India as a nation is fighting with COVID19 pandemic and hence, LOCKDOWN of 21 days has been declared to tackle this health crisis! It’s been more than a week now and we all are doing our part by staying at home. But, then this sudden lockdown with our family has brought new challenges at our doorstep. There are challenges at work, because many of our work profiles previously didn’t work in ‘work from home’ model; challenges at the kitchen front, because the perishables are exhausting and groceries we have to use cautiously; challenges at the home front, because the maids are not there and even challenges at relationship levels- husband wife relation or even parent-child relation!!

 In urban scenarios as well as in nuclear families with working parents who have to  work from home on their PCs and, laptops – parents are struggling as no househelp is available to take care of their kids and house too; there are no creches around or play schools open to engage the kids for some time. So the “millennial” parents are facing a novel crisis of engaging their children 24*7.

For parents of 0-2 year olds, we have different scenarios. Some mothers are homemakers, some had just started with Work from Home and some had unwillingly got back to office because their leaves were exhausted, but now  are happy to be back home with work and kid together! But, still the challenge of engaging the kid persists and is more or less similar in all these aforementioned situations.

But, the good news in these times of lockdown is that the team of “PARENTS” has just got stronger , because fathers too are there at home full time! Hence,as a team you can tackle the situation better! There is a chance for sharing of responsibilities. Parents can divide some household duties as well as caregiving duties for the child amongst themselves like bathing the child, feeding the child(this is for >6 month old babies, because upto 6 months of age, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended), changing clothes, diapers etc. This shall reduce the burden on working mothers as well as homemakers and also shall increase the involvement of the fathers with the child. For fathers, this work from home is a blessing in disguise and hence they should grab this opportunity of spending more time with their kid; something they must have missed while being in the office for they couldn’t get enough paternal leaves(even if they wished for it)  unlike their spouse.

So, now we shall be focusing on “how to spend quality time with your kid(0-2 years of age)?”

First two years of life form an integral part of first 1000 days concept of World Health Organization! During these 24 months, more than 80% of   brain growth and development occurs! Hence, this is a crucial phase of child development, where a newborn who is completely dependent on the mother for its needs, grows to become a 2 year old who can walk independently, talk in short sentences, eat independently (although messy) and can even express his personal and emotional needs to some extent. As parents, this is the time when we ought to ensure that child gets enough stimulation and opportunity to develop all the skills  which are required to become this talking, walking and cute naughty 2 year old!!

Following are some of the important areas which should be focused on while engaging the kids at home (24*7) in times of lockdown and beyond.

1. The most important of all is-TALK!! Talk to your child from morning  daily routines of getting up to bathing, dressing ,feeding, toileting  until bedtime at night. Talk in slow speed, with a little high pitch voice with lots of facial expressions, gestures and animated noises for your kid to absorb ! This kind of speech is called “Infant directed speech” or “Motherese”. Talk about things around the child, objects, toys, about animals, birds, and so on!
2. PLAY– Playing with your child with undivided attention. You can engage in various activities that promote bodily movements  and thus enhance the child’s gross motor development. Activities involving climbing stairs up and down, creating an obstacle course for your kiddo who has just started walking independently, some roughhousing with the pillows and mattresses, involving the baby in clean up of scattered toys all over the house, creating a bedtime schedule with your kid’s  favourite soft toy and so on. Kids are very good at imitating, involve your kid in your exercise routine and see how your yoga, push ups and work out becomes enjoyable for both of you!

 All these suggested activities are for more than 1 year olds, who have started walking.

Some of the suggested websites to read about these activities and explore the world of different play activities for 0-2 year olds are as follows:

http://www.helpmykidlearn.ie/activities/0-2

https://activeforlife.com/activities-for-babies-and-toddlers/

https://theinspiredtreehouse.com/

https://www.babycenter.ca/c25004199/lets-play-fun-games-for-you-and-baby

While engaging in play, promote bilateral use of hands to develop fine motor skills. Sit with your kid, give crayons to scribble, use finger paints, give flour/atta dough ,  blow bubbles and get involved  in some messy play!!

3. TUMMY TIME– Tummy time plays an important role in infants less than 1 year old.  It creates opportunities for developing fine motor skills of the baby, as the baby is comfortably lying on the tummy and has his hands free to grab, hold or even throw toys, blocks etc. It shall help in strengthening the core muscles of the trunk too, as the baby crawls on his stomach to reach for objects!!

