Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
News
Original poster

One for the rear facing buggy lovers.... not recommended for fwd facing buggy users

79 replies

TheBlonde · 21/11/2008 07:44

Babies could be left "emotionally impoverished" by being placed in buggies that face away from their mothers, research claims.

Obviously the researchers didn't look into the practical reasons why most buggies are forward facing

OP posts:
sleepycat · 21/11/2008 07:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BreevandercampLGJ · 21/11/2008 08:20

Emotionally impoverished is going too far, but I do think the basic premise makes sense.

wasabipeanut · 21/11/2008 08:33

Presumably this only really applies if your child spends hours every day in a buggy but if that was the case it is not unreasonable to assume they might have issues anyway.

My buggy can face either way but we turned it round to face forwards as DS was happier if he could see more of what was going on. He seemed to be bored looking at us all the time.

mamadiva · 21/11/2008 08:35

Hmm... this cracked me up what a load of bollocks!

Our pram had a flip handle so DS faced us until 8 months then faced away as he was always trying to look out the front of the pram.

In our case anyway my DS was defo better off forward facing. They need to see the world around them.

ledodgy · 21/11/2008 08:35

Every baby i've had up until about 6 months has fallen straight to sleep when put in a forward facing buggy. After that they are awake and pleased to look at anything other than my face!

Lizzylou · 21/11/2008 08:35

Phil and Teds weren't v highly thought of on the BBC this morning.

We had one for when DS2 was born, we didn't use it as often as I did with DS1 (who was in a forward facing ).

ledodgy · 21/11/2008 08:36

OOh what did they say about Phil&Teds I have one.

PeachyAndTheSucklingBas · 21/11/2008 08:38

Oh god here we go

ds4 co sleeps, bf for all drinks still at 7 months, is carried almost always but no doubt the one or 2 times a week I use my FW buggy (the only one that fits in my car) old Grannies will make comments (esp if i've my asd duo with me)

Lizzylou · 21/11/2008 08:41

Ledodgy
"And don't even get me started on the buggies where the baby goes underneath..."

Another thing we can feel guilty about.

ShauntheSheep · 21/11/2008 08:42

Maybe its because they did the research on High Streets. Just walking down a high street is enough to cause my stress levels to rise let alone a babies.
Dd loved her fwd facing buggy so she could see things when out and about but then we did most of our walking in the woods and parks.

ledodgy · 21/11/2008 08:50

I've just stopped listening now to the all the bollocks they come out with in order it seems to make parents feel guilty about one thing or another. Since having my third I am finally at that place when I can trust my own instincts and know what's right for my child.

Anna8888 · 21/11/2008 08:59

at the expression "life in a buggy".

My DD didn't live in a buggy when she was a baby/toddler. Most of her day was spent with me at home and we were pretty interactive. When I was out with the buggy I was concentrating on steering it so I wouldn't have been "interacting" with her anyway. I think she enjoyed looking at the world around her.

needmorecoffee · 21/11/2008 09:01

righty, off to tell wheelchair services if they don't provide a backwards facing wheelchair for dd then they are emotionally impoversihing her.

Lizzylou · 21/11/2008 09:05

When I was pg with DS1 I chose a forward facing buggy because I thought I'd have been selfish to deprive him of looking at the world around him simply because I wanted to gaze at his face.

I may have made a different choice had I seen a report like this, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, I hate going backwards myself, makes me feel sick.

MsSparkle · 21/11/2008 09:07

I always found it's nicer for them to face forward. I'm sure my dd would much rather look at where she's going and all the interesting things around her rather than looking at my ugly mug

Libra1975 · 21/11/2008 09:11

Who has sponsered this research?? Considering rear-facing buggies are usually more expenisive...

PeachyAndTheSucklingBas · 21/11/2008 09:19

i wanted a rf one

they're not as compact (biggest we could get in the car graco mojo, hence sling / ella roo hip sling)

and tey cost a fortune, even on ebay compared to ff

which for a great many is the deciding factor

not een on p&t myself but only because 1st time I saw one I almost challenged the woman for having a baby in her shopping basket

ds1 was in a fw didnt solve his as, it might have an effect but a partial one at best I think an there are a million ways to balance the risk.

EffiePerine · 21/11/2008 09:23

I think for young babies rear facing is better (like, er, a pram)

but as they get older front facing offers more distractions

also a good habit to chat to your baby when out and about, whether rear or front facing

have to say I hate the look of the Phil and Teds- the baby can't see anything, let alone your face.

chequersandchess · 21/11/2008 09:27

Oh fgs, haven't they got anything better to do? It's not as if most babies spend hours in a bugy.

The same could presumably be said for being strapped into car seats anyway.

mabanana · 21/11/2008 09:31

Libra, the research has nothing whatsoever to do with buggy manufacturers.It was conducted by the Children's Project, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, funded by the Sutton
Trust.
One of the things the researchers said was that manufacturers should produce cheaper parent-facing buggies. They used to be totally ordinary and commonplace, then they vanished, and now of course they are back, but expensive.

littleducks · 21/11/2008 09:32

well i am trying to sell an icandy cherry, do you think i should go for the hard sell and suggest that it will prevent babies being emotionally impoverished?

and i had a phil and teds, i still talk to my kids, and if you dont put on hood,fold it back if you need it for raincover you can see both kids

and sod making buggies more practical tell the researchers that buses and shops need to be altered so prams can be used on them!

cupsoftea · 21/11/2008 09:33

My rain cover never fitted when forward facing!

mabanana · 21/11/2008 09:34

I used a pram (cheap, second-hand, untrendy from Ebay!) with my last child and I honestly never found it a problem in shops. I felt much happier with it than I did with forward facing buggies. But I have to say, after the first eight months or so, dd did seem to spend all her time craning her neck round to look forward!

francagoestohollywood · 21/11/2008 09:37

To quote mamadiva, what a load of bollocks

PeachyAndTheSucklingBas · 21/11/2008 09:39

bigger car boots necessary though if they made all prams ff (not all of us are alking distance from a shop after all). It is a big factor as I learned to my cost after we changed car after buying ds4 a buggy, didn't think to check then had to run and get another one when he was a few days old.

I still like slings though. far more flexiobe ad even when baby is looking arond he's still in contact with you.