Keeping Fit as Parents: When Can You Use a Jogging Stroller

Many of the active parents in my practice, eager to stay fit in this new phase of their lives, want to know when they can go jogging with their new baby. 

A pediatrician friend of mine recently asked my opinion on the subject.
He also forwarded me an email he got from their pediatrician.

Dear Doctor:  
How would you feel about me jogging on nice flat roads with our 3 month old in a
car seat-adapted Revolution Bob Stroller?  My wife balks because all published guidelines say 6 months.  But if he is in a car seat,
and the road is smooth and my running reasonable, I would think he’d be
fine.  What do you think?

Their pediatrician, one of the favorites in town, responded:  

Why don’t you all go out together first, and mom can jog a little ahead
and observe how much jostling occurs along a route you would prefer.
Then mom can push and you can observe.  If the glass of wine that is
perched on the handle spills, or the airbags go off, wait until 6
months.

What a smart, and slightly cheeky, pediatrician:  this couple had clearly tried to ensnare him in their parental tiff, and he slipped right out of it, and with a sense of humor.  And he completely dodged what is, in fact, a question of judgement.   

What is my take on when it is safe to jog with infants?

There is no perfect answer to this question, just like many of the questions I get asked daily.  The simplest answer is to follow the recommended guidelines.  However, guidelines that manufacturers put on their equipment can sometimes seem overly conservative, and one wonders if they are meant as much to decrease their liability as to encourage safety.

What do parents need to know to make this decision?  Small infants have weak neck muscles and poor head control.  Dramatic or repeated movements of the head and neck can strain the neck muscles or at worst jostle the head enough to harm the developing brain.  We know that aggressive shaking of babies can lead to intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain).  But is the jostling of running in a stroller enough the harm the brain?  We don’t know for sure:  there is no good study that looks at the impact of this minor jostling on a baby’s brain.

However, with knowledge of the risks at hand, I trust parents to use common sense in judging whether jogging with their infant is a risk they’d like to take.  

Tips for parents:

• Following the manufacturers’ guidelines about jogging with your infant is a simple way make the decision.  Six months may seem like eons but it will pass in a blur, and you will be out on the road again before you know it.
• If you do choose to jog with your infant when they are less than 6 months old, make sure to support their head and neck very well, use a stroller with good suspension, and jog at a moderate pace on relatively flat roads.  
• Finally, with great respect for my colleague, do not feel the need to equip your stroller with an airbag.  And please defer your glass of wine until after your workout.

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