Buggies - which way should they face?

Young children spend a considerable amount of time each day strapped into buggies. This could be an ideal time for parents or carers to talk to their child, pointing out things along the way or responding to the things that grab their child's attention. But most children's buggies face away from the pusher, making eye contact impossible and conversation between adult and toddler difficult.

We do not know of any research that has been done on this topic, but early years professionals tell us that the unsociable design of children's buggies is a factor contributing to the poor language and communication skills of many children starting nursery or school. Young children need face-to-face communication to fully develop as sociable talkers and learners. If every parent owned a pusher-facing, sociable buggy, more toddlers would receive the one-to-one communication they need.

At present only a few high-priced buggies have a facility to allow the toddler to sit facing the adult pusher. Talk To Your Baby believes that sociable pushchairs should be affordable for all parents and is campaigning to make cheaper, pusher-facing buggies, accessible to all families. Over 1,000 people took part in our online buggy survey, which ran from May to December 2005 and the overwhelming majority are in favour of pusher-facing buggies. We have communicated these results to the leading buggy manufacturers and we are raising awareness of the issue in the design and engineering communities.

The online survey has now closed but we are continuing to campaignand welcome your comments and feedback. Click here to send us your views or contact liz.attenborough@literacytrust.org.uk