra for his 2.5-year-old daughter, Ava.
“Every time we go somewhere, I keep telling him, ‘Don’t take off your mask, just play with mom,'” said Elmore, whose family has a history of medical conditions. “I started telling him in April, and now he repeats it to me. He used to think it was ‘cruel’ when I asked him to wear one. Now he understands it. He wears it without giving me an attitude. It’s like he’s finally going under. Thank God.” .
Matt Villain He is a writer and editor based in Healdsburg, California. He and his wife are manic about having their three daughters (ages 11, 8, and 4) wear masks in public. To his credit, the girls cooperate every time.
.
