Parents’ masks delay babies’ smiling, cooing skills

  • | Friday | 7th May, 2021

Masks are indeed a saviour from Covid-19 infection but the constant screen of parents’ and grandparents’ faces at home is adversely affecting the development of babies’ social milestones like smiling and cooing.

New dad Nitin Parikh (name changed) started worrying when his six-month-old baby boy wasn’t responding to gestures and smile. He called up a paediatrician and the diagnosis left him stumped. The doctor told him that the Covid pandemic is having a totally different level of effect on babies, particularly those below two years of age.

Masks are indeed a saviour from Covid-19 infection but the constant screen of parents’ and grandparents’ faces at home is adversely affecting the development of babies’ social milestones like smiling and cooing.

Paediatricians across the state are unanimous about the adverse effect of face masks on the newborns’ social skills in the new normal. “The sensory stimulation among many kids below two years of age is missing. They are not able to understand the facial gestures quickly and their social milestones are also getting delayed by an average 2-3 months,” said Dr Tushar Shah, executive board member, Academy of Paediatrics Gujarat.

“Since they were born and began to understand the world around, babies below two years are seeing everyone wearing face masks. They can’t see facial gestures like anger, laughter or joy when they meet anyone. Except at home, these kids see their parents too in face masks,” Shah.

“Usually babies start smiling, cooing and responding to gestures after they turn three months old. But now these skills are getting delayed by a few months. I have been getting calls from worried parents over the last several months,” Shah, former secretary of Indian Medical Association (IMA) Vadodara, said.

Experts said that lack of social interaction and strict home confinement is affecting their ability to integrate with the society.

Doctors in Surat too have been getting calls from anxious parents having kids aged between six months and 18 months.

“Every fifth day, we are getting a case wherein parents notice that their child’s interaction is problematic. Some babies are actually behaving like autistic kids,” said Dr Sanjeev Rao, a senior paediatrician in Surat.
Parents noticed the delayed development of responses in their kids, said Rao, adding that masks are screening children from developing their skills in understanding or grasping facial gestures and emotions.

Dr Shah further added that spending most of their time at home and hardly any interaction with outsiders have affected kids’ social and learning skills.


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