Nearly 90 per cent of parents and carers would talk to their baby more when out and about if their buggy faced them, according to a survey carried out by a literacy charity.
The results are from an online survey of more than 800 parents and carers by Talk To Your Baby, the National Literacy Trust's early language campaign.
The charity is calling for more affordable parent-facing 'sociable'
pushchairs, after 90 per cent of respondents to the survey said they would choose a back-facing buggy over a forward-facing one if the cost was the same. Seventy-four per cent said they would pay up to £200 for a pushchair that could face both ways.
Campaigners say that most buggies are designed to face away from the pusher, making eye contact and conversation between baby and adult impossible.
Talk To Your Baby manager Liz Attenborough said, 'We have plenty of anecdotal evidence from health professionals and early years practitioners that buggies facing the wrong way contribute to poor language skills.'
The few buggies that do allow toddlers to face parents are at the dearer end of the market, for example the £500 Bugaboo. The cheapest buggy the campaign found with seats that can face both ways costs £230.
Ms Attenborough said, 'We don't want parents to feel guilty because they can't afford an expensive buggy. The call is to manufacturers and retailers to recognise this is an issue.'
One respondent to the survey said, 'When my daughter is in the Ergo baby carrier we have long chats about everything we see, as she is at good conversation height. When she is in the buggy (we could not afford a rear facing one) we barely talk and her view is not as good.'
Another mother said she felt that the fact that her baby could see her from his pushchair 'helped his confidence'.
In a statement, Maclaren, one of the largest buggy manufacturers, said it would be launching several new 'parent-facing' models this year, although it did not say how much these would cost.
To add comments to the survey visit www.literacytrust.org.uk.
