When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, parents everywhere were forced to contend with unprecedented circumstances and adapt to ever-changing guidance. The pandemic presented numerous well-known mental health challenges for fully-grown adults, but how have its long-term effects impacted children who were toddlers at the time? Two of WellPower’s clinicians, Hillary Hustana, LCSW, and Braulio Rivera, LPC, offered their insights.
Brain Development: You Can’t Skip Steps
90% of our brain development happens before the age of 5. For children who were between the ages of 1 and 5 during the height of lockdown, a multitude of socioemotional steps were stripped from their daily lives. Some parents had to make choices about whether to keep working or switch to caring for children full-time, if working from home wasn’t an option. Other parents had to navigate both working remotely and caring for children at the same time.
Millions of children had to adapt to less attention and play from their caregivers, learning quickly how to “become invisible.”
“Toddlers had to learn how to disappear in their own homes, in order to protect their parents’ ability to work,” said Rivera. “Unlearning that becomes incredibly difficult, and can lead to missing elements of their brain development associated with social connections, navigating peer-to-peer relationships and emotional regulation.”
In his therapy sessions with school-age children and older, Rivera has noticed that “pandemic toddlers” who displayed signs of behavioral difficulties as young children are dealing with significantly more difficult consequences as older kids.
The biggest issue, according to Rivera, is that these kids missed out on crucial developmental moments – like building relationships with other trusted adults or socializing with peers – when the world shut down.
“What we notice now in kids who are 6, 7, 8, etc., are that those skipped milestones become incredibly obvious when children are confronted with situations they didn’t have back when those parts of the brain were forming,” said Rivera. “There’s this exponential buildup of missed milestones, and as parents and behavioral health professionals, we have to help kids go back and build those parts of their brain through play.”
Playing Covid Catch-Up
Hustana, who works with children from ages 6 to 17, has noticed similar trends as Rivera. She also recognizes that most parents aren’t trained as teachers, especially for early childhood, and that parents and caregivers were thrown into a position where they were expected to take on a new role that they were unprepared for.
When parents had to work, teach, care for a home and juggle the trauma of unprecedented historical events happening in real time, it was hard to notice the missing milestones in child development.
“I think children who are neurotypical were able to adapt more quickly when the world opened back up,” said Hustana. “But the kids who have diagnosable learning differences weren’t caught as early, so they didn’t get the early intervention they needed. Or there’s a prevailing attitude that they’ll catch up if given enough time, when that’s not always the case.”
She’s noticed that children whose diagnoses were missed during the pandemic are struggling far more than kids who received support earlier in their lives. All isn’t lost, however.
Children are adaptable and with proper supports in place – such as therapy, special education or counseling – they can still learn and thrive with their peers.
One of the best ways for parents and caregivers to help? Play with your kids.
How to Help Your Child Recover from the Pandemic
When we understand that our brains are built in layers, we can help kids go back and shore up the foundational skills they may have missed during the pandemic.
According to Rivera, kids will naturally tell you what they need through their play. Here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling (pun intended):
- Throw, roll or bounce a ball back and forth with your child. The physical cause-and-effect helps kids who may not have had the freedom to explore their environments or dive into physical play as toddlers. This is also a great time to talk to your children about their days, hear about their experiences and learn what’s important in their world.
- Play pretend. Children speak through play, and the way they make toys interact or “talk” can often show adults what’s happening inside their heads. Getting down on the floor and diving into their world helps children feel connection to their trusted grown-ups.
- Get messy. Whether doing an art project, getting outside to play in the dirt or experimenting with kinetic sand, join your child in the experience of new sensations. Kids need to have the freedom to be curious – it’s how they learn about the world through their senses.
If you feel that you or your child are struggling and you need support, WellPower is here to help. Call our Access Center at (303) 504-7900 to get started with our services, or visit us online at wellpower.org/access to learn more.