While the rest of the UK population observed social distancing during the pandemic, 9 in 10 nursery staff still cuddled children and held their hands, despite the threat of catching Covid-19

The survey of over 1,300 nursery staff by the leading nursery reviews site, daynurseries.co.uk, found prior to the pandemic, 97% of nursery staff gave children in their care a cuddle if they were sad or hurt themselves.

During the pandemic when people stopped hugging and two metre social distancing became the ‘norm’, the amount of nursery staff cuddling children still remained high, slightly dropping to 93%.

A high proportion of nursery staff also held children’s hands during the pandemic, with 89% saying they continued to do this despite the danger of catching Covid-19. 65% of staff introduced more outdoor play to keep children Covid-19 safe.

Nearly two-thirds of nursery staff reported a change in the emotional wellbeing of children, such as a rise in levels of anxiety since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing how children were impacted and needed extra emotional and physical support.

Speaking of the findings, Sue Learner, editor of daynurseries.co.uk said: “Physical contact such as holding hands and cuddling is hugely important for making a young child feel cared for and safe. So it is reassuring that the vast majority of nursery staff continued to carry on doing this against the backdrop of social distancing guidelines in wider society.

“Nurseries have played a huge role during the past two years in ensuring children still experienced some kind of normality in a world that became frightening and unsettling. For many children, their days at nursery was their only time socialising and playing with other children, which is integral to their development.

“It is worrying that nearly two-thirds of staff witnessed a negative change in the emotional wellbeing of children in their care as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is why physical comfort in nurseries has never been more important, and the role of nursery staff in helping children overcome the emotional legacy of the pandemic should continue to be championed.”

Dr Nahal Jafroudi, principal of Happy Hearts nursery in west London, said: “If a two-year-old falls over and gets upset you need to console them and so we definitely continued to give them cuddles during the pandemic. If a child needs comfort and reassurance you can’t deny them that.

”Offering cuddles as and when it was sought by the children became ever more significant during the pandemic, in that it provided an assuring and safe medium that helped foster feelings of safety, security and love for the children.

“Studies have shown that cuddling triggers the release of oxytocin, a hormone associated with trust, safety and love; thus, helping the young minds develop more confidently, and more emotionally resilient.”

Cheryl Hadland, managing director of Tops Day Nurseries said: “During the pandemic, the world distanced themselves from everyone and this included family households out of fear of passing on the virus or catching it. 

“Children’s mental health was affected and emotional wellbeing did decline as instead of the fun wrestling, playing and hugging they received at home they were met with stressed and anxious parents trying to work from home, instead of hugs, some were met with correction as they needed to be quiet when parents were on zoom and team calls for work, and constant direction as parents had to be the teacher as well as co worker and parent all at the same time.

“It was important at Tops that we maintained a sense of normality for the children, we have strong bonds with our children that attend and know that the physical contact of cuddling and attention really cements this. 

“Positive touch for children helps them to self-regulate and during the pandemic self-regulation did become a challenge. Through caring positive relationships, touches and trusting bonds children were helped to cope during a challenging and unknowing time in their young life.”