Hi all, with the current number of cases and my plan to send my LO to childcare in the next few months time, i have been trying to let my 21mo to put on a mask but failed really badly so far. Couple of months back she's fine to accomodate and can wear her mask till 10-15 mins at a go. But then it was my mistake as I didn't reinforce nor keep it consistent to let her wear regularly.
I've tried several methods such as:
1) Pretend Play.
Where she helps me to put on a mask and I put a children mask on her. But failed miserably. Before I get a chance to put the mask on her, she alr took the mask and swing x3 times and throw it far away.
2) Consistency.
Everytime before going out I will tell my LO, "Mummy is putting on a mask, papa is wearing a mask. Granny is wear a mask, so baby wear mask?". But before I put it on her, she saw it infront of her face she scream and pull the mask from me and throw it away again.
3) Using child-friendly language (as told on an article).
So I will tell her 'baby, wear your shoes and mask! Gaigai alr' whenever we go out. She listened to the shoes part and when I brought her mask near her, she scream and attempt to snatch the mask away from me so she can throw it away.
4) No mask no go out method.
Just started this today and all I received was a complete melt down session.
5) Cute design masks and lanyards.
Gotten disposable ones and washable masks in cute cartoon prints. Few months back she put it on i will praise her pretty and she loves it and will keep it on for a few mins more. But now I praise her and even show her phone front camera to see herself in a pretty mask, also no use...
6) Cocomelon JJ with mask.
Bought it and show it to her, she just take and throw the plush toy aside...
7) Modeling.
I've even sacrifice a children's disposable mask and put it on to show her that I'm wearing her mask and it's fabulous.
She touch the mask and love it and when I try to put it on her, she pull it away immediately and throw far far away...
I really don't want to restrict her to every single places. At least some outdoor fun and vitamin D per week is all I could ask for for my girl. I've been using sanitizer consistently wherever we go and spray on her hands every 5-10 mins and monitoring her to make sure she doesn't put her hands near her face or mouth or eyes before sanitizing her hand.
Are there any other ways I can train her to put on a mask ASAP?