Forward-facing baby carriers called cruel: Why?

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(CBS) What do you call moms and dads who carry their babies facing forward? If you're Australian parenting expert Cathrine Fowler, you call them cruel and selfish.

"Imagine if you were strapped to someone's chest with your legs and arms flailing, heading with no control, in a busy shopping center," said Dr. Fowler, professor of child and family health nursing at The University of Technology Sydney, according to news.com.au. "It would be terrifying. It is the same for our children."

A mother of two, Dr. Fowler said forward-facing chest carriers and strollers expose babies to "a bombardment of stimulus" and that parents who fail to consider a baby's perspective are "inadvertently quite cruel to children."

Is Dr. Fowler talking nonsense? Actually, some research seems to back her up.

Children in front-facing carriers have been found to be less likely to talk, laugh, and interact with their parents, the Guardian reported in 2008. One study of more than 2,722 parent-infant pairs conducted by Dr. Suzanne Zeedyk, a psychologist at Scotland's Dundee University, showed that parents who use face-to-face buggies are twice as likely to talk to their children while out and about.

"Our data suggests that for many babies, life in a buggy is emotionally impoverished and stressful," Dr. Zeedyk said, according to the Daily Mail. "Stressed babies grow into anxious adults."

But some childcare experts asked about Folwer's claim are crying foul.

"This is just another thing that can worry mothers," Robin Barker, the author of Baby Love, told news.com.au. "What babies need is parents who love them and feed them and if that's in place, then I'm afraid which way the pram faces is irrelevant."

What do you think? Is it torture for babies to be carried facing forward?

[bonzothemonkey]

The totality of love and nurture parents show their children has got to be a major factor in raising a happy, secure child. But strapping your infant to your breast so it can look up into your eyes might also be a pretty savvy idea. Remember, the center of a small infant's universe is the parent.

[daveprime]

This is yet 'more ado about nothing'. I agree that this is just another 'do-gooder' trying to force their OPINION on easily worried mothers. What next, wrap all babies in breathable bubble wrap 'for their protection'? Common sense is the keyword here, not worthless fear-mongering.

If a parent has their child in a 'hugging' carrier, odds are they are ALREADY an above average, loving, nurturing parent! In other words, one of the parental types I would worry the LEAST about! (Evidenced by the fact that they are willing to go to all of the extra effort and hassle merely to be close to their child, not just throwing their kid in a tram or somesuch because it is 'easier'.)

This 'story' should not have even been printed! After all, what makes this woman's opinion any more relevant or trustworthy than that crotchety neighbor seemingly on everyone's block who thinks that white bread is "from the devil" and that all kids should be silent until spoken to? (She probably steals toys out of the yard when folks aren't watching because toys inside evil laughter in children, and happiness in kids is "The Devil's Work.")

[itgranny]

"if you were strapped to someone's chest with your legs and arms flailing, heading with no control...."

Kind of sounds like being a passenger in a car, train, airplane, horse drawn buggy, ox cart. Pretty silly!

[allisonburness]

Oh, for God's sake. This is ridiculous. Children aren't going to lose their shot at presidency, or pee their pants until they're 15, or become social outcasts because we carry them facing outward in their carriers. The baby in the picture doesn't exactly look "terrified", as the Australian professor describes it.

[rf35]

The kid in the photo look like he's about to spew a stream of yellowish barf into the face of anyone unfortunate enough to be within 20 feet of him! They should always face mom! That, or strap a bag to kids' heads.

[rf35]

I think babies should face back toward the parent in a stroller or be carried facing the parent. It's not so much for the baby's sake...it is to make sure that they won't hit innocent victims when they projectile vomit while facing outward.