Born in the midst of a health crisis, they did not know the “life before”, or knew it little. That of life without a mask, without a yo-yo between daycare and parents working from home, screwed to their screens. After two years, the pandemic leave scars on toddlers? If some signals worry, others report their immense resilience.
When she sees an adult in a white lab coat, three-year-old Simone brings her tiny hands up to her nostrils. “It’s instinctive, she protects her nose. She is the one who passed the most tests of the whole family! said her mother, Fanny Bédard.
Same portrait for Blake, born a few months before the pandemic in the Thetford Mines region, who has already undergone more rapid tests than many adults. At the slightest nasal congestion, she fears “that they will ‘stitch’ her nose”. “It’s his biggest stress! says Anne-Pier Rajotte, a mother of three young children who will give birth in July to her fourth, the second to be born in times of a pandemic.
The first was little Nate, born in January 2021, who was struck by COVID-19 even before he was born when Anne-Pier contracted the virus during pregnancy. An episode of intense stress, during which her fetus showed growth delays. “It was the most stressful moment of the whole pandemic. But everything returned to normal in the months that followed, ”she says.
For little Blake, on the other hand, raised in full confinement in the comfort of the family nest, the entry into the big world was not made without clashes. “She’s starting to get used to strangers. At the arena, noise and people frighten him. Integration into daycare is better. But it was difficult”, says Anne-Pier.
Fearing that his little brother Nate would develop the same fear of strangers, his parents shuffled him around. “We even went out to the grocery store, just to get him used to people! said the mother.
Troubled sleep
At the stubborn turtle early childhood center (CPE), headed by Marie-Claude Gagnon, nap time has taken on the appearance of a roller coaster since March 2020. The sleep break, beneficial for most toddlers, has never been so bumpy. “The children find it hard to let go, some only fall asleep in the arms of the educators. We’ve never had such a problem with the siesta. Many babies have never been cared for by anyone other than their parents. They are burned by the lack of sleep, it creates quite a domino effect! insists Marie-Claude.
The CPE even had to offer lectures on sleep to help families juggling this problem. Many toddlers wonder why they have to go to the CPE, while mom and dad stay quietly at home teleworking, explains the director of Tortue stubborn.
Within the four walls of the CPE, life at the daycare has been shaken up, she says. “The children have socialized less and the absence of parents from our premises also has an impact. There were no outings, less motor games to avoid transmission. We even stopped blowing out the candles on the birthday cakes! says Marie-Claude.
But, all in all, she says, her fears, in particular about the effect of wearing the mask on her little proteges, were quickly dissipated. “The little ones have adapted very well. We do not see any impact on their language skills. “Washing your hands, coughing in the crook of your elbow: the little moss have become champions of barrier gestures, she says.
What does science say?
But beyond the benevolent gaze of parents and educators, what do we know about the real impact of the health constraints imposed on toddlers? So far, very little. “We have a big hole in our data in Quebec, because all research was interrupted at the start of the pandemic,” explains Sylvana Côté, researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine and director of the Observatory for the education and health of children (OPES), funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQ-SC). His work aims in particular to target the determining factors in the development of children.
“There have been several disruptions in the children’s lives, including reduced stimulation, and far too much screen time. But not everyone was affected equally, she insists. A greater impact is expected in families where there have been job losses, more illness or other consequences due to the pandemic. »
In babies, some American studies report slight developmental delays, says neuropsychologist Miriam Beauchamp, researcher and professor of psychology at the University of Montreal. “We suspect the lack of social interactions, because at this age, development is mainly done through experimentation and play,” explains the researcher specializing in the brain, cognitive and social development of infants, children and toddlers. the teenager. However, these results must be viewed with caution, she says, since the nature of health measures has varied greatly depending on the country.
It is on the psychological level that the pandemic would have interfered more in the lives of young and old children, advances the DD Beauchamp. “Children whose parents have experienced little stress seem to be coping well with the pandemic. On the other hand, we know that anxiety or depression experienced during pregnancy can have an impact on the development of the child’s brain,” notes the neuropsychologist.
This aspect is also of concern to researcher Sylvana Côté, from the CHU Sainte-Justine. “A meta-analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet has clearly determined [que] young women of childbearing age [sont] those who have suffered the greatest stress due to the pandemic,” she says.
According to Fannie Dagenais, who directs the Observatoire des tout-petits in Quebec, 50% of children struggling with a mental health problem that was not treated in childhood are at risk of developing one later in life. “It will be very important to do early detection and intervene quickly with children for whom the pandemic has exacerbated risk factors,” she warns.
Generation COVID?
Should we fear for the “COVID generation”? More than 35% of children under 4 have contracted COVID, and 43% of 5 to 11 year olds, according to the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ). Only four children have died from COVID, but more than 1,300 have been hospitalized in two years (69% were 11 or younger), and 10% required intensive care. It remains to be monitored whether physical sequelae will persist in the latter in the long term. But in terms of development, experts remain optimistic because of the great “plasticity” of the brain of the little ones, which gives them greater resilience in the face of various stresses. “Most will catch up, but the little ones who are less fortunate will really need help,” insists Miriam Beauchamp.
On the other hand, among Canadian schoolchildren, deprived of 60 to 100 days of class depending on the province, learning delays could increase by 30% the already existing inequalities of success, say researchers in a study published in January in the Canadian Journal of Public Health. The latter are in a hurry to set up tutoring programs quickly.
By the end of 2022, two vast ongoing longitudinal studies, one comparing kindergarten children (ELDEQ) and the other 5-year-oldsand year (NLSCY) to those of cohorts pre-pandemic, will shed light on the “COVID effect” on the physical and mental health of young Quebecers.
Resilience
For parents, tossed between confinement, repeated isolations and masked pregnancies, the pandemic will not have been easy. But all is not black in this health parenthesis, insists the DD Beauchamp. Young children have also developed other skills, including a better understanding of non-verbal cues, instructions and a greater concern for others.
“Simone and Elias play at giving each other vaccines, testing their dolls and sometimes talk like little adults. COVID-19, rapid tests and social distancing, these are words you don’t normally hear in the mouth of a 3 year old! observes Fanny Bédard.
Even though all of her children have had COVID, and the biggest, Chelsea, twice rather than once, Anne-Pier Rajotte’s fears are also now behind them. After having experienced two pregnancies and raised three toddlers in the midst of a pandemic, the reflexes of her toddlers reassure her. “In 2020, we really wondered if it was the right time to have children. But there, we no longer feel this state of emergency. Instructions and wearing a mask have become normal, it has even become a game for them. My children are doing very well. »