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A Few 2022 Goals

For many years, I had piles and piles of goals that I’d set at the start of each year. Everything was categorized and I had benchmarks and it was a whole process. And while it worked for a few years, … Read More
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This post is sponsored by Good Sam RV Rentals While we’ve rented our home out on Airbnb for years, we just recently started considering renting out our RV when we’re not using it. We discussed some of the pros and … Read More
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My Favorite Products of 2021

I loved thinking through some of my most useful, quality products of the year that made my life just a bit easier. (Here’s my list from 2020, too.) I’d love to hear if you love any of these things, as … Read More

Oh masks! I never thought a year and a half ago that I’d still be writing a post on the best masks for kids, but here we are.

To be clear, this is NOT a comprehensive post on all of the masks for kids and families out there. We certainly haven’t tried them all. However, they’re all ones we’ve either personally used or researched heavily for available options and will be purchasing soon (in the case of several of the KN95 masks).

Mostly, it’s personal experience with masks with our family of 7 that has tried to be very careful during the pandemic, and I hope it’s helpful to you, too.

High Filtration Masks for Families

With the recent surge, our family has switched to using high filtration masks more regularly for all of us. While we previously used high filtration masks for airports and airplanes, we’ve started using them more regularly for any indoor situations.

It’s been tricky to find N95 masks for kids, especially ones that remain in stock. So I can’t guarantee all of these will be available indefinitely, but they’re the ones that have been helpful for us in recent months.

High Filtration Masks for Toddlers

We first got 4 of these high filtration masks for young kids for our 4 older kids last summer when we flew for the first time during the pandemic. We knew we needed something secure and well fitting and these seemed like a great option.

The masks use sub-micron filtration, and are adjustable for kids of different ages. Each of the disposable filters is also rated for up to 8 hours of continuous use.

The masks have worked great for our younger kiddos. Our then 3 & 6 year olds wore them comfortably over the summer, though it was a bit snug on 6 year old T (who is pretty skinny for his age, though tall). It fits very well on both 4 year old A and almost-2-year-old baby M.

The Flo Mask started feeling uncomfortable for T within the last couple of months, so I’d say it’s really best suited to kids ages 2-6, even though it says it works for older kids.

You can purchase the mask here, along with replacement filters.

High Filtration Masks for Kids

High filtration or KN95 masks for kids have been much more difficult to find. The biggest issue has been finding masks that are both reputable and also available. Amazon has been the place that’s had kid KN95 masks available most consistently, but it can be hard to tell which ones are trustworthy. Here are a few that are currently available that come from brands that seem to be legit:

High Filtration Masks for Adults

Adult KN95 masks are definitely more readily available than child-sized ones, but they also tend to go in and out of stock. We’ve tried a few (but not all) of these, but they are all currently available and all expert-confirmed.

Best Cloth Masks for Families

We also still have a good stock of cloth masks for outdoor activities when around others, and for when the situation hopefully improves.

Best Cloth Masks for Toddlers

We started having baby M practice wearing a mask around the time she was about 19-20 months old. We started with short spurts of about 5 minutes, and worked up. I’ll share some tips for teaching young kids to wear masks coming soon!

We find the Flo Mask tends to be easier for her to keep on sometimes (and is more protective), but we’ve found a good fit with the below masks for baby M (almost 2):

  • Athleta girls masks – These are the masks that probably consistently fit the best on baby M’s tiny face. They are listed as girls’ masks but there’s nothing gendered about them. I like that it has adjustable ear straps, and it covers well above and below. There is a bit of gaping on the sides, so we stick with the Flo Mask when we need additional protection.
  • Old Navy kids masks – These masks also tend to fit young kiddos well, and have triple-layer protection, which is pretty good for cloth masks.

Best Cloth Masks for Kids

  • Old Navy Kids Masks – These old Navy Masks have triple-layer protection, which is better than many cloth masks, and are comfortable. They also have adjustable ear straps. These are the masks that my kids wore most regularly before we switched to primarily high filtration masks.
  • Piccolina cloth masks – I love all the cute prints on these and they’re super soft. Also currently 70% off on both kid and adult sizes
  • Happy Masks – I’ve heard wonderful things about Happy Masks, but they have a whole waitlist system. I haven’t ever managed to get them when they’re available, though they’re highly reviewed.

Cloth Masks for Adults

  • Old Navy Cloth Masks – I really appreciate the ear straps on these
  • Cotopaxi Tech Masks – these are super comfortable and also have adjustable ear straps.
  • Piccolina cloth masks – I love all the cute prints on these and they’re super soft. Also currently 70% off on both kid and adult sizes
  • Wunderkin Face Masks – these are my personal favorite, but they went out of stock a while ago and I don’t know that they’ll be making more

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