At what point do lockdown restrictions become harmful for children?

A trip to the swings is the height of excitement, and more than moving into the air, she loves to look and babble to the child in the next swing, as well as those racing down the slides or across the monkey bars.

It breaks my heart to see her reach out towards or wave at other people – people that she cannot and must not go near, thanks to this never-ending Covid-19 pandemic.

Emilia must think the entire world consists of our house, nanny’s house where she goes Monday to Wednesday for childcare, and the park.

She only knows four people in person – the rest are all floating heads on a video call every so often.

Uncles, aunties, grandparents, family friends and their children, now reduced to just pixels on a screen. Imagine growing up with that being normality.

Of course I do understand why this has been a necessity for almost a year, but the longer this goes on, the more worrying the situation becomes for parents.What started as a “but they’ll never remember it” reassurance is starting to wear a little thin.

Socialisation and human touch are both such important parts of human development, and children have been missing out on both for months.

At what point do these restrictions become harmful for children, or are we too late?

When do these temporary measures become something they will remember? Forget going on holiday, this year I just want my little girl to be able to play with a friend, be measured for shoes, go swimming for the first time.

I haven’t really seen anybody taking this up as a concern and would love an expert to clarify what, if anything, we can do to mitigate any potential problems. Perhaps that would calm the fears for our children’s future that now strike on a more and more frequent basis.

If you are concerned, it is Children’s Mental Health Week this week, and you could argue there has never been a better year to take part.

There’s lots of activities and resources available on their website at childrensmentalhealth.co.uk.