Away-facing buggies can stress child, study finds

BABIES pushed in buggies facing away from their parents could suffer lasting psychological harm, scientists claimed yesterday.

The “emotionally impoverished” condition of children is revealed in the first study of the psychological effects of buggies.

The study found that babies in away-facing buggies appeared to suffer more stress than those facing their parent.

They were also found to be significantly less likely to talk, laugh, and interact with their parents.

Almost 3,000 parent-infant pairs were studied as part of the research by Dundee University for the Talk To Your Baby early language campaign of the National Literacy Trust.

In one experiment, 20 babies were pushed for a mile, half the journey being spent in an away-facing buggy and the other in a toward-facing one.

It was discovered that 25% of parents using face-to-face buggies talked to their baby — more than twice as many as those using away-facing buggies.

Babies facing towards the buggy-pusher experienced a reduced heart rate and were twice as likely to fall asleep, suggesting they were less stressed.

Mothers and infants who had a chance to use both types of buggy laughed more frequently with face-to-face buggies. Only one baby in the group of 20 laughed during the away-facing journey, while half laughed during the face-to-face journey.

Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, from Dundee University’s School of Psychology, said social interaction is important during the early years for children’s brain development.

Spending significant amounts of time in a baby buggy undermines a baby’s ability to communicate easily with their parent.

“At an age when the brain is developing more than it will ever again in life, then this has to impact negatively on their development. Our data suggests that for many babies today, life in a buggy is emotionally impoverished and possibly stressful. Stressed babies grow into anxious adults.”