The COVID-19 pandemic changed life for everyone, but things have been especially different for families of babies and young kids. Thanks to lockdowns and social distancing, many babies born in 2020 (or just before) have never gotten the chance to interact with kids and their communities in a normal way. A recent viral post on TikTok of a toddler’s very first visit to a playground is a startling reminder of just how serious the impact has been on young kids and their families.
“Actual footage of [her] first time at the park,” the mom named Maryam writes on TikTok. The video shows her 1-year-old daughter, Jannat, staring in wonder as she takes in the brand new sights and sounds during what used to be a normal, everyday outing for a toddler.
You can see the little girl’s mind working overtime as she gazes at all of the people, the playground equipment and the excitement going on around her. While every baby has a “first time at the park,” it usually happens long before toddlerhood, and it’s typically not their first time seeing other kids. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case for pandemic babies.
The video was also shared on Twitter, where dozens of parents responded with stories of their own first experiences out of the house with their babies. “We went to a store for the first time,” one person writes. “Those automatic doors scared the crap out of my baby. She nearly crawled up my body like a cat climbing a tree.”
“That reminds me of the little girl about the same age who thought everything was a hand sanitizing station,” another person adds.
One parent even says her daughter was recently playing with a magnetic dress-up toy, and she thought the doll’s hat was supposed to be a face mask.
The videos, photos and anecdotes are a stark reminder of how difficult pandemic life has been for new parents, and of how many experiences were stolen from babies and toddlers because of COVID-19.
Over 2.4 million babies were born in the U.S. from January to September 2020, and another 3,745,540 were born in 2019. For those children, the early experiences typical of infancy and toddlerhood have all been clouded by mask wearing, social distancing, lockdowns and safety concerns.
Prior to the pandemic, most babies and toddlers spent time with extended family and friends, they may have gone to day care or to play groups and they definitely spent time in kid-centric play spaces, like parks or children’s museums, where they got to interact and play with other babies and kids.
The pandemic majorly changed or eliminated all of those experiences. Suddenly, day cares either closed or had new guidelines that limited class sizes and required caregivers to wear masks. Visits with extended family became risky or off-limits entirely, and the same goes for many public play spaces.
Things aren’t going back to normal yet, but declining numbers of COVID-19 cases and increases in vaccination offer a glimmer of hope for parents who’ve been worried about how the pandemic may impact their children’s social and emotional development. In the months to come, we’ll likely witness many more children’s surprise, panic and wonder as they venture out into the world for, perhaps, the very first time.
It’s a welcome change, but it may not be easy on kids and their parents at first. Hopefully, we can all acknowledge the very different world in which the youngest kids are growing up, and come together to support them and their parents as they adjust to this newest phase of pandemic life.