Having a new baby and then a toddler is hard. I did this myself, twice. The second time was just as filled with uncertainty at times. There was a rather concerning article released yesterday discussing our COVID pandemic babies, some now approaching 18 months or older, who may have spent the vast majority of the time between birth and now in isolation as a result of COVID health and safety restrictions.
See link to the article below: Summary-the process of isolating, living virtually, and working at home while raising an infant or toddler may be impacting overall cognitive, motor, and language development.
This is a study spanning a short period of time, so I don’t expect that this is a trend that is necessarily long-lasting. Babies and toddlers have the ability to make big jumps in development when changes are made. This may mean improvements after engaging with parents more and differently, after beginning a structured preschool program, or with direct intervention. The lags in development noted in this article do not mean permanent deficits. But, this may be a red flag that keeping an eye on infant and toddler development should be a focus, specifically for children who have or are still limited in their interactions with the outside world. Even with some, but not heavy, restrictions the limitations in freedom of movement, communication through facial expressions, and a lack of peer interaction may be a concern that is emerging now and will continue. At Kids BRAIN, we have always supported developmental needs in children. Now, it seems like there may be more need and more urgency than there has been and we are ready to help. Below, see the program that Kids BRAIN offers parents with infants and toddlers to check and support developmental progress. I have included a developmental checklist for the first few years so that you can get an idea of what kids your child’s age are generally able to do. If you take a look and see that your child has one or more “red flag” behaviors/lags, please reach out to your local developmental specialist for help. If you are in the Dallas area, the team at Kids BRAIN would be happy to help with in-person developmental assessment, consultation, and intervention.
