Study Shows Lockdowns Impacted Babies' Development

ATS, looks like we missed our careers as scientists and health officials, considering how many of us knew the lockdowns would result in deleterious effects on all of our health, but particularly the vulnerable youth, the poverty stricken, and the otherwise disadvantaged among us.

Science is catching up to us, though, and every day studies contradicting the methods used in the failed COVID response are popping up.

The latest is a study regarding babies born in the first months of the pandemic. These infants were found to be 14% less likely to have spoken their first word by the age of 1, less likely than their peers to point or wave. The study authors point to isolation from speech and masks as the likely culprit for these key developmental delays.

They were about 7% more likely to have crawled by 1, likely a result of being at home on the floor instead of out in strollers or carried.

The Daily Mail article also points to record numbers of severe respiratory infections in youth (18 and under) as a result of weakened immune systems.
www.dailymail.co.uk...
Link to study:
adc.bmj.com...

Yet another sign of the failed health policies that some countries (and citizens) are STILL trying to promote/implement/defend.

I can believe that. It goes beyond infants. In my pre-k class 3-4 year Olds, there seems to be discrepancies with fine motor skills than before the pandemic shut everything down. Social emotional seemed to be much different when we 1st came back and is starting to reshape itself for the better. It was as if they reverted to the parallel play and everything is mine phase of two year old children. This was some of the more larger situations I noticed. I could go on, but these lil' children aren't gonna teach themselves

a reply to: cre8chaos

Thanks for weighing in. A friend and neighbor started working as a guidance counselor in our kids' elementary school and told me last year the kindergarteners are out of control. She had been spit on, hit, and kicked by three different kids and says they are out of control in other ways as well.

What I'm unsure about is whether, once that developmental window closes, these skills are fully recoverable or lifelong impediments. I know from my own field of study that language acquisition has a crucial time frame which when missed cannot be recovered.

And some officials are still touting the lockdowns as options.

Its a narrow window to get kids the baseline they need for societal interaction, locking them in with parents that were probably scared and short tempered I am sure mucked things up.

So glad I lived in a state that after the 2 weeks to flatten B.S. we just went about our business-like normal people.

a reply to: zosimov

It’s also because parents were probably traumatized too. (And maybe lazy)
Too many people on tech and not interacting with their own babies.

How the F can a baby not be crawling by 1????

One of my kids was walking by 10 months. “Reading” by 2 and a half. She wasn’t really reading, but she memorized the words from the stories we would read her. People didn’t believe it but I actually have video proof of both.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Good point. I probably misread that aspect of the study. I'll have to revisit that; crawling by 1 is certainly the rule, not the exception.

My son didn't walk till after his 1st birthday--he just took things at his own pace--and is now 9 and honing some serious pitching skills in baseball. He also took his time reading, but caught up with and surpassed the standards soon enough.
Every kid moves on his/her own schedule.

Reading at 2 is awesome, though

a reply to: zosimov

My others kids did not walk until after 1, that is normal, however not crawling by one?

How is that even possible. To me that really sounds like neglect.

Lockdown measures may have reduced the repertoire of language heard and the sight of unmasked faces speaking to [infants].

I’ll have to look more into it, are these only day care babies?
I sure hope moms weren’t wearing masks AT home.

a reply to: JAGStorm

After seeing people driving alone, windows up, wearing n95 masks, I do believe there were some moms/dads who masked up at home too.

Though it's probably more from any visitors to the home or any outings. New normal babies didn't have the same opportunity for face/lip reading from people outside of their homes that all other infants have had.

You're right about the crawling, though. Perhaps the study used a different time frame for that one.

Every aspect of the corona plandemic has been an absolute disaster, by design.

They literally made the worst possible choice you could possibly make in every aspect of health policy and still continue to push these insane policies. It's not a coincidence.

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: JAGStorm

After seeing people driving alone, windows up, wearing n95 masks, I do believe there were some moms/dads who masked up at home too.

Though it's probably more from any visitors to the home or any outings. New normal babies didn't have the same opportunity for face/lip reading from people outside of their homes that all other infants have had.

You're right about the crawling, though. Perhaps the study used a different time frame for that one.

This is really interesting. Back before the vast majority of kids were in daycare moms stayed home. There were probably multiple children around so babies had that constant interactions.

People are having less kids, and most go straight into daycare at 8 weeks. In daycare they are probably getting that same interaction, but since covid the workers wear masks.

There is a segment of people that loved that Covid home life. However there was also a huge segment that couldn’t stand being home and isolated. I imagine these kinds of folks would have trouble with an infant and keeping them occupied, and engaged.

I think the lock downs impacted so much more. Keeping kids out of schools was even worst and we do not even know the damage it has all done psychologically to so many.

a reply to: zosimov

I think we may be looking at a much bigger problem -- namely, that too many parents don't know how to parent -- and maybe we need to take a good long hard look at that.

I have a new grandbaby -- born at the end of the Covid debacle though -- so I've been watching this, and my own grandchild's progression. My grandchild is doing great. Better than great. Her development is ahead of the curve in most (if not all) areas and milestones. And there are other babies doing the same.

So I'm not ready to blame the plandemic itself; rather, because of the plandemic unprepared and incompetent parents were not able to cope when they had to assume ALL parenting, and could not leave it up to daycare and other services to do it for them.

I know that sounds harsh, and I really don't want to be mean for the sake of being mean. But even with the restrictions of the plandemic, there were ways to cope and compensate. But some parents just didn't know how. And I'm not sure anyone tried to tell them.

a reply to: Boadicea

I know that sounds harsh, and I really don't want to be mean for the sake of being mean. But even with the restrictions of the plandemic, there were ways to cope and compensate. But some parents just didn't know how. And I'm not sure anyone tried to tell them.

