And To Think I Blamed Lack of Affection and Verbal Abuse

According to a recent article in CNN, there's a study which attributes long-term development problems to baby strollers (buggies) which face outwards.  I tend to think is pretty far down the list of things that are the biggest culprit of emotional problems later in life.

For our kids, we've used a convertible seat which has faced towards the parent through nine months, and then switch to our Peg Perego stroller which faces forward.  I'm not a big fan of the Peg Perego stroller not because it faces outwards, but because any uneven surface of more than 1/2 inch stops the stroller dead in the tracks.  So when I'm pushing Sophia along and we hit a slightly raised sidewalk panel, the stroller goes from 30 to 0 in a half-second and my poor daughter gets lurched forward, like one of those crash test dummies in a Volvo commercial.

Anyway, the study makes some good points about talking or engaging the baby while he or she is being strolled, which I think is the bigger deal.  My kids could be facing me the whole time while I'm strolling with them, but we're not going to exactly connect if I'm pushing them while tapping out e-mails on my Blackberry or constantly refreshing the browser to I can get updated scores of the football game.  Not that I would ever do that.  Of course not.

I think forward facing strollers are actually a good thing, because it promotes the spirit of "the world is out there, I'm here for you and will help support you and direct your steps, but look around and absorb," as opposed to the "feel free to glimpse at a little bit of sky over my shoulder, but for the most part stare at me because I plan on living vicariously through you and controlling your life."