Baby Walker

Question: Are baby walkers dangerous?

(Posted by: Dackota on 2009-06-21 05:09:32)

I have an 8 month old son - I encourage as much tummy time as possible and he seems to be meeting all his milestones - I have heard from a couple of people that walkers are a strict no no - but I& #039;m not so sure. My son adores his walker and I allow him about 1/ 2 an hour to an hour a day in his. I also encourage plenty of tummy time. He has strated to army crawl, can hold his own weight easily when standing and when I hold his hands he will walk across the floor (all be it a little precariously!) So I dont want to take the walker off him as he gets so much enjoyment from it. Has anyone else heard that they are dangerous? The house it entirely baby proof so he cant grab or pull anything as thye have all been moved. We just clear everything out the way and he has lots of room to run around in his walker and absoutely loves it! I can understand that they may hinder natural walking progress if he was spending lots of time in it and no encouragement on his tummy - but surely walkers are fine in moderation and with a variety of other activities?

Posted by: rikku on 2009-06-21, 05:43:23

My child got alot of practise and gained confidence on her baby walker i cud see she loved the independence. I never had any accident as she was always supervised. so no i dnt believe baby walkers are in any way dangerous taken the right precautions as u wud do with anything anyway

Posted by: Bluey on 2009-06-21, 05:14:39

I think they are dangerous if the child can access steps or any other dangerous areas in them.

Posted by: Mommy of 2 awesome babies on 2009-06-21, 05:15:24

They are only dangerous when the parents are irresponsible, leaves them unsupervised with no gate block stairways, and/ or doesn 't baby proof the house. But if you are there at all times, house is baby proofed and gates are place at doorways, then it is perfectly safe. Sadly, in canada, they are banned due to irresponsible parents that were stupid enough to leave their child unattended with no child gates. There have been babies who were seriously injured or died from going down the stairs while in their walkers.

Posted by: lee on 2009-06-21, 05:18:51

Yes they can be dangerous. The main thing is that they can very easily tip over, if they go over the slightest of bumps. If you are happy to be right by your baby while they are in the walker then that risk is lessened significantly. If you supervise from a bit of a distance then it 's probably not such a good idea. Also I believe that they can promote incorrect muscle development in the legs, as they use different muscles to if they were actually walking, but if it 's only being used a small amount you probably don 't need to worry about it. I personally won 't use one, but if you are happy to use one and aren 't overdoing it, then you should be fine, you wouldn 't be the first that 's for sure.

Posted by: happy mummy on 2009-06-21, 05:19:39

As long as things are out of reach (tablecloths, pots, poisons) they are fine just don 't leave him unsupervised in it.... if they were really horrible companies would not sell them in normal shops just be careful there are risks with all toys that 's why we supervise

Posted by: Madelynn's Mommy on 2009-06-21, 05:28:11

The only way they are dangerous is if they are left unsupervised which when you think about pretty much everything could be dangerous if you leave your child unattended. I think they are perfectly fine and fun for little ones. Just be sure to keep an eye on him and lock off any stairs he will be by.

Posted by: Steve on 2009-06-21, 06:04:30

No they 're not dangerous. Unless you 're one of those moron parents who don 't block stairs. They were banned in Canada because I guess too many Canadians were just that moronic. Hey. Here 's a concept, don 't let your baby play near stairs. To those people who say they stop your baby from learning to walk and hurt the hips. You 're wrong. You 'll always be wrong. You 're talking out of our a$$. You 're just too cheap to buy a fun walker for your baby, so you make excuses. Do the world a favour and keep your idiotic advice to yourself. Oh yeah - they aren 't tippy either. Have any of you people even seen a walker since 1972. You really do make yourselves seems stupid.