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Forward-facing buggies stress out babies

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Marie Claire Health News: Mother and baby

Placing babies in a forward-facing buggy, looking away from their mothers, could leave them 'emotionally impoverished', found a new study.

Researchers from the University of Dundee discovered babies were less likely to be sleeping, laughing or interacting with their parents in buggies that faced away from mum or dad.

The study also found that babies have faster heart rates and higher levels of stress if they cannot look at the person pushing them through the streets.

The effects could stretch well beyond infancy, damaging babies' development and even turning them into anxious adults.

'Our data suggests that for many babies today, life in a buggy is emotionally impoverished and possibly stressful. Stressed babies grow into anxious adults,’ says lead author Dr Suzanne Zeedyk.

The team of researchers found that 70 per cent of babies studied in forward-facing buggies were silent, compared with 43 per cent in face-to-face ones, while just 27 per cent of those in forward-facing buggies were asleep.

'A toward-facing buggy reduces infant stress levels, because parents are emotionally available, and that allows them to drift into sleep,' says the report.

The report's conclusion urged manufacturers to design buggies that help promote infants' development, 'improving their long-term mental and physical health’.

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Friday 21 November 2008

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We strongly recommend that babies go in prams/buggies that fast towards the mum/dad etc or at least face both ways so it is an option.
We also recommend that a baby can lay out flat i.e. not in travel systems where the babies are always upright.
Comment by Prams Etc, designer baby boutique on November 23 18:25