When did you make the buggy front facing?

[Whatsthatspookynoise]

I just don't feel ready, but he is.

About 10 months. He was getting agitated and constantly trying to turn round and look so we swapped him over. 16 months now and babbles away whilst on a walk. My pushchair has a little window I can see in but also if I open the hood slightly a little net bit he likes to turn round and look into.

With DD it wasn’t until she was about 2 and it was one of the things on the long list that I fretted about unnecessarily. With DS it was at 6 months as we had a different pushchair that doesn’t parent face. And he is so much happier than she was on walks etc. Might be a coincidence but he is very content looking at the world go past. I stop frequently to go and say hi and he’s always very happy.

Even though it’s something I worried about with DD I would be very surprised if this makes any real difference to his language development. It’s just another thing that parents (mothers) are told to make them feel they are parenting incorrectly.

In fact, I’m not much of a small talker and on walks with my babies just like to look around me and enjoy the peace. So I used to worry with DD anyway that I wasn’t talking enough and she would never learn to speak

About 4 months for dd1, once she wasn't completely flat. She screamed every time I used it so was mostly using the carrier anyway so on advice or a friend I propped it up at 45 degrees and turned it around, did the trick, she loved walks from then on. For Dd2 we had to have a double and it was only forward facing so from about 6 weeks (wasn't suitable from birth, I used the carrier)

@Bromeliad

8 months with the first and 6 with the second. Both screamed their heads off the whole time in parent facing mode and in the bassinet.

My second is a lockdown baby and we've been in local lockdown since July. I ended up in tears that I couldn't the leave the house with her in the buggy for ages because she just screamed and my back was too bad for the carrier. I was really stressed that my toddler couldn't see anyone and that was screwing up her social development. But now I've apparently screwed up her language development instead so that's something else to worry about.

My DD was forward facing from six months when the pram came off and at 4.5 I can assure you there is nothing wrong with her speech because guess what we didn’t only speak to her when we were out we also did it at home.. I do think some of things people say now just cause unnecessary stress so please don’t worry about it.

As late as possible as we walked a lot and enjoyed the interaction

Everyone and every baby is different though

About 5m as we also had the Yoyo which only forward faces after newborn.

Please don't worry about it! I'm a Speech Therapist. Rear facing is good as it gives an opportunity to talk, but it's not the only opportunity. You won't damage your child by forward facing. If you have a parent who doesn't really talk to their child, then rear facing and chatting to them will help. But if you chat to them throughout the day, the buggy won't really make a difference, unless they are in it for hours.

There is also thinking that it helps your child to be able to see you and feel safe. I don't know much about this, so can't comment properly. I always felt my children saw their buggy as a safe space a bit like their cot, so it was ok if they couldn't always see me, and I would look round to reassure them if they were upset.

My boys are older teens now. There were never any rear facing buggies when they were babies. They were in prams till about 3 months then forward facing McLaren buggies from then till 2.5. We still chatted and looked at stuff. They've grown up completely normal. 🤷🏻‍♀️

6 months for each of mine, basically as soon as their necks were strong enough to stop their little heads lolloping because they weren't completely laid back flat. I always felt sorry for them seeing everything in reverse! Which is obviously weird of me but i really felt i was doing them a great favour being able to view things that were coming towards them. I'm sure they were very grateful though they've never thanked me for it

If you have a pram that you can have either way I would just try it the other way and see how you both get on :) I used to turn DS depending what we were doing, if we were popping to town usually he would face me just so we could have a chat, not for development reasons but just because I wanted to in honesty. If we were off somewhere for a walk or whatever usually be outwards so he could get a better view of what was around. Either is fine, if he has an older brother he probably would like to see him running about and stuff so I'd be tempted to pop him facing forwards, but whatever you choose make sure you feel comfortable with too!

@BendingSpoons

About 5m as we also had the Yoyo which only forward faces after newborn.

Please don't worry about it! I'm a Speech Therapist. Rear facing is good as it gives an opportunity to talk, but it's not the only opportunity. You won't damage your child by forward facing. If you have a parent who doesn't really talk to their child, then rear facing and chatting to them will help. But if you chat to them throughout the day, the buggy won't really make a difference, unless they are in it for hours.

