The Link between Buggy Design and Child Development

A study carried out by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, Senior Lecturer in the psychology department at Dundee University, has found that many babies, sitting in forward-facing buggies, can be left “emotionally impoverished” and become stressed. Stressed babies grow into anxious adults.

This study was carried out in collaboration with the charity, the National Literacy Trust for its “Talk to your Baby” campaign, and was funded by the educational charity the Sutton Trust. It involved a total of 2722 parent/child pairs being observed in 54 areas around the country. Then 20 children were observed being wheeled around a one mile area in the centre of Dundee – this time half the journey was spent in a forward facing buggy and the other half facing the mother.

It was found that only one child laughed on the away-facing trip, whereas half the children laughed when facing their mothers. The children were also twice as likely to fall asleep when facing their mothers which can reduce stress levels. The heart rates of these children also fell slightly.

Previous research has shown that it is essential to communicate with babies from birth, not only through speech but through facial expression and gesture. This early communication provides the building blocks for later spoken language and understanding. Pushing a child in a buggy is just one of many opportunities when these types of interaction can take place.

There has been an increasing trend for lightweight buggies to make transportation easier, but these are almost always away-facing. However some companies are now producing buggies that face the parent, such as the Bugaloo Cameleon and Stokke Xplory, although these tend to be more expensive.

In order to enable parents to interact more with their children it is being suggested that families should choose the more traditional models which allow the child to face its parents and make eye contact, even though they often cost more. For more information visit:

This report also featured in the Tonight programme on ITV on Monday 24 November 2008.