WHY IS EARLY INTERACTION IS IMPORTANT?
Dr Sophie Niedermaier-Patramani, Co-Founder and In House Paediatrician at Little Tummy, said: ‘Early social interaction can play an important role in a child’s development. It drives the development of communication and language skills.
‘Babies start to interact with their caregivers from the very first moment they are born. By bonding with the people closest to them they will develop a sense of security and resilience. The interaction between primary caregiver and the babies themselves dominates the social development in the first 18 months of life.
‘Children start playing next to each other around the age of 24 months and will loosely include other children into their play around the age of 3. This is when they start developing their social skills with peers of the same age and truly benefit from spending time around other children.’
Harriet Shearsmith, founder of parenting website TobyandRoo, added: ‘Babies and Toddlers are learning so much at such a fast rate and social interaction plays a vital role in developing their social skills, it can help improve their confidence and make a transition to preschool much easier.’
HOW COULD LOCKDOWN AFFECT BABIES AND TODDLERS?
Dr Niedermaier-Patramani said: ‘Babies under one enjoy growing up with a daily routine and a safe and caring environment. Therefore lockdown will not have had a major impact on their development. Most baby classes where parents learn how to support their little ones’ development have moved online, so parents still have access to guidance.
‘The wonderful thing about children’s brains is that they adapt easily to these challenging times. They will replace peers with parents or older siblings and still train their social skills, just in a different way. And once lockdown is eased, they will catch up quickly.’
Angela Spencer, a parenting expert with over 25 years’ experience, agreed lockdown would have little impact on very young babies. She said: ‘I am one of the old fashioned ones that believes the first six weeks for a baby is purely for bonding time with their mum and dad.
‘Babies and children learn from their senses so by watching, hearing, and then doing what others around them are. There’s no right or wrong time for socialising for a baby, as long as they are getting positive interaction from those around them, social skills will develop from every experience they have, so a few weeks in lockdown won’t do any harm and you can introduce other babies and children as experiences allow.’
CAN A LACK OF INTERACTION MAKE A BABY CLINGY?
Dr Niedermaier-Patramani said: ‘Every baby will go through a phase when they appear to be more clingy – for some it can be more extreme than others, but this is generally a personality thing. Separation anxiety happens around the age of 9 to 12 months and is a normal part of their social skill development.’
WHAT AGE GROUP WILL BE MOST AFFECTED?
Dr Niedermaier-Patramani said: ‘Children who have just started preschool have a period where they thrive in their development through the stimulation they experience at school. They will also be developmentally ready to learn from their peers and make impressive leaps. Narrowing the social circle to a few people will delay this period to a later point – but will most likely not have a significant impact on the longer term.’
WILL CHILDREN DEVELOP ‘STRANGER DANGER’?
Dr Niedermaier-Patramani said: ‘Once lockdown is loosened, children might go through a transitional period where they will get used to moving in a broader social network and meeting others. For anxious children, it might take longer to get used to the new environment and they will need extra support and reassurance from their parents. My prediction is that these effects are transitional and will be forgotten before the end of the year.’
Angela said: ‘Children take their cues from their parents, and in particular the ones we don’t think are obvious such as our body language and our energy/feelings towards others and this is where the ‘stranger danger’ is more likely to develop.
‘It is a parent’s job to show children how to interact positively in this world, be confident and polite but aware of their boundaries and safety. This we can still do after lockdown.’
HOW ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF LOCKDOWN?
Rather than focus on the unavoidable challenges of lockdown, I would look on the brighter side of things: Lockdown can be a great opportunity to strengthen the bond between family members. Strong families create strong, resilient children, helping them to adapt more easily to stressful situations later in life.
‘Lockdown is also a great time to help babies reach new milestones, for example beginning the weaning journey, which can be great fun but also time consuming. At Little Tummy, we work hard to provide advice and support for parents to help them when weaning babies onto solids. Now is a great opportunity to explore new flavours and food textures with baby.’
WHAT CAN PARENTS DO TO HELP?
Harriet said: ‘I would be encouraging lots of FaceTime and voice calls with friends and family to allow my child to hear other voices, and once we felt it was safe to do so, we would start meeting up for socially distanced walks and introducing our baby back into this new world.’
Dr Niedermaier-Patramani said: ‘I encourage parents to reserve specific times of the day only for their children. It can be hard to juggle household chores, working from home and childcare at the same time and we often try to do everything simultaneously. Children will benefit from dedicated playtime where they can interact with their parents and have their full attention.
‘A lot of nurseries and schools give recommendations for activities at home. These include singing, arts and crafts or turning your flat into an obstacle course. Try to offer them a variety so you can stimulate all skill sets.
‘Minding your own mental health is so important. Where possible try to carve out a little time each day (even thirty minutes) to do something for yourself; a bubble bath; meditation; a video call with a friend. There is no denying that this situation is hugely challenging, so try to be kind to yourself.’
Angela said: ‘This is an easy one! Interact and play! Think sensory and nature as they are the key philosophies of my company Babyopathy – sing, read, talk, play music, dance, show them the beauty of nature that surrounds them in the flowers (colours), plants (textures and shapes), animals (noises etc), play in the dirt with cars and animals, crawl through the grass, run through puddles, don’t be afraid to dance in the rain and make a fort to sit in the dark and play with torches and light! I could go on and on, the list is endless but most importantly just have fun!’