Buggy direction impacts child
- Thread starter aussiegal
- Start date
Great, something else to worry about. We wanted a buggy that faced us (on my mum's advice, back in the day the baby always faced the mum in the pram) but we couldn't find one that seemed easy to get around on taxis and buses with.... oh well, I expect our little one will survive the emotional deprivation somehow ;-)
I've also saw this on the Pearl or World news. I am only 13 weeks now, My husband had always said he preferred a away-facing Buggy for the reason that most of us think--baby can see where they are going .
After we heard about the news, we are reconsidering which to buy now. But we are a little skeptical because there might be a new study came out one way telling parents otherwise. Also, mothers are supposed to keep their eyes on the road while pushing the baby. Wouldn't it endanger the baby and mother if the mother focusing on talking to him/her instead of paying attention to the traffic?
I have also been pondering that perhaps by the time we need one, some manufacturer would have come up a buggy that can be pushed in both directions, which saves us from worrying.
After we heard about the news, we are reconsidering which to buy now. But we are a little skeptical because there might be a new study came out one way telling parents otherwise. Also, mothers are supposed to keep their eyes on the road while pushing the baby. Wouldn't it endanger the baby and mother if the mother focusing on talking to him/her instead of paying attention to the traffic?
I have also been pondering that perhaps by the time we need one, some manufacturer would have come up a buggy that can be pushed in both directions, which saves us from worrying.
The bugaboo faces either way. When our bub was young (say until 7-8 months) she always faced us. Then, when a little older and really interested in the world around her, she preferred to face the other way. Now she's 15 months we move things around to suit her mood - for singing and playing while we walk it's facing us, when going somewhere new with lots to see it's facing out.
There are some interesting articles debunbking that study: mianly because the interpretation of front-facing strollers cusing 'stress' to baby is based on a very slightly higher heart rate in babies facing forwards. This may be as much due to the extra stimulation as to 'stress'.
Language delay is not 'caused' by the short time (most) babies spend in a stroller. There's a lot of debate over causes of 'language delay' and certainly parent to baby communication is important. BUt to blame it all on parents (read: mums....) who buy the cheaper option? Really unsure about that one.........
Language delay is not 'caused' by the short time (most) babies spend in a stroller. There's a lot of debate over causes of 'language delay' and certainly parent to baby communication is important. BUt to blame it all on parents (read: mums....) who buy the cheaper option? Really unsure about that one.........
I think that it's obvious you talk to your child more when they face you...can't believe someone paid to fund this study... but that isn't always what it's about when in the stroller. sometimes you are somewhere new, sometimes they just want to look around. The leaps made from "talking more" to an effect on child development are a bit much, in my opinion.
We flip baby around depending on the situation. I also think stress measured in a baby in HK with a million hands trying to touch them would absolutely be increased!
We flip baby around depending on the situation. I also think stress measured in a baby in HK with a million hands trying to touch them would absolutely be increased!
wonder what these researchers would have to say about the phil and ted!
As parents, we just make the best choice for our situations, and obviously buying a stroller in hong kong seems to be a much more difficult decision than it is in other places, as the requirements are very different. Small light and compact trump nearly anything else...
As parents, we just make the best choice for our situations, and obviously buying a stroller in hong kong seems to be a much more difficult decision than it is in other places, as the requirements are very different. Small light and compact trump nearly anything else...
Personally I always had the baby facing me til 3 or 4 months old so I could talk to them and see whether they were happy, spitting up etc. Then I would turn them so they could start to see and learn about the world.
It's fairly obvious that talking to your baby is very important but unless you leave your child in a stroller for long amounts of time I can't see the damage of letting them sit facing forward to the world and talking to them when they are at home or you have stopped walking.
Still, anything that reminds parents to talk to their children is good. I know some parents that really don't talk to their babies. Bizarre.
It's fairly obvious that talking to your baby is very important but unless you leave your child in a stroller for long amounts of time I can't see the damage of letting them sit facing forward to the world and talking to them when they are at home or you have stopped walking.
Still, anything that reminds parents to talk to their children is good. I know some parents that really don't talk to their babies. Bizarre.
M
MLBW
Guest
From reading the article it didn't seem to me that this experiment controlled for other factors--such as parent interaction with babies in other times outside of stroller time. To me it seems like a question of "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" I really don't think that which direction the baby faces for short periods of time while in a stroller had huge bearings on his/her social interaction skills. Maybe in the case of the babies facing toward the parents, that is some of the most quality, face-to-face time they get with their parents on a day-to-day basis. Whereas, children faced away from parents might have parents interacting with them the entire day, day after day and have lots and lots of face time except for the short time they spend in the stroller. I know that with our son, when he was faced toward us, he tended to lean out the side of the stroller to look around and see where he was going instead of just staring at us.