Parent with baby in tow at mall

[abbby]

Is it generally safe for the baby? Cos baby are not masked up and I saw the dad pushing the baby thru various shops shopping for his stuff...

[Lisafuller]

While children below 2 are a technically allowed to go maskless, I’m not sure it is a good idea to take them out of the house without one since their immune systems are generally already weaker than adults.

[abbby]

precisely..and dad was shopping around for non essential items..omg. what is he thinking.

[Lisafuller]

precisely..and dad was shopping around for non essential items..omg. what is he thinking.

Perhaps there was no one to take care of the baby at home. Either way, not a good idea to expose young children to bacteria unnecessarily.

[MOCHS]

It’s children below 6 who don’t need to wear masks, not kids below 2.

COVID is a virus, not a bacteria. There’s a difference. And bacteria is everywhere, it doesn’t magically disappear inside your house. It’s on every surface you can think of. Our immune system is robust and is fighting off potential infections everyday without us knowing.

And not all bacteria are inherently “bad”, there are beneficial bacteria too. They live on your skin and in your gut. They are there to prevent pathogenic bacteria from colonizing your body. The prebiotics and probiotics people drink are also made up of good bacteria.

If you’ve heard of the hygiene hypothesis, a child raised in a “too clean” environment may develop immune tolerance and may be more prone to allergy and other diseases. Some exposure primes the kid’s immune system to react to potential pathogens normally instead of “overreacting” like allergy.

And we are already “exposing” kids via vaccinations anyway. Kids are more resilient than you think.

Anyway, we should practise some kindness and not be so judgemental. We don’t know the full story. If your slate is clean, then you can throw stones. If your slate is not, then leave them alone.