Research, Stress, and Strollers
Sometimes, I wonder about all of this research that is done. It seems that there is always something new to worry about or something to avoid lest your child be horrifically affected for the rest of their life.
The latest research from a study in Britain shows that away-facing strollers cause children stress and this can lead to developmental delays. I didn’t get much past that point, although I’m sure that there has to be some validity to the study. The basic premise is that if the stroller faces the parent, the child and parent have a much greater chance to interact thereby decreasing the stress in the child.
The research was done by Dundee University School of Psychology in Britain and 2,722 parents participated in the study.
I didn’t quite understand how the jump was made from interaction to developmental delays though. Exactly how much time does a child spend in a stroller? For my children, it was very limited. Although my girls liked to face me in the stroller, my son definitely preferred to face away from me. This was because he was very curious and actually wanted to see what was around him. He also wanted to watch his older sisters and see what they were doing. For him, facing me was much more stressful.
What do you think about this research study? Do you think that the study raises valid points? Do you feel that stroller time is stressful for your infant or toddler? Do you feel that this stress will cause developmental delays to occur in your child?
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