Speak to me

Liz Attenborough, Manager of the National Literary Trust campaign, 'Talk To Your Baby', reveals how a simple research project could change the way buggies are designed.

In November 2008 'Talk To Your Baby' published the first ever research into the psychological effects of life in a baby buggy. The report set out to answer a simple yet important question: does the direction a buggy faces alter the quality of interaction that parents and carers have with children?

A study of nearly 3000 parent-infant pairs across the country was carried out by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, from Dundee University's School of Psychology. The findings revealed that 62% of all children were travelling in away-facing buggies, and only 22% of carers were observed speaking to the child.

Dr Zeedyk also carried out a study of 20 babies being wheeled in pushchairs across a one-mile stretch in the centre of Dundee. Half the journey was spent in an away-facing buggy and half in a towards-facing buggy. Only one baby in the group of 20 studied laughed during the awayfacing journey, while half laughed during the face-to-face journey. One factor was startlingly clear – infants and carers were twice as likely to be interacting when using face-to-face buggies.

Impact

There is no doubt that communicating with babies and toddlers – making eye-contact, talking and singing, listening and enjoying 'conversations' with them – helps to develop their speech, language and communication skills. In today's modern, fast-moving society, babies are spending more prolonged periods of time in buggies and prams. What better way to make that time stimulating for both the child and the carer than by talking, laughing and engaging with each other along the way?

A flurry of media coverage after the publication of the research has brought the issue to the top of the agenda. We hope that this increased awareness will inspire manufacturers to make front-facing buggies more affordable and readily available.