Mother puts a mask on her child.

How pandemic isolation is affecting young kids' developing minds

Many children under five years old have been "bunker babies" for almost two years. Experts explain what this means for different populations and how they will recover.

Jennifer McClure and her 19-month-old daughter Esme Smith began trying on masks in April 2020, not long after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shuttered restaurants and closed schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, cases and deaths were soaring in the city, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had restricted all gatherings to less than 50 people. Wearing masks was mostly for play then, as the family didn’t venture beyond their front stoop in Harlem for several weeks. Today, McClure is among parents nationwide who worry about the long-term consequences pandemic restrictions will have on children under age five, who have spent formative years in extraordinary circumstances.

hen my granddaughter, Winnie, turned one in early 2020, she celebrated with a house full of family, friends, kids running around, cake, and balloons. That was the last large gathering she would experience until Christmas. When the COVID-19 pandemic locked down the United States in March, Winnie, along with millions of young children became what some have dubbed “bunker babies.” Learning to talk during this extraordinary time, one of her first words was “mask.”

Across the nation, daycare centers and schools were shuttered, some until fall 2021. Parents worked from home or lost jobs, and families hunkered down, sequestered at home. Some formed “pods” with those who shared similar safety rules. Many kids were taught to keep a safe distance from

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