There is also thinking that it helps your child to be able to see you and feel safe. I don't know much about this, so can't comment properly. I always felt my children saw their buggy as a safe space a bit like their cot, so it was ok if they couldn't always see me, and I would look round to reassure them if they were upset.

DD is 8 months and goes out facing when we are out and about

She’s a lockdown baby so I’m pretty sure she’s totally bored with my face and gets a lot more out of seeing the outside world - cars, other people, nature, wildlife etc than just the same face she’s seen day in day out for her whole life 🤷‍♀️

4 or 5 months. We have an Out N About Nipper Sport and after the carry cot stage it’s front facing. I had a friend make a huge fuss about how our pushchair MUST be parent-facing but tbh it was very rarely used as we used a sling 90% of the time so I really couldn’t get worked up about it!

Ours was very easy to turn around either way so we went through a long period where it would depend on what we were doing - I would always turn him to face me if I wanted him to sleep, for instance! Now (coming up to 2.5) he's always forwards, both because he'd object to going backwards and because his feet would hit me in the shins.

I remember getting quite worried that I wasn't talking constantly enough to DS in the pram when he was tiny because I'd read all these things about how important parent-facing is. Then I looked around in town and realised that most people do have little ones facing them but that I couldn't see anyone else wittering on constantly to a non-verbal baby and that maybe it was a bit overblown... I do talk constantly to DS now when he's in the pram even though he faces away from me, but that's because he now never stops talking!

I think DD was 9 or 10 months. I actually cant remember doing it, even though she is only just turning 2, but I imagine I did it because she loved looking around too and was probably getting frustrated. He will be fine turned away from you.

DC 1 about 9 months , DC2 I can't remember, DC3 from the start as the switching mechanism had stopped working by then!

Why are people worried about their kids facing outwards when they are strapped in and tight next to you?

Sounds like potential anxiety issues, would get these addressed.

I don't understand the rush people have to world face. They can still see the same amount parent facing, just the opposite view, with the addition of you who is the most important thing in the world to them! You can also interact with them which is so beneficial for baby

My baby is (a small) just turned 1yr old. I have no intentions of world facing her at the moment. When she starts to outgrow the seat I will....

@PrayingandHoping

I don't understand the rush people have to world face. They can still see the same amount parent facing, just the opposite view, with the addition of you who is the most important thing in the world to them! You can also interact with them which is so beneficial for baby

My baby is (a small) just turned 1yr old. I have no intentions of world facing her at the moment. When she starts to outgrow the seat I will....

Haaaa, so goes the (nicely judgy) song of a parent with a not-so-nosy child. DD yelled the house down if she was parent-facing from 4 months, in the sling and in the pram.

She gets near constant interaction with her parents at all other points in time. I suppose if you're only interacting with your baby when you have her in the pram, parent facing would make sense. Mine gets bored and much prefers to watch the world go by.

I read once that the advice is not before 12 months because they don’t have object permanence before then.

He’s only little. He has the rest of his life to look around.

We went forward facing at about a year old when we swapped our huge Mountain Buggy for a Silvercross stroller. We used an ergobaby carrier a lot so he was used to looking out at the world from about 6 months old when he was forward facing in it.

He’s only little. He has the rest of his life to look around.

I'm sorry but this made me laugh, it sounds almost like a parody of all the guilt-inducing stuff people say to mothers.

@Ohalrightthen I interact with her a lot out the pram thanks 👍

My baby can see loads when parents facing. Maybe it's the design of some prams. She's very nosey but also likes to chat.

It really is the same amount of view just 180 degrees backwards. No idea why people think they can see more forwards. Mine can see the world go by facing backwards.

@Rainallnight

I read once that the advice is not before 12 months because they don’t have object permanence before then.

He’s only little. He has the rest of his life to look around.

Object permanence should be in place at 6 months if development progresses normally.

It really is the same amount of view just 180 degrees backwards. No idea why people think they can see more forwards. Mine can see the world go by facing backwards.

I have nothing against parent facing, we mostly did it until probably about 1 or 1.5, but I don't see how this can possibly be true unless the person pushing the pram is transparent?