Most of the unsolicited advice my mother-in-law gave me when I was pregnant with my first child, now 1, was utterly useless. Despite her best intentions, childcare has changed a lot since she was first a mum, so each time another “pearl of wisdom” fell from her lips I would feign a look of utmost interest while disregarding the information immediately.

However, on one aspect she was completely right. She insisted that I buy a pushchair that faced me - like the prams of her day - so that I could see and talk to my baby, and for that I am truly grateful. The National Literacy Trust (NLT) claims that buggies which face away from carers can hamper a child’s communication skills. According to its research, 90 per cent of nursery workers are worried that speech difficulties among preschoolers are increasing, and this is partly because parents do not talk to their children enough. In a new campaign the NLT, talktoyourbaby.org.uk, is calling for increased awareness of the benefits of parent-facing buggies, which allow parents to see and talk to their children.

Liz Attenborough, an NLT spokeswoman says: “We live in a buggy culture. In the old days as soon as a child could walk they did, but nowadays you see buggies with children of 3 or 4 in them. I think it’s because parents are worried about safety but it mean that there’s less interaction. Forward-facing buggies have been identified by early-years professionals as one of the factors believed to be contributing to the poor communication skills of children entering nursery and school.”

Language and child development experts agree. Professor James Law, of Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh, says: “There is nothing sadder than watching parents pushing buggies, perhaps wearing headphones, completely cut off from their child. The buggy that faces towards the parent provides them with opportunities for interaction.”

The first year of life is critical for language development and everything from a child’s first smile (around 2 months) to the perpetual babbling that precedes their first words (around 12 to 18 months) is learnt from watching and listening to other people. Jane Mackenzie, of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, says: “Evidence shows that for language to develop well in the early years babies need lots of communication with other people. They learn from imitation, listening and eye contact, and so the more you chat and involve your child the quicker they’ll learn.”

Heeding my mother-in-law’s advice I bought a reversible pushchair called a Bugaboo. Excluding cars and houses, at £500 it is the most expensive object I own (it even merits a special mention on the household insurance), but of all my baby paraphernalia it has been the best investment. It starts off as a carrycot, then converts into a reversible pushchair that can face in and out.

Although there is no official advice, most owners of reversible buggies face their children for the first six months or so and then expose them to the world at large. But my daughter Elizabeth looked at me until she was 11 months old. Yes, I know the poor thing, having to see my ugly mug day in, day out, but I enjoyed talking to her and thought that interaction was more beneficial than the view of strangers’ knees. I turned her around only after peer pressure persuaded me that I was indulging my need to see her cute podgy face and not hers to see what was going on around her. For those first 11 months we went everywhere in her buggy: the park, museums, art galleries. Not only could I see if she was asleep, needed her nose blowing or if her blanket had slipped, but it meant that we constantly talked about everything from what we ate for breakfast, to the weather and the latest fashions and films. Well, OK, I gabbled away and she just smiled or snoozed.

Just before Elizabeth’s first birthday I reluctantly turned her to face outwards. She had just started to mimic the intonations in my voice but as I could no longer see her I stopped talking to her and she stopped babbling back. Trips out became boring.

Deborah Lawson, of the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses, says parents should not worry if they have only a forward-facing buggy as there are plenty of other opportunities to talk to your child. She says: “What is important is interacting with your child whenever you can.”

A survey conducted by the NLT found that nearly 90 per cent of parents would talk to their baby more if their buggy faced them and the only reason for not choosing a reversible buggy was the higher price. Since I bought mine a year ago manufacturers have responded to the greater demand and they are cheaper. Bebe Confort’s Loola, for example, retails at £229 in John Lewis.

Like most first-time mothers I err on the side of neurosis when it comes to Elizabeth’s safety. If I see a juggernaut half a mile away I immediately imagine it jack-knifing on her head and although logically the direction she is facing will provide no protection against ten tonnes of flying steel, psychologically I feel safer when she faces inwards and is sheltered by me.

Nicola Pharoah, who used a reversible pushchair with her first child, two-year-old Billy, agrees: “When in a busy high street I always had Billy facing me. I thought it protected him from rushing people and flying objects. As a new mother you always think something is going to happen to your baby and it just felt safer that way.” This is the unique selling point of the Stokke Xplory (www.xplory.com, from £499), which elevates children above most vehicles’ exhaust pipes to where, the manufacturer claims, the air is purer, although there is no research to back this.

Following on from reports in the press last week about an American study highlighting the danger of traffic pollution on infant health, Stephen Holgate, Professor of Immunopharmacology at the University of Southampton, has received letters from parents worried about children in buggies being exposed to toxic pollutants. He is starting to research whether their exposure exceeds air-quality standards, which are currently measured from between 6ft and 8ft from the ground. “The UK has the highest prevalence of wheezing illnesses in the world, especially in children. Buggies are at the exact height of car exhausts so when a child is pushed along the pavement he or she gets the full impact of toxic emissions that can damage the lining of the lungs.”

According to research by the NLT, on average babies sit in pushchairs for between half an hour and two hours a day, so while it would be easy to make forward-facing buggies the scapegoat for children’s slower linguistic development it is a small part of a much wider problem. Mackenzie says we must teach parents how to communicate properly with their children. “We can’t just blame it all on buggies. Parents can do more, like expand their children’s words and use a rich vocabulary. People think TV is a form of communication, but it’s no replacement for direct conversation,” she says.

I have now turned Elizabeth back to face me in her buggy, and our day trips have resumed in both frequency and intimacy. I talk to her constantly and although she has yet to utter a word, I am sure I will have her reciting Proust - in French obviously - before the year is out.

How to buy a buggy

Try before you buy Push lots of buggies around the store and practise putting them up and down. Look for one-handed folding where you don’t have to detach accessories. Weight and portability are are key.

Two types Buggies can be broken down into those that fold into “umbrellas” shapes, or travel systems, which include carry cots and car seats. If you drive you’d be better off with a travel system, which is heavier. But if you use the bus you’d be better off buying a more portable buggy such as the Maclaren Techno (£168).

Handles Choose those that turn inward to support the wrist in a natural position and make pushing comfortable.

Bugaboo It’s John Lewis’ biggest seller. It faces both ways and is suitable from birth.

Advice from Sonia Burke, John Lewis’s Nursery adviser, Oxford Street, London, and Which?, www.which.co.uk

Times recommends

• The Boxing Day tsunami: five years on
• What took place in 2010...
• Can you really cure a hangover?