Keeping your Little Ones Safe during Coronavirus

So many of you have messaged me about our current outbreak, there’s a lot to process and if you are trying to make sure you’re doing the best for your little ones, take a look at our top tips for keeping them safe:

Wash Up

* Stay away from crowded/public spaces and limit exposure as much as you can.

(Having said that, it’s not all doom and gloom, you can still have fun, play, go outside, enjoy social activities while being conscientious about choices!)

* Washing hands thoroughly with soap and water is still the best prevention over sanitizers

* Use parental/medical discretion when using masks especially for little ones 8 and under. N95 masks when used properly with a complete seal around keeps out germs and tiny particles but also restricts breathing to a certain extent which is why it is important to weigh the pros vs cons for your little one wearing a mask (immunocompromised, in a high-risk crowded area, etc).

They MUST be supervised and an exhale valve is highly recommended for little ones as it will help them breath easier HOWEVER the valved masks ONLY protect the wearer.

Please use discretion when deciding. For Ella Grace, because she’s both immunocompromised and has a respiratory condition, we’ve chosen to use a valve mask with her but would not risk taking her out if we thought she might have been exposed or sick.

The one-way valve allows the wearer to expel the humidity and carbon dioxide thus making it easier to breathe. The risk for that with coronavirus however is if you are potentially infected, the valved mask would mean that you would still be expelling your germs into the air instead of being filtered by a mask so please let’s us all do our part and fight this together.

Mask Tips

Our favorite valved masks are the reusable ones from Vogmask (you can order directly from Vogmask Singapore) or the disposable ones from Watsons Singapore under the brand name AIR+ Singapore.

We use reusable for everyday, disposable for high-risk areas like hospital, airport, very crowded spaces, etc. Surgical masks would also work, scroll down for the proper way of wearing and disposing them.

* DO NOT use a mask on little ones that are already having a hard time breathing (wheezing, breathless, distress), vomiting, lethargic and be sure to regularly check on your little one at all times especially if they are quiet.

* Remove masks for naptime/sleep. We also dispose of the masks when we leave the hospital before we get into the car.

* Depending on her mood or where we go, she also has a bucket hat shield that we purchased from Lazada that she sometimes wears with her mask. She prefers that over the headband shield though be mindful that it does restrict their vision. Please scroll down for tips on getting children to wear and keep their masks on!

* Practice and teach little ones good hygiene habits like proper hand washing, not eating their boogers , coughing/sneezing into their elbow instead of hands.

We have a book on germs called “Do Not Lick This Book!” from Me Books Nooks that Ella Grace likes and there are also quite a few informational kid-friendly videos too. The point isn’t to scare them into it but to educate and empower them to take charge of their body as that’s really the key!

We got this, mama tribe!

PLEASE tool

The number one question I’ve gotten from parents is HOW?!!?! How in the world do we get them to put it on, keep it on, stop throwing it on the ground, etc?!?!?!?!!?

The answer while simple (get their buy-in!) feels like an incredibly big task which is why I love the PLEASE tool. It helps little one take ownership by fundamentally working developmentally with their brain and how they are able to receive, process, and act on information.

Is this a good time to have a conversation or to go out? HALT if they are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired and address that first or else no matter what, it won’t just be the mask, it will be EVERYTHING IS WRONGGGGGGG!

Ask them what they don’t like about wearing the mask? What bothers them the most about it? What are their concerns?

Genuinely empathize with how they are feeling. I don’t know about you, but putting on a mask the whole day feels a lot like wearing a bra. There’s such sweet relief when you get to yank it off at the end of the day so I totally can genuinely, authentically, empathize that wearing a mask really really really doesn’t feel good and I don’t like it and I wish I didn’t have to wear it without taking away that we have to wear one. It just says, I see you, I hear you, I understand.

Acknowledging is exactly just echoing what they say about the mask. Why they don’t like it. What bothers them about it. What they wish they didn’t have to do. Again, it doesn’t take away from the boundary that we have to wear a mask, instead it connects and makes you a team together instead of against each other even and especially if you hold the boundary. You don’t have to be the “bad guy” even if you follow through with boundaries.

Here is the hardest part that we all struggle with. Sit means following through. Holding the boundary. Making space for them to tell you exactly how they feel about it in all the colorful, loud, expressive, ways they will. Sit doesn’t mean you threaten, bribe, punish, or isolate, sit means you literally sit with them while they tantrum – holding the boundary but staying present which is key for them to move from their survival brain to learning brain. Learning cannot happen without feeling safe or loved.

And finally, the magic step. This is where children take ownership. I don’t need to remind Ella Grace to put on her mask when we leave the house, much less fight her on it because she gets it. This is the part where you get to teach her why, what, how, and help her come out with her version of what feels right. But this “lesson” can only come if she feels supported and seen. Very often, the downfall is we try to give this lesson at the start as an excuse when all little ones need is for us to hear them out first. In the empower step, you give little ones freedom within boundaries to take ownership. My boundary is that she has to have a mask on when she leaves our house. Which mask she puts on (color and design, disposable or reusable, shield or type, etc), how she puts it on (dances first, claps her hand, whatever crazy fun imaginative routine they want to create to help them feel a little control in all that they can’t control is up to her!), is all her. When you connect before correct, what it does is that it doesn’t make mama or teeny tiny take it personally. We are in this together and truly, mamas, we are in this together.