Safety for Children in Strollers

I have always worried aobut the strollers I see American parents using for their little children. It bothers me that the adult pushing the stroller is blocked from seeing the child. Generally, I find adult caretakers either talking on a cell phone or drinking coffee. The strollers that have a cup holder are particularly worrisome. If you have had to care for a burned child, as I have as a physician, you would never have a cup of hot coffee or tea sitting above a child's head.

I was delighted to see a German mother and grandmother the other day  pushing a small, cute baby in a strolller that had no cup holders. The baby was in a seat facing the adults. Both women were talking to the  child and he was loving it. We know when parents talk with their babies right from infancy that the children's vocabulary is much better than those babies who are ignored or are in a house where the TV is always on.

Not only  have I seen  parents totally ignoring their little children when they are in a stroller, but I  have even seen children with a drape or cloth over their faces. If a child had a convulsion, was choking, or  had another medical emergency, how would the caretaker know?

Comments

[Karyn]

Thanks for your article.