Find out what respondents had to say about slings

TTYB buggy survey - comments

A selection of comments from the 1,020 responses to our buggy survey.

"He [18-month-old baby] had to sit in the forward-facing seat. He found this very uncomfortable, and until he got used to it (or resigned to it!), he spent weeks turning round in his seat to look at me, trying to point out the things he had seen. We both felt very upset that we couldn't see and talk to each other. Other mums I know have said the same thing, in fact, amongst my 'Mum group', it was one of the things we warned each other about, as one of the more unpleasant things we have to go through, like injections, first days back at work and giving up breastfeeding!"

"My 11-month-old daughter is very chatty. However, I've noticed that she falls silent after about 10 minutes in her forward-facing buggy, despite my best efforts to respond to her chats. Her face brightens and she immediately responds to me if I move round to the front of the buggy and chat with her. I would have loved to have bought a pushchair that would enable me to communicate with her all the time, but the only one I could find at the time was cripplingly- expensive."

"TTYB should campaign vociferously on this and FORCE the pushchair manufacturers to create a cheap pusher-facing buggy - as cheap as the present wrong-facing buggies. They would make money on quantity sales."

"I feel that it is not only valuable for speech development but it is vital to ensure that children feel safe and secure. My child is still very young and sometimes doesn't realise that we are with him until we either stop and run around the front or tip him backwards just to say 'hello'. My husband has taken to walking backwards in front of the buggy just so our son can see one of us."

"I find much the easiest (and cheapest) way to interact with her [toddler] and ensure she's safe is to carry her in a sling.I used a sling all through babyhood, so she's always been used to being part of the adult world - when we go into shops etc people always talk to her if she's being carried, but she hardly ever gets noticed if she's down in her pushchair."

"Children need to bond early with parents and carers. Maybe if a woman could design a buggy she would understand the need for communicating with the child."

"I am a paediatric speech and language therapist. I am very much in favour of pusher-facing buggies."

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