Baby Walkers - Belleville,IL

This is an item that uses common sense.I have one use it when i'm folding clothes baby is right there w/ me against the couch not going anywhere loves the view.Have a bouncy seat,swing,play pin next a Baby Eintstein jumper.But for many parents they leave their children in these for long periods of time & their muscles don't fully develop,or leave them in there unattended & an accident happens yes babies get around in a blink of an eye

I think it depends on how you use them. If you use them the way they say, then it is relatively safe. But you should keep away from stairs or any place where baby could fall down. I personally don't like them because I think they are boring. So I just chose to have my kids in other things and more playtime on the floormats etc.

Baby walkers should be banned. They are dangerous. They put wheels on beings who cannot control their movement. Please read the items below. I am sure someone will post on here that her kid had a walker and was just fine and never got hurt and had a great time--but tell that to the thousands of families whose children are injured each year because the kids were in baby walkers. See below and judge for yourself:

This is from the Consumer Product Safety Commission: "During the period of 2004 to 2008, infant walkers were associated with eight fatalities, as well as approximately 3000 injuries annually to children under fifteen months of age."

From the Mayo Clinic web site:
"Baby walkers — devices designed to give babies mobility while they're learning to walk — can cause serious injuries.

"For example, babies who use baby walkers may:

"Trip and fall over
Roll down stairs
Trap a finger
Be burned, poisoned or otherwise hurt after reaching for a dangerous object or falling into a pool or bathtub

"Even new baby walkers — which typically use brakes to prevent falls and are too large to fit through doorways — can still lead to serious injury. In addition, research shows that use of baby walkers can actually delay when a baby begins to sit, crawl or walk unassisted, as well as slow a baby's mental and motor development.

"Don't allow your baby to use a baby walker and make sure that your baby's other caregivers don't use baby walkers, either."
www.mayoclinic.com/health/babywalkers

Ask your pediatrician too. I would bet that he or she will say no way.

Hi~
baby walkers encourage pushing off the ground with toes and are unsafe. They have been banned in Canada and the American Acadamy of Pediatrics also does not recommend them - see http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/...

If you need ideas/strategies for encouraging walking you can message me. Also you want to encourange walking cruising with barefeet (NOT shoes). this assists with development of arches in feet, balance and tactil (touch) input to feet.

Yes, it's true - they are bad! In my opinion and from what I've heard from the medical field. The muscles used for walking do not develop properly if walkers are used too much; and yes, there are those parents out there that will put a baby in a walker for hours on end instead of actually interacting with their babies. And then of course, you have the idiots that put a baby in a walker near steps and don't realize the baby can, and will, fall down the steps.

I like the bouncy things - BUT only for short periods of time - that don't move but have lots of little things for the baby to play with.

Babies need to be able to crawl and play and move those little legs the way God wanted them to move!! They will learn to walk when they're ready because the muscles are ready.

Good luck!!

There have been warnings against baby walkers for over 20 years. I'm shocked if they are even still sold. My kids are both teenagers; we had an Exersaucer for them but never used a baby walker. They are considered dangerous because babies can fall down a step or a flight of stairs in a walker, or get burned by rolling over to something hot and pulling it over. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended a ban on mobile baby walkers
http://www.healthychildren.org/english/safety-prevention/...

I think if you left your baby in them all day then ya they are bad. That said I do have on for my almost 9month old daughter, and it has in no way hindered her development. She is already cruising and standing on her own, so I bought on to give her a little freedom to explore. She only is it for an hour throughout the day.

Believe this says it all ...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/baby-walkers/AN02084

Or this ...

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/baby-walkers/buying-gu...

Unsafe and may actually delay baby's development.

There are really two concerns (that I know of) when it comes to walkers. First, children learn how to walk by trying to walk and by walking while holding hands. Walkers work some, but not all, of the muscles that need to be used for walking. Second, there were reports of children in walkers falling down stairs. Now, it seems as though it would make sense to simply not use walkers near the top of the stairs or block off the stairs so that a child could not fall down them, but there were many reports of children being hurt.

My MIL had a walker that my oldest used quite often. We were able to lock the wheels, and he used it on carpet so he couldn't really go very fast. It was mostly used for the toys and gadgets that were attached. He loved it.

It is possible to use them safely.

We purchases an exersaucer for our younger son. He loved it! It kept him occupied for short periods of time while I was cooking or cleaning. I liked the fact that with both the walker and the exersaucer, my kids were able to play independently for short periods of time.

The bouncers are what everyone is using these days and I really see no real difference other than a walker moves and the bouncer has lots of things to distract a baby's attention. They are really fun for the little ones.

They both allow the baby to strengthen their legs, they both allow the baby upright time. I don't think there is any real issue other than a baby in a walker can get to the edge of stairs, move to the edge of the kitchen and perhaps pull something off the counter, more danger in general.

The only reason they're unsafe is because parents use them irresponsibly.

That being said, I think they're antiquated and there are many, better baby entertainment gadgets out there.

There's also the fact that they hinder development, that makes them kind of a pointless item.

Yes, walkers can be unsafe, if used unsupervised. Most things in life can be unsafe. There are many things that may cause something to happen. I don't think anything of people that go one way or the other, but both my kids used walkers and I Ioved watching them get around and go after what they want. One walked at 12-13 months & the other walked 7 1/2 months. Neither were toe walkers. I've seen kids that didn't use walkers walk on their tiptoes. You just don't know what the outcome would be had you went the other way. They have just decided their not necessary.

Most people consider baby walkers to be unsafe because they are not used properly. You need to make sure they aren't used near stairs or babies can't reach up and pull something down on top of them.

There are some studies that indicate it may actually make it more difficult for a child to learn to walk because while in the walkers they usually walk on their toes.

My opinion is that they are perfectly fine as long as common sense is used. I had one when I was little, my friends used them for their kids and I used them for mine. No issues.

Babies learn to walk just fine without them.

Well that is what i thought but i wanted to ask. Thank you everyone for getting back to this question. :-)

Walkers can be unsafe. Entertainers that stay put are better but these also can be bad to a point. The physical therapist my sons see is against them because they promote toe walking. While babies do toe walk, they tend to do it longer. I did not have one for my first 3 but I did use one with my 4 yr old and she has no issues. But I onoly had her in it for about 15 minutes at a time maybe twice a day. I preferred to let her explore. My almost 1 yr old preferred to stand outside it and play with the toys on it.

Unsafe because the baby can't control where they go well and if they get too close to a step, they go down, taking the baby with them. When you get enough patients in an emergency room, the cause of injury gains attention. I also don't think they do a ton to teach walking or strengthen legs. My kids used bouncy seats and I just spent a ton of time with them holding my fingers as they walked, which taught them not only walking but improved their balance.