Stroller Stress

Pushing your child in a rear-facing stroller could help them develop into happier, less anxious adults, a study has found. The Dundee University's School of Psychology conducted a study of 2,722 parents and children where some of the children were pushed by parents in front-facing strollers and some in rear-facing strollers.

"Our experimental study showed that, simply by turning the buggy around, parents' rate of talking to their baby doubled," said developmental psychologist Suzanne Zeedyk, who led the research.

Parents who pushed babies in the rear-facing strollers where they could see their babies, were more likely to talk, play and make eye contact with their children. The babies in the rear facing strollers were seen to exhibit less signs of stress.

"Our data suggests that for many babies today, life in a buggy is emotionally impoverished and possibly stressful," Zeedyk said. Adding that "stressed babies grow into anxious adults."

This seems to make sense. More eye contact equals more secure babies. If given the option would you purchase a rear-facing stroller? If you have one with the option, do you use it and have you found this study's findings to be true?