Dr Suzanne Zeedyk of the University of Dundee unveiled the initial results at last week's Talk to Your Baby conference in London. Life for many babies in buggies was, she said, emotionally impoverished and perhaps stressful, and these babies could grow up to be emotionally impoverished and anxious adults.
Dr Zeedyk carried out an observational and an empirical study - the first time, she said, that the psychological effects of buggies had been researched.
The observational study looked at parents with children in buggies across the country. This found that the vast majority of infants were transported in away-facing buggies; parents were much less likely to speak to children in away-facing than toward-facing buggies; and if parents didn't speak, neither did infants. Infants under one year old were twice as likely to be sleeping in toward-facing buggies.
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