4. FEEDING TIME –Feeding time can be a big time of struggle between the parents and child. Introducing complimentary foods and weaning the baby gradually from breastfeeding is a big mission in most houses.  So to deal with introducing complimentary feeding at 6 months and above- some thumb rules are to be followed:

• Fixed schedule for feeding- introduce one food item per week at a scheduled time daily for at least 8-10 days ,before declaring it as disliked by the infant.
• Variety is more important than quantitiy, as the baby is still breastfed and not completely dependent on this new food!
• Go from liquids to semi solid to solid foods gradually.
• Introduce finger foods once the child is able to accept solid food and can sit independently.
• Promote responsive feeding- Do not force feed the child. Let the child play and be messy with the food. Feeding time is a chance to talk , tell stories, too.
• NO SCREENS while eating. No cartoons, No nursery rhymes, No videos

Since, breastfeeding is recommended atleast upto 2 years of age, weaning the baby completely from breast  feeding should be tried after around 20-22 months of age. Decrease daytime feeds first, then shift your focus on night  time feeds.

READING TIME–  There is no minimum age to start reading. Reading to babies as young as six months of age  leads to stronger vocabularies and better early literacy skills at 4 years of age. And hence, variety of books are available in the market like cloth books, touch and feel books, board books and so on. But, right now, during the lock down since we can’t buy a book, LETS MAKE A BOOK !! You can use some A4 papers, colors, newspapers to get cut outs of vehicles, birds, objects, food items etc. Make a scrapbook for your kid! What a fun way to introduce picture books to your kid!! 10-15 minutes of reading time daily can lead to huge developmental advancements in your child’s language as well as cognition.  It is the best way to enlarge your child’s world because books can take you places!!! A study in New York has shown that children growing up in homes with at least 20 books get 3 more years of schooling than children from bookless homes independent of their parent’s education, occupation and class.

Hence, Read, Read, Read…Read with your child, read to your child because ‘children are made readers on the laps of their parents. Some book suggestions  for 0-2 year old, which can be downloaded and read are as follows!!

https://www.eklavya.in/books/flip-books/flip-books-in-hindi

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-Childrens-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/155009011/ref=zg_bs?_encoding=UTF8&tf=1

6. As we have discussed about spending time with the kids and engaging them, an important issue to be taken into consideration is SCREEN TIME!

In these times of lock down and social distancing, there is a need to stay  connected with outside world , get updates of current happenings, get in touch with our family and relatives and also entertain ourselves  out of boredom! The answer to all these requirements is one and only one- Gadgets or technology or Screen time! The smartphone has something for everyone! Hence, there is VOOT KIDs, YOUTUBE KIDs  and many other  apps promoting use of screens for our kiddos too!! But, exposing the children of age less than 2 years of age to screen time can be harmful to the child’s development and  excessive exposure has been associated with speech and language delays, decreased socialization, behavioural problems, hyperactivity and even sleep issues! As per American Academy of paediatrics guidelines- NO  amount of screen time (including background TV) is recommended upto 24months of age.

So what can be done to avoid SCREEN TIME

• Use audio-radio,music apps,etc
• Talk.Sing to your child. Your child deserves to be talked to.
• Limit usage of screen for video calls only.
• No screentime during meals. Follow this rule for yourself, and it shall be easy to implement for the whole family.
• Stop your own use of screens 1 hour prior to sleep.

7. TIME FOR SELF– Let your infant enjoy time with self too.  Too much of stimulation or attention also affects the kid, as kid becomes completely dependent on outside world for fulfilment of his/her  needs. This can bring up behavioural problems too.  In 24 hours of  a day, if you leave your child for some time (say start with 10 minutes) with nothing specific to do , its this time that child shall learn to explore, be creative and be observant. It is in this time you can notice what your kid does ,what the kid experiments and what your kid enjoys!! Hence, ‘me time’ is itself a good way of engaging your kid.

To sum up, this is how parents can engage their kid in the times of lockdown with no place to go, no gardens to visit and no play dates to entertain. I hope that the info shared in this  blog/podcast shall be useful to  the parents looking out for solutions  while dealing with their children (0- 2 years of age).

We will be soon coming with our part 2 of Parenting Matters-In times of Lockdown!

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(The author is a developmental paediatrician and deals with development and behavioural issues of children.)