{"id":5886,"date":"2022-03-23T09:45:04","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mlparentcoach.com\/?p=5886"},"modified":"2022-03-23T09:45:04","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T13:45:04","slug":"we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/","title":{"rendered":"We are isolating our baby because of covid. Are we hurting their development?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Q:<\/b><\/i>\u00a0My child was born in October, and I\u2019m curious about the side effects that socially isolating them will have on their development. I\u2019m weighing that against the risk of them getting the coronavirus.<\/i><\/p>\n

A:<\/b>\u00a0Thank you for writing in. You are not alone in worrying about your baby and the possible side effects of isolation. It feels unnatural to be stuck inside and to hide your baby away. You should be out and about, visiting friends and family, going about your day with your baby in tow.<\/p>\n

But to keep our little ones safe, we\u2019ve had to tuck them away, keep them far from cooing visitors and other children, and do everything in our power to protect them as we ride out this pandemic. This also means they won\u2019t get the attention and experiences that other babies have had.<\/p>\n

Although I don\u2019t blame you for worrying about social isolation, I will be honest with you: There\u2019s not much to worry about, developmentally speaking. Five-month-olds are very curious, watchful and interactive. At this stage, they need very little to grow socially.<\/p>\n

In the first year of life, humans need only a few attachments: the\u00a0<\/b>adults who fully love and attend to them. Because caring for a baby is so physical, it requires that you and other loving adults be at the baby\u2019s beck and call for feeding, holding, changing, talking to and laughing with them \u2014 and gazing into their eyes. The exchange of physical contact and the subsequent \u201clove\u201d hormones that are released lead to a deep attachment between parent and child. This attachment orients your baby to the rest of the world, not vice versa. Your baby doesn\u2019t need to be socialized; they simply need you (and whoever supports you) to laugh, giggle, sing, read and speak with them. Your baby\u2019s brain would be fine with other children and activities, but only if their attachment with you is warm and loving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is critical developmental time for your baby, but these parental interactions seem to be the most critical in an infant\u2019s development,\u201d says Gregory Germain, associate chief of pediatrics at Yale New Haven Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cAnd if you have a partner, grandparent, trusted caretaker who will be on board with the precautions that you feel are warranted, your baby will benefit from those unmasked interactions, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

[sc name=”Button Conflict to Cooperation Right”]<\/p>\n

If your baby is going to be okay, who needs the social interaction the most? Yup, it\u2019s you. Parenting (especially mothering) young babies before the pandemic was an isolating experience in the United States, and now? I am even more concerned about the mental health of new parents. \u201cSocial stimulation from activities such as library events, meetups, playdates, during these more isolated months are important for parents,\u201d says Krupa Playforth, pediatrician and mother of three.<\/p>\n

Making friends with other parents who are in the same stage as you can be sanity-saving, and it\u2019s critical in early parenting. Spring is here, so please trust the data about babies being less likely to have serious cases of covid-19, talk to your pediatrician and get outside. Nature becomes its own beautiful socialization, because 5-month-olds are at a sensory age. Watching birds take a bath, listening to children play at the park, eating a banana with you, touching grass and smelling flowers\u00a0is<\/i>\u00a0how a baby is socialized. Narrate as you go, because your baby loves your voice and learns as you speak, which strengthens your connection. In a perfect world, we wouldn\u2019t have a pandemic, but your child is tuned in to your face, and that is what matters most.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is this: We are facing an unprecedented set of challenges, and the pressure to do everything \u2018right\u2019 is enormous,\u201d Playforth says. \u201cParents are overwhelmed by the \u2018what ifs\u2019 when it comes to things like development. Recognize that \u2026 children, especially babies, are actually far more resilient than we believe. Infants in very different settings across the world, and with very different challenges, do develop social skills. We are evolutionarily designed to do so. As parents, we can certainly enhance this by providing opportunities to practice those skills, but even without those opportunities, many infants will still go on to develop the skills on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find this on <\/span>The Washington Post<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking for more parenting support? Click <\/span>Here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sign up for my<\/span> Newsletter here<\/span><\/a> to get this in your inbox every week!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Q:\u00a0My child was born in October, and I\u2019m curious about the side effects that socially isolating them will have on their development. I\u2019m weighing that against the risk of them getting the coronavirus. A:\u00a0Thank you for writing in. You are not alone in worrying about your baby and the possible side effects of isolation. It feels unnatural to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1492,301],"tags":[624,270,1417,1443,273,1543,584,762,213,585,1439,13,8,592,591,1438,1183,10,593],"class_list":["post-5886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting","category-parenting-in-a-pandemic","category-washington-post","tag-baby","tag-children","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid","tag-development","tag-isolation","tag-meghan-leahy","tag-meghan-leahy-advice","tag-new-baby","tag-on-parenting","tag-pandemic","tag-parent-coach","tag-parenting","tag-parenting-advice","tag-parenting-tips","tag-social-distancing","tag-socializing-children","tag-washington-post","tag-washington-post-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nWe are isolating our baby because of covid.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My child was born in October, and I\u2019m curious about the side effects that socially isolating them will have on their development.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We are isolating our baby because of covid.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My child was born in October, and I\u2019m curious about the side effects that socially isolating them will have on their development.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Meghan Leahy Parent Coach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-23T13:45:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/shutterstock_310732475.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Meghan Leahy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Meghan Leahy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/\",\"name\":\"We are isolating our baby because of covid.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-23T13:45:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-23T13:45:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/74ff7f6e6196b92bb9881fbaff25225d\"},\"description\":\"My child was born in October, and I\u2019m curious about the side effects that socially isolating them will have on their development.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/we-are-isolating-our-baby-because-of-covid-are-we-hurting-their-development\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"We are isolating our baby because of covid. 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