They Say: Forward-Facing Strollers Bad for Baby

What great timing. In the middle of an economic meltdown (yeah, we know, another mention – sorry, we had to), a study out of Dundee University in Scotland will have parents casting aside their $1,000 strollers. The new must-have? An old-fashioned pram, the better for leaning over and cooing in baby's face. The better for baby's emotional and language development down the road, they say. 

I say poppycock. 

The study specifically states forward-facing strollers keep kids from interacting with their caregivers, making the children less likely to talk and laugh. How'd they come up with this? They followed nearly three thousand parents and came up with an experiment for twenty. Those twenty babies were pushed in forward-facing strollers for half a mile, then turned to face their parents for another half mile. Face-to-face, the parents were more likely to talk to their kids, and the kids were more likely to talk back. What's more, the scientists say the baby was twice as likely to fall asleep facing Mum and Dad.

Maybe because they were bored?

Kids see their parents all day long. What they don't get to see out of the old pram is the world around them. They don't get to watch a dog sniffing the ground or the way a shopper swings his bag in time to his own steps in the mall. Ever notice how quiet a kid gets when they're getting into trouble? When their minds are at work, kids often shut off the volume so they can concentrate on imagining. Could explain why babies who have something better to look at than the same old Mum face they're used to seeing are staying quiet. Could explain why they're staying awake too – there are too many new things to see.

Researcher Dr. Suzanne Zeedyk of Dundee says the study suggests forward-facing babies are experiencing a life that's "emotionally impoverished and possibly stressful." I say she's just putting more undue stress on parents.

But who am I to say anything? It's getting too quiet in my living room – I have to go check on my emotionally impoverished daughter. I think she's up to something.