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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to feel a bit patronised by the "Talk to your Child" campaign to get me to buy a rear facing buggy

123 replies

witchandchips · 24/11/2008 11:00

Don't get me wrong, I have wasted many hours searching for such a thing that is affordable and non wanky + the premise of the campaign makes sense. But it is the judgy judgy judgy notes of the articles and the complete apparrent dismissal of issues like needing to get on the bus or having to wheel two under two into shops that get my goat, It seems just another stick for the daily mail to beat us by.

OP posts:
ramonaquimby · 24/11/2008 11:03

agree.
it's for the 'good' of a minority of children out there - just like teaching kids that books read from left to right in reception classes......

PopBitch · 24/11/2008 11:03

No idea what this campaign is but I would ignore it completely and get whatever suits you in practical terms.

onthewarpath · 24/11/2008 11:09

like pop

VictorianSqualor · 24/11/2008 11:09

I have no idea what the campaign is but FWIW we have one of these which faces front and back and also has a car seat attachment which is good for using on the bus if you need to collapse the big bit.

mrsruffallo · 24/11/2008 11:09

Haven't read thearticles, but I do feel uncomfortable not having my dc face me when I am pushing the buggy.
Anyway, these campaigns annoy me. They deal with the symptom, not the cause- I mean,it is only parents that care that are going to actually take notice of these reports isn't it?

mabanana · 24/11/2008 11:11

It's not a campaign, it's a study, and the authors called on buggy manufacturers to create affordable, foldable buggies that face the parents.

cheeset · 24/11/2008 11:14

How strange, I'd want my child to see the world and have a nice view, he/she can chat at a suitable time IMO? Gosh, if it's not one thing it's another! Big BRother is trying to mess with your melon man

NCbirdy · 24/11/2008 11:26

Is this a gov. campaign?

It gets me sooo mad There are so so many ways a parent can permanently damage a child and yet they waste huge amounts of money on CRAP like this (can you tell I am cross

How about a "don't talk to your child if all you are going to do is call then a little shit/little bastard" or a "don't have children if you are going to use the older child to look after the younger ones all day in the freesing cold because you are too drunk/high/whatever to have them in your house"

Ok, I am not normally judgey and crap like this but it makes me so so cross when they heap on unecessary guilt and another excuse for perfect parents to look down the nose at normal parents.... [arrggh] I am going now

beforesunrise · 24/11/2008 11:27

there is also a campaign, mabanana, by some annoying woman who, as far as i can tell, as too much time on her hands and no obvious qualification to take on this issue: www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/nov/22/forward-backward-facing-baby-buggies

i heard the author of the study on today last week and have been pissed off about it ever since- it is a bad piece of science, based on a small sample, unreliable observation methods (they observed people in the street), and full of missing causal links. eg: babies who face their parents are more likely to be asleep in the buggy, hence they must be less stressed. eehhhhr, no babies who are rear facing are most likely to be younger, therefore more likely to be asleep. etc etc.

while i would love to be able to face my baby, it is simply not a possibility, as i need to get on the bus, tube, up the hill, and attach a buggy board. i refuse to feel guilty about this, and feel completely comfortable that i am not "emotionally impoverishing" my baby.

i really want to know who funded this research.

tonton · 24/11/2008 11:30

YANBU.
I didn't have a rear-facing biggy because they were exensive and too cumbersome for public transport. V happy with my cheapo Maclaren which is a wonder on bus and tube.

Just plain nonsense.

cheesesarnie · 24/11/2008 11:36

i think its a great campaign.it makes people more aware that a pushchair shouldnt be all about how cool it makes you look.many parents use them as an accessory(sorry about spelling ).without doubt rear facing defiantly helps the baby.
i think it would be fantastic if it makes buggy makers think about what we actually need.

nellynaemates · 24/11/2008 11:37

Talk about scare-mongering:

"She says that 90% of nursery workers are worried that speech difficulties among pre-schoolers are increasing. "Lots of young children start school only knowing a few words and aren't able to construct sentences," she says. This, she warns darkly, can lead to behavioural problems, exam failure, delinquency, perhaps even prison."

(That's from Liz Attenborough of the Talk to your child campaign)

You heard it here first folks, put your baby in a forward facing buggy and you'll be visiting them in prison in 20 years

Then there's this:

"If you're being pushed down the street and you've got big things looming in front of you, that makes you a little anxious. You start to look uncomfortable, or maybe whimper. Does your parent notice and come around and say, 'Honey, it's OK'? Or are you left to cope with that stress on your own and do you do that quite a lot during the week?"

Of course I'll come round and see if my baby's ok if he's whimpering!! Methinks the issue here is not the buggy but the parent if they don't attend to their child. Why are people so bloody silly?

That whole article is designed to make parents feel guilty, the irony being that most parents who will be concerned enough to feel guilty are probably already interacting with their kids. The parents who are ignoring their kids are very unlikely to be reading/interested in this research.

walks away from the computer before she rants any more

NCbirdy · 24/11/2008 11:39

You are right Cheesesarnie - but it won't it will make parents who care feel guilty, superior parents more so and manufacturers will have another escuse to produce an even more expensive and impractical device that they can sell based on our fears of failing our children (fears which manufacturers are largly responsible for)

weenawoo · 24/11/2008 11:39

I tend to talk to mine about what she can see from her front facing buggy - may look a bit mad to others though.
It'll be another thing next week.

poppy34 · 24/11/2008 11:41

ffs -am with ncbirdy and beforesunrise. And If I was gywneth paltrow I'd be round that woman's house to have words re her comments. sorry but I do talk to my daughter all the time when she is in her maclaren (which she loves )and she isn't in it very long..

Plus I live near richmond - its more bugaboo than phil and ted if you ask me

Dropdeadfred · 24/11/2008 11:43

why can't a rear facing buggy go on the bus????

nellynaemates · 24/11/2008 11:43

I agree weenawoo, I'm always pointing to things and talking to my son when he's in his forward facing buggy. Far from finding the traffic scary he loves it, especially big trucks and tractors.

tonton · 24/11/2008 11:45

On London buses (ones i take anyway) they usually expect you to fold the pushchair down and carry child. Much quicker and easier with a fairly light McClaren.

mabanana · 24/11/2008 11:46

The study was funded by this educational charity
Why?
It was supported by The Children's Project and the National Literacy Trust.
more about the research

NCbirdy · 24/11/2008 11:49

It gets worse

beforesunrise · 24/11/2008 11:57

if liz attenbourough ever tries to Talk to My child i will call the cops on her

cheesesarnie · 24/11/2008 11:58

i like the second link.

Dropdeadfred · 24/11/2008 11:58

what gets worse?

cheeset · 24/11/2008 11:59

nellynaemates - Yeah, nurseries I visited when chosing one for my dc, some of the nursery staff couldn't construct a bloody sentence and chose to sit on the floor silent with the children. I ended up playing with the children (whilst on my visit mind you)and the staff sat around watching

It's hard enough being a parent but when they keep filling our minds with things like this it gets too complicated.

The Govt can't even get things right about things it knows can go wrong,Baby P for eg. Yeah, put your own house in order first BB before you spout out any more garbage

poppy34 · 24/11/2008 12:03

two hours a day? sorry thats the bit I struggle with - yes occasionally if I'm shopping dd may be in pushchair for 2 hours (but I certainly talk to ) but that sounds a very high total to me.