Are Baby Walkers Safe?

Posted on May 19, 2007 in Products & Other Cool Things by little mochi

Strange how I ended up spending my first week of maternity leave. I thought I was going to be catching up on my sleep and nutrition. It’s the exact opposite actually. I don’t sleep until 3 am and wake up at 9 am. I miss breakfast and eat only lunch and dinner. I end up splurging on junk food. Just two days ago, my husband and I bought a strawberry cheesecake from Costco and it’s nearly gone. =( The only thing good so far is that I am walking more often. It’s got to be the guilt trip…

On Wednesday, I spent the entire day sorting out all of the gifts we received from the baby shower. Boy did we get a lot of gifts! It’s strange that we most of our gifts were not even from our registry! Most of the gifts we got were baby clothes. It must be the easiest thing to shop for. They were all so cute! Also, we got a few duplicate gifts because not all of our friends, family and colleagues used the registry. But that’s OK. I’m so grateful that I have so many friends and family members that care enough about us to even get us gifts! The baby hasn’t even been born yet and he’s already got more assets than I do! =)

One of the items on the registry was a baby walker. You know, one of those with the large plastic round base and has a seat in the center for the baby to sit in and walk around? One of these:

Baby Walker

We had the Walker with Toy Bar by Baby Trend on the registry and a colleague of mine purchased it for us. But after some research, I’m reading that walkers are dangerous for babies.

According to an article I read from iVillage (http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bsafety/0,,46q2,00.html), baby walkers are NOT safe (that’s just great…now I will have to exchange the Baby Trend Walker for something else). In 1997, 14,000+ babies ended up in emergency rooms because of injuries from walkers. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended banning the manufacture and sale walkers but it never occurred. Instead, walkers were redesigned with bigger bases so they could not fit through doorways. I wonder how that can help since the baby can still quickly glide across a room or fall down the stairs of a two story house.

Because of the safety issue, I’m thinking of exchanging this walker for something else. Perhaps one of those stationary walkers? Or should it be OK to have one since I don’t have a two story home? Does any one have any suggestions? Or perhaps you have comments on the safety of mobile walkers?



Comments

5 comments to “Are Baby Walkers Safe?”

  1. Jasmine on May 21st, 2007 3:30 pm

    You could try the Exersaucer (stationary walker). Some babies really like it, although ours in particular didn’t like feeling “confined” to it. Either that or a swing could give you a short enough break to scarf down lunch or run to the ladies room. I heard that you’ll want to limit the amount of time your baby spends in it though, as it can supposedly delay crawling and walking.

  2. Hoa on May 21st, 2007 11:13 pm

    Both names are cute…I like Scott better though. Either name would still be cute. The whole cheesecake girl…naughty, naughty! We’ll go run together after Scott Chang is born ; )

  3. Julia on June 22nd, 2007 1:11 pm

    Faith uses the Kolcraft Seasame Street Walker. She just started to “crawl on tummy” on Father’s Day. So, I stopped letting her use the walker. However, my mom-in-law may still let her use it. I didn’t ask her not to.

    I didn’t want the walker because of the safety issue too and I worried that the caregiver would just leave Faith in the walker all day long! but my husband insisted, so we bought one. From my experience, in general, the good things about the walker are:

    1. keeps Faith entertained while we stuff meals down (I walk behind her walker while holding my bowl of rice.)
    2. builds strong leg muscle (Faith)
    3. fun and exciting to see Faith do maneuvers:
    a. make u-turn
    b. walk around the apartment and find the living room and bedroom
    c. walk backward! (i discourage it because she initially “sat” backward to move backward. however, she later learned to walk backward!)
    d. I feel the above maneuvers are creative developed. Of course, the baby would probably learn them without the walker! But still, it’s pretty cool to see what she can do with the walker. hee… hee…

    What I like about the Kolcraft Sesame Street Walker:
    1. no finger pinching (at least, not yet) the walker is designed with U-shaped sides. Faith’s arms are usually positioned in the dents of the U, so no finger pinching yet. =)
    2. it got a toy bar that we lost (still need to find it!)

    DANGERs to look out for:
    1. block the kitchen (that’s my stubborn rule, baby cannot go into the kitchen except when being carried)
    2. block the sides of the table (baby can try to walk under the table, but baby too tall can hit his/her head)
    3. block the furnace (if your furnace gets hot when the heater is on)
    4. block the coffee maker/rice cooker (if they are on the floor)
    5. get the telephone cord out of the way (imagine the baby pull on the cord and the hand-set hits the baby!!! no!!!)

  4. Abe on August 13th, 2008 1:55 pm

    Our little Alexa is almost 12 months old. She can sit on her own, but she doesn’t know how to sit up from a lying down position. She can roll from tummy to back, but she doesn’t know how to crawl and does not want to even attempt to do so even when we place her toys out of her reach. Up until a couple of weeks ago, we let her go around the room in her walker … and can she move in that thing! The maneuvers she does is simply amazing. Problem is, she moves by pushing with both of her legs together rather than taking steps. Our doctor blamed the walker for our baby’s inability to get up, as well as her lack of interest to crawl, and the way she pushes instead of taking steps. So now we put away the walker and now our baby is immobile all day. I couldn’t help be feel that the doctor is wrong and that our baby was probably better off with the walker. After all, she learns that she can be mobile and go where she wants, and in doing so, it strenghthens her legs. So I’m am so confused now: walker or NO walker? Anyone have any suggestions?

  5. little mochi on August 14th, 2008 7:03 am

    I decided not to exchange the walker after all. My mom said that my siblings used a walker and they developed fine. My pediatrician didn’t say NOT to ever use it. He said for 15 minutes at a time a few times a day wouldn’t hurt.

    Our Little Mochi was using both legs to push forward the first time he used it too. Then he learned to “walk” in it. He was also using both legs to push backwards. But also learned to used both legs to “walk” backwards. It’s great to see them happy and mobile.

    I think that it can impede their development…that your baby may want to walk rather than crawl. And that he may not learn to get up. But I also think that the walker can build strength in their legs, as you pointed out.

    We put Little Mochi in a walker a few hours a day just to get some relief. And he’s doing fine. He never learned to roll over or crawl. But he’s 13 months old now and is walking better than some of the other babies that are his age! My cousin didn’t use the walker because her pediatrician told her not to. Even though he was able to roll over or crawl, his walking ability is not as good as Little Mochi as he is much more “wobbly” and “unstable”.

    Little Mochi can roll over fine and pushes himself up without problems. He’s like a little man now, running around all over the place.

    There are many babies that get hurt, but I tend to think that the parents or caretaker just leave them in the walkers all day and not pay any attention to them. I made sure that I kept my eye on Little Mochi so that he doesn’t get into trouble when he’s in it.

    Let us know what you decide and how your baby turns out!

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