Table 4

Perceived impact of personal protective equipment on children: relationships, communication and development

Relationships/rapport	Development
‘[F]or a new child having identity and a face to a voice is important in maintaining and developing caring relationships’. (HP13) ‘[N]ow the little girl can’t really see our faces underneath the face mask and visor so she’s probably a lot more scared from that point of view that has been difficult’ ‘usually they know faces what we look like, whereas now that aspect has been taken away a bit…. It’s been difficult to build relationships with them through a mask and visor’. (HP6) ‘I think it will have issues down the line… you can be smiling and cooing and trying to interact with the baby and if all they can see in your eyes it’s quite difficult’. (HP6) ‘It was in the middle of the whole COVID crisis and everybody was, erm, wrapped up, masks and visors, goggles, the whole kit and caboodle and her vision is, she’s visually almost blind in one eye and only has poor vision in the other eye, so she relies very much on being able to see your face… what you look like as to where her range of emotions should be as well…I think the fact that all of these people who were wearing, you know, really quite scary stuff when you’re not very, very well and, you know, be coming in, there was lots, I mean she was hooked up to, God knows, everything and people are suctioning and bashing your back and putting ice packs in and, so her memory of that is these people tend to do not very nice things to you… So, I think it’s, I think for, for kids it’s just been really, really difficult’. (P8) ‘I can’t hear properly, you smile anyway you stay busy, you’re trying to make a funny face to get a bit of a response and I’m still doing that in a mask, knowing that they can’t see me’. (HP13) ‘[S]at at the kitchen table in a mask and they are in their high chair and they look at you a bit funny, but it’s actually been ok’. (HP4)	‘Face masks and, you know again if they’ve got associated, you know, problems with development it’s, you know, they just, they can’t understand what you’re saying, erm, you know, when you’ve got masks on and, you know, just all those general communications. But yeah, we look a bit more frightening when we’ve got masks on and visors, and long-sleeved aprons and, and things like that’. (HP3) [n]ow we're all wearing masks, we're not even seeing our mouth movements for you know copying those…I think that the frustrating side is that they can't see your mouth and I do find that quite weird sometimes um if you're trying to kind of encourage talking or eating um it does look a bit strange, so that’s been frustrating. I know that there are clear masks available… I think they still come with their problems, but, um, you know that might be something to think about going forward’. (HP4)

Relationships/rapport

Development

‘[F]or a new child having identity and a face to a voice is important in maintaining and developing caring relationships’. (HP13)
‘[N]ow the little girl can’t really see our faces underneath the face mask and visor so she’s probably a lot more scared from that point of view that has been difficult’ ‘usually they know faces what we look like, whereas now that aspect has been taken away a bit…. It’s been difficult to build relationships with them through a mask and visor’. (HP6)
‘I think it will have issues down the line… you can be smiling and cooing and trying to interact with the baby and if all they can see in your eyes it’s quite difficult’. (HP6)
‘It was in the middle of the whole COVID crisis and everybody was, erm, wrapped up, masks and visors, goggles, the whole kit and caboodle and her vision is, she’s visually almost blind in one eye and only has poor vision in the other eye, so she relies very much on being able to see your face… what you look like as to where her range of emotions should be as well…I think the fact that all of these people who were wearing, you know, really quite scary stuff when you’re not very, very well and, you know, be coming in, there was lots, I mean she was hooked up to, God knows, everything and people are suctioning and bashing your back and putting ice packs in and, so her memory of that is these people tend to do not very nice things to you… So, I think it’s, I think for, for kids it’s just been really, really difficult’. (P8)
‘I can’t hear properly, you smile anyway you stay busy, you’re trying to make a funny face to get a bit of a response and I’m still doing that in a mask, knowing that they can’t see me’. (HP13)
‘[S]at at the kitchen table in a mask and they are in their high chair and they look at you a bit funny, but it’s actually been ok’. (HP4)

‘Face masks and, you know again if they’ve got associated, you know, problems with development it’s, you know, they just, they can’t understand what you’re saying, erm, you know, when you’ve got masks on and, you know, just all those general communications. But yeah, we look a bit more frightening when we’ve got masks on and visors, and long-sleeved aprons and, and things like that’. (HP3)
[n]ow we're all wearing masks, we're not even seeing our mouth movements for you know copying those…I think that the frustrating side is that they can't see your mouth and I do find that quite weird sometimes um if you're trying to kind of encourage talking or eating um it does look a bit strange, so that’s been frustrating. I know that there are clear masks available… I think they still come with their problems, but, um, you know that might be something to think about going forward’. (HP4)