NOTE: I’ve updated this post 5 years after it was originally published.

With all the strollers (or prams or push-carts) on the market, how do you choose whether your baby will be rear-facing or forward-facing? Which is best for baby's development?

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Stroller Research Is Limited

There is extremely limited research on the benefits and risks of forward-facing (or "toward-facing") versus rear-facing infant positioning in a stroller (there's no lack of information, however on the benefits of rear-facing for safe travel in the car - learn more!).

However, the one widely cited stroller investigation was conducted in 2008 in England found that parents pushing with babies facing them were twice as likely to speak to their babies and the babies were much more likely to laugh. They also found that rear-facing infants had slightly lower heart rates and were twice as likely to fall asleep.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

One thing I prefer to take from that research study is a reminder of how important it is to speak to your baby throughout the day. But don’t let your new parent brain go to extremes with that:

This doesn’t mean every waking minute of the day.
There isn’t a magic number of minutes to talk to your baby.
Remember that babies are wired for developmental success. The vast majority don’t need intervention to reach speech milestones. As long as your baby makes eye contact and noises and seems to enjoy connecting with you, rest easy. Enjoy the little one in your life today instead of fretting about their future speech development.
It’s perfectly fine to put your headphones on and take a mental break from baby during your walk, as long as baby is content. Look for other times in the day to speak to baby.

The other thing I take from the study is a reminder to be observant of signs of dysregulation or over-stimulation from your baby - no matter which way they’re facing. These signs may include: fussiness, looking away and avoiding eye contact, moving in a jerky or quick way, grimacing or crying.

TAKEAWAY

Over-analyzing the forward-facing vs. rear-facing stroller decision from a developmental perspective gets us lost in the weeds. There are so many other considerations to make when choosing a stroller, stick with those and let this one go.

Reflection:

Are you lost in the weeds (or Amazon reviews) on any other baby product purchases? How does this hyper-analytical mode make your feel? Is it serving you?

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