When did your toddler start wearing a mask consistently?

[Disturbia]

I contacted Rafi Nova and they said their masks will be in stock in 2 weeks; that’s great. The cotton material looks so much better with an over head adjustable buckle.

 

[lynzi2004]

I saw a little girl in the parks and her parents were so smart! They put her hair in pig tails and looped the mask around the pig tails. I have a little boy but I thought it was brilliant. They were able to use a bigger disposable mask bc the ear loops went farther back. The “toddler size” masks are almost too small for DS and they fall of his ears or pull on his ears and he can’t get it back on easily himself. He just turned 4.

 

[PinkPixel]

At what age did your toddler start wearing a mask consistently that you felt confident enough to go to Disney? In my opinion, there is a huge difference between just turned 2 and almost 3. My daughter is 2 1/2 and will not wear a mask for a single second. She has sensory issues and a speech/receptive language delay so explaining that Mickey requires it will mean nothing to her. I have read lots of threads with tips, but they haven’t worked because I can’t get her to wear it even for a short time. Did it just click for your toddler at some point? I’m feeling defeated and thinking that we won’t be able to go again for a looooooong time. Hoping for some encouraging stories and hating that we will be missing out when she is still free.

My toddler did fine at 26 months but she has a 5 year old sister who didn't have a problem and modeled the wearing. We didn't act like it was weird or force it. We just all put it on when we went in stores etc. If she wanted to take it off I let her etc I didn't force it. She's now almost three and refuses to potty train, whereas her older sister was already trained at 3. It's tough. My children liked the Bloch dance company masks with the lanyards attached.

 

[Catvondita]

I agree 100%. I am not against masks, but I definitely wish we would listen to WHO’s recommendation of 5 years old like most other countries.

Same! 1000% pro masks but having it for a 2 year old is strange to me. Like even people without kids knows 2 is a rough age. There is such a difference between 2 and 3 years old so I wish it started just a little bit older :/

 

[2019TripIdeas]

Our youngest was just under 2.5 years when he’d wear it consistently and reliably and correctly. He had a 3 & 5 year old sibling that wore them as well, so I’m sure that helped a lot.

I can imagine developmental and receptive language delays would make this hard. Here, they are required in daycare/preschools (age 2 & up) and I’m consistently amazed/impressed by how well the toddler classes do. Would seeing others her age help your child? Going to a park where everyone’s masked if that is still occurring in your area?

 

[Kerr84]

Our youngest was just under 2.5 years when he’d wear it consistently and reliably and correctly. He had a 3 & 5 year old sibling that wore them as well, so I’m sure that helped a lot.

I can imagine developmental and receptive language delays would make this hard. Here, they are required in daycare/preschools (age 2 & up) and I’m consistently amazed/impressed by how well the toddler classes do. Would seeing others her age help your child? Going to a park where everyone’s masked if that is still occurring in your area?

Thank you for the help! Her doctor just wrote an exemption letter for her for the airplane and it was approved by the airline, and now that Disney is only "expecting" not requiring, we should be good for a trip! I will continue to work with her on masks, but at this rate, I think most places won't be requiring them by the time she is developmentally ready/can understand.

 

[limitdis]

every halloween

 

[Disturbia]

Same! 1000% pro masks but having it for a 2 year old is strange to me. Like even people without kids knows 2 is a rough age. There is such a difference between 2 and 3 years old so I wish it started just a little bit older :/

The rest of the world is surviving without masking 2 year olds (Canada made 2-5 year old masking optional). We need to get over the fear at some point and learn to live with this (once we have effective boosters like the flu shot, still not sure we are there yet, but I don’t agree with masking 2-3 year olds Unless they have immune deficiency, cancer etc). When they can reason and keep it on themselves (vs fight someone) then they can mask.

Eventually this is going to backfire at us just like allergies. When our teen was born we were told not to introduce nuts etc. until she was 1 year old; she is now deathly allergic to them. We tested and started peanuts/almonds for our middle child at 5 months and he is avoided becoming allergic to those but is to severely allergic to milk, cashews. Now the thinking is expose them early.

 

[Disturbia]

The Rafi Nova sensory masks are back in stock. I ordered 2. The smile masks (have a see through area) are also back but we won’t be buying those (have too many masks for us already). Discount codes: Valentines25 or Welcome20

https://rafinova.com/collections/li.../sensory-friendly-mask?variant=32703256756272

 

[btweety04]

Thank you for the help! Her doctor just wrote an exemption letter for her for the airplane and it was approved by the airline, and now that Disney is only "expecting" not requiring, we should be good for a trip! I will continue to work with her on masks, but at this rate, I think most places won't be requiring them by the time she is developmentally ready/can understand.

I was wondering which airline you are using and how you submitted it to them? We have similar issues and may need to go this route with his doctor. I think the federal mask mandate ends March 18th, so I am hoping they don't extend it. Our trip is the end of April.

 

[Kerr84]

I was wondering which airline you are using and how you submitted it to them? We have similar issues and may need to go this route with his doctor. I think the federal mask mandate ends March 18th, so I am hoping they don't extend it. Our trip is the end of April.

We are flying Allegiant. They have an email address to use. We do have to submit a covid test 3 days before each leg of the flight though, so she will have to get covid tested while we are down there. I think most airlines have exemptions and you just need to look on their website for their protocol. Some will accept sensory processing disorder and some will not. On an autism group I belong to, parents have said they were approved on Delta and Southwest too. Check the airline you are flying though. I know most of them you need pre-approval and just showing up with an exemption letter wouldn't work.

 

[Pickles516]

Our youngest mask-wearing kid was able to manage by about 2. Obviously, your mileage may vary.