‘Pandemic’ babies are slower to meet some developmental milestones, says study

A recent study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, shows that babies born during the first Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown were slower to meet several developmental milestones when compared to those who were born prior to the pandemic. However, they might have been faster to crawl, the study suggests.

Researchers in Ireland asked the parents of 309 “pandemic” babies, born between March and May 2020, to assess their child’s ability across seven developmental milestones, including, their ability to crawl, pick up tiny objects (with thumb and index finger), and express at least one definite and meaningful word.

According to Dr Susan Byrne, a pediatric neurologist at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland who was also part of the study, Irish lockdowns particularly were “very stringent”. She added, “During the first six months, the families (which they studied) were in contact with only four other people outside the family unit, on average, and by the time they reached 12 months, one in four of the babies hadn’t met another child their own age.”

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The researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and University College Cork also found that there was a small but measurable difference of 12% in the babies’ language and communication skills when compared to the pre-pandemic babies.

Furthermore, they were 9% less likely to point at people or objects and 6.5% less likely to be able to wave “bye-bye”, said the study. On the other hand, the study suggested that “pandemic” babies were 6.5% more likely to crawl earlier than their pre-pandemic counterparts and reasoned that this may be the case because they spent more time on the ground, rather than being strapped into cars and pushchairs.

“It’s interesting because a lot of these babies were at home and not seeing many people leave, meaning there wouldn’t have been anybody to say ‘bye-bye’ to. Babies also tend to point when they see new things that they want, but if they weren’t going outside, they would have already known about everything in their environments,” said Dr Byrne to the Guardian.

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Researchers also indicated that they remained “unclear” on whether wearing masks affected the babies’ language and communication development. However, Byrne stressed that differences were small and there are steps that parents can take to help their toddlers catch up.

“Babies are resilient and inquisitive by nature, and it is very likely that with societal re-emergence and increase in social circles that their social communication skills will improve,” she added. The researchers indicated that the “overall relative risk reductions” are small and they would likely be able to catch up with their pre-pandemic peers after the restrictions are lifted.

(With inputs from agencies)

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