I totally agree with this. I think this is more about parenting than it is about Covid/masks/social cues.

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: JAGStorm

Good point. I probably misread that aspect of the study. I'll have to revisit that; crawling by 1 is certainly the rule, not the exception.

My son didn't walk till after his 1st birthday--he just took things at his own pace--and is now 9 and honing some serious pitching skills in baseball. He also took his time reading, but caught up with and surpassed the standards soon enough.
Every kid moves on his/her own schedule.
s
Reading at 2 is awesome, though

My parents say I could "read" at two as well but in my case, it was more that they taught me to recognize the alphabet/phonetics and sound things out. I remember being trotted out at parties to show that trick and all the laughter, as well as actual learning to read at school with picture books where it really made sense.

To this day, if I don't see someone's mouth when they are talking, I have almost no recall. The masks were hell and I figured there would be a certain percentage of kids who became stunted by it.

Something I noticed, my friend's daughter brushed it off casually that her toddler was shy because the kid only ever saw family without masks. I can't help wonder if a whole generation of kids will see unmasked strangers as something to mistrust. Kind of creepy. Same with a neighbour who says his dog was a covid puppy and has the same issue. Fortunately, it's a tiny dog but I think this is a serious problem for kid's development.

a reply to: JAGStorm

It would also explain why so many parents went along with the masking and social distancing, and even the lockdowns, if they didn't know any better. Especially if they already had a victim mentality -- the whole "woe is me" attitude to life. It would be accepted as one more way the world was out to get them. (Right along with the idea that un-masked and unvaxxed people are a danger to them too)

With no personal knowledge or wisdom to make them question the narrative, what else have they got?

They would follow the advice, never even realizing the implications in terms of childhood development and milestones.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Boadicea

I know that sounds harsh, and I really don't want to be mean for the sake of being mean. But even with the restrictions of the plandemic, there were ways to cope and compensate. But some parents just didn't know how. And I'm not sure anyone tried to tell them.

I totally agree with this. I think this is more about parenting than it is about Covid/masks/social cues.

Nobody had forewarning, time to prepare their minds. Parents of young kids could have arranged playgroups and support for each other if they had seen it coming and fear of disease probably prevented that.

My brother was even bleaching his groceries before bringing them into his appartment. He was locked down in London, England with four kids, wife and mother in law. It's a tiny place, with neighbours to consider with the kids noise levels all day. He did his best by doing things like sneaking the kids out to the park at dawn before the police came as even the parks were technically "closed" which in itself was unbelievably wrong. We had nonsense like this here as the provincial parks were closed as some of the trails weren't wide enough to pass six feet apart. Good grief, what nonsense. My friend in Mexico says police were patrolling the beaches to keep people off.

So it might be a complete shock to the system as a parent if all the outlets are shut down and people can't be creative the same as normal when fearful or depressed. Add to that older kids who are frustrated about the changes, not seeing friends or the massive line ups, in heatwaves or snowstorms, just to get into stores and I can see people's hope and ability to cope/care go down the tubes.

a reply to: igloo

Nobody had forewarning, time to prepare their minds....

Exactly. No one had forewarning. No one had time to prepare for anything.

But those who could (and would) figured it out, improvised and adapted. Much like people have always done.

If parents had known that their babies need to see their mouths move when they talk in order to learn to talk, then parents could have ensured that they spent time talking to their babies with no mask, and still taken other reasonable precautions for reasonable risks. Parents who knew that their children needed to read and be read to in order to retain their reading and comprehension skills could have ensured that happened. And so on and so forth. No, it would not be perfect. Nothing is perfect. But that's life.

If they knew, and chose not to, that's a whole different problem.

a reply to: Boadicea

Good points here; parenting, or lack thereof, most certainly had its role in the pandemic kids' developments, maybe now than ever since the were almost exclusively the only role models the kids had to learn from.

I had a very short proud mom moment recently when my son's teacher told me he was the ONLY KID in his grade to exceed math standards. Then I realized the sobering implications of that (no other kids in a reasonably large grade exceeded standards). In this case, my parenting can certainly not be credited, as I have not spent nearly as much time working with my kids on their schooling as I should.

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: Boadicea

Good points here; parenting, or lack thereof, most certainly had its role in the pandemic kids' developments, maybe now than ever since the were almost exclusively the only role models the kids had to learn from.

I'd like to think this is something the decision makers would take into account, and not just blame Covid, because we need to do better. We need to consider and address these things before this becomes an issue again. And I fear that won't happen, because the decision-makers don't want us to be resourceful and self-sufficient or to use critical thinking skills.

I had a very short proud mom moment recently when my son's teacher told me he was the ONLY KID in his grade to exceed math standards. Then I realized the sobering implications of that (no other kids in a reasonably large grade exceeded standards). In this case, my parenting can certainly not be credited, as I have not spent nearly as much time working with my kids on their schooling as I should.

I had a similar -- shocking -- moment. When my daughter went from a D to a B in math from one report card to the next, I went in demanding answers. The teacher told me I should be proud, because most of the class failed. Whoa! I knew right then it wasn't a student problem, it was a teacher problem. So we just had to work that much harder at home without counting on the teacher.

But I was shocked at not only the implications, but at how casually the teacher stated it!

a reply to: igloo

Being able to sound out words phonetically at two is very cool!

Though I agree that it's not quite reading until everything clicks, I can see why your parents wanted to share your ability with others.

Interesting theory about the impact that seeing unmasked faces when all they've seen is the eyes might have on the little ones.

Thanks to all for a good discussion