Impact of Covid-19 restrictions on young children's development

Although children and adolescents are less likely to be infected with Covid-19 or have milder symptoms if infected, they are not indifferent to the psychological distress of a pandemic.

We understand that the changes to how we live have been made with people’s health to the fore. However, as childcare providers, it would be remiss of us to ignore what we are observing on the ground when it comes to the impact of these changes on the social and emotional development of our children and the mental well-being of their carers. 

In pre-pandemic times, for every group of new babies or toddlers starting with us, it was normal to see two finding it difficult to settle. However, since we reopened after lockdown, this has increased fourfold, with eight out of every ten experiencing great difficulty settling. This is unprecedented.

It is very normal for a child to become upset in any new environment and often needing encouragement from a parent before feeling secure. However, due to a change in practices to reduce the risk of virus spread, parents no longer have this opportunity and, for the most part, children are entering new environments without them.

The difficulty in adjusting is exacerbated by the sad fact that so many children have spent the majority of this year, and in some cases their lives, interacting with only a few regular faces. Visitors to the home, outings, parent and baby groups, playdates and holidays play a huge part in helping children adapt to new experiences. During lockdown, all these interactions and experiences ended. Since then, and potentially for a long time into the future, these will be limited.

Our young children’s normal development appears to have been altered considerably, making new environments and people overwhelming and affecting their ability to adapt.

Social isolation and ongoing fears of catching Covid-19 have presented some difficult mental health challenges, resulting in increased demand for counselling services through the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).

Although our colleagues missed the children immensely during lockdown, coming back to work has not been easy, with a large increase in the need for internal supports and mentoring, as well as requests to use our counselling services. Many are feeling the strain of trying to adapt to our new normal.   

Our children’s and their carers’ voices need to be heard in all future debates on how we can continue to live with this virus. The health of our nation is important, but so too are the children of our nation, the families who raise them along with our colleagues in an industry that is vitally needed to rebuild our economy.

We recommend a series of measures, including:

• A technology fund for childcare and families to allow childcare services to offer online support to new parents
  and families. 
• A fund for EAP and colleague well-being support to help deal with the extra stresses they are facing. 
• More funding for outside play and development of outdoor play areas. Outdoor play is vital for young children, and investment in these will help create more exciting and stimulating spaces to aid their development. 
• Continued financial and wage support until Budget 2021 and beyond.

Karen Clince, founder and CEO, Tiger’s Childcare, which operates 14 early years and after-school settings in Dublin, Neath and London