Making babies and toddlers wear coronavirus face masks 'could prove deadly', experts warn

With coronavirus cases in the world continues to increase, many worried parents have started putting face masks on their babies and toddlers while out and about.

But experts have warned that this practice ‘could prove deadly’, and are urging parents against it.

Speaking to The Sun Online, Dr Daniel Atkinson, GP and Clinical Lead at Treated.com, said: 

There are risks associated with babies and infants wearing masks.

For example, children do have smaller airways which will have to work harder to take up oxygen through a face mask. And there's also the risk of the baby trying to remove a mask, and the mask becoming tangled and potentially causing injury.

Meanwhile, another expert warned that putting a face mask on your child could prompt them to touch their face more.

 This could have the opposite of the desired effect, and actually increase their risk of catching coronavirus.

GP Dr Philippa Kaye, explained:

Those under two would touch their faces and the masks all the time, making them less effective and are a risk re their airways and breathing - please avoid!

Rather than using face masks, the researchers suggest that other preventative measures may be more effective to protect your family.

Dr Atkinson added: 

There are other, more efficient and less risky ways you can protect your children from picking up coronavirus, which is to ensure they stay at home as much as possible, that you and they stay at least two metres apart from other people when outdoors, and that you help them practice regular hand washing.

Advice about wearing face masks varies massively around the world.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends against the measure for the general public, claiming that masks offer a false sense of security, and that they can be contaminated by other people's coughs and sneezes or when putting them on or removing them.

However, 100 leading doctors have signed a letter saying they are ‘increasingly alarmed at official inaction over the need for the public to wear face masks.’