Lessons Learned from Infant–Toddler Caregiving During COVID-19: “They Can Tell from My Eyes that I’m Smiling”

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted infants, toddlers, and their families during a critical period of development and growth. It has brought numerous changes and challenges to caregiving and family partnerships due to restrictions, isolation, and limited opportunities for social interactions. This qualitative case study draws on a larger research project involving interviews and focus groups conducted with seven early childhood professionals at a university-affiliated childcare center in New Jersey, United States. The present article focuses on one purposively selected infant teacher as a focal case to explore how she navigated challenges during the COVID-19 crisis and post-pandemic period. Data analysis was informed by grounded theory analytic techniques. Findings revealed how the teacher faced difficulties such as mask-wearing and virtual remote teaching, but adapted to continue fostering social activity, highlighting the importance of flexibility. Utilizing terms such as “COVID kids” and “container kids,” the teacher described her observations regarding the challenges and struggles infants and toddlers encountered in developing their social and motor skills. Despite significant setbacks and challenges, infants and toddlers displayed remarkable resilience and adaptability, quickly adjusting to novel routines and developing new skills, such as reading eyes to interpret emotions. By revealing the lessons learned primarily from infants and toddlers themselves, often our greatest teachers, this study highlights the adaptability and resilience inherent in infant–toddler caregiving and offers important implications for early childhood practice.