First, fermentation can take up to 72 hours for the yeasties to start, it's called lag time.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fermentation-can-take-24-72-hrs-show-visible-signs-43635/
But by visible signs they DON'T mean airlock activity.
Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2.
If your airlock was bubbling and stopped---It doesn't mean fermentation has stopped.
If you airlock isn't bubbling, it doesn't mean your fermentation hasn't started....
If your airlock starts bubbling, it really doesn't matter.
If your airlock NEVER bubbles, it doesn't mean anything is wrong or right.
It doesn't really matter whether or not you get airlock action. Your beer will ferment whether or not the airclock bubbles or co2 gets out elsewhere. Your airlock is not a fermentation gauge, it is a VALVE to release excess co2.
And if co2 is getting out, then nothing is getting in.
I have 9 different fermenters, buckets, carboys, water bottles, and only get an airlock blip on about 50% of the beers, but I get 100% fermentation.
These days, many folks just cover their fermenter buckets with a piece of plexiglass letting the co2 push out between where the plexiglass and the bucket meet. Others cover their carboy mouth with tinfoil. Totally ignoring the need for either an airlock OR a bucket cover.
A lot of folks, especially folks with arthritis, barely even put the lid on tight at all, they just lay it on top. again, if co2 is getting out, NOTHING nasty can get in. And that really is all that matters.
An airlock is just a vent to release excess co2, so as long as you have some way to let the co2 get out without letting oxygen in, any method works.
The common and easiest way is with an airlock, but many folks put too much emphasis on whether or not their airlock bubbles, they think that if it's not bubbling something may be wrong, when in truth it's just a matter of need. If there is so much co2 building up that it needs to vent, it will. If it gets out some other way, beer will still ferment just fine.
So really, you don't need to worry about your lids. Just Brew and relax, they didn't even have bubbling airlocks, or lids back when Ninkasi walked the earth.