Walkers - Fun Toy or Safety Hazard?
February 22, 2007
We recently purchased a walker for Xander. Many experts say walkers are dangerous, or can hinder development. We considered all of the risk factors, and decided that despite the warnings, a walker was definitely a must for our house. In researching walkers, it was a challenge to find one that was something we thought Xander would enjoy, and something that was in our price range. I did a lot of searching online, and eventually settled on a Safety 1st walker from Target - the “Grip ‘n Go Folding Walker.” This walker has nice colors, some attached toys and a tray where you could place another toy. The tray is also see through, so Xander will eventually be able to see his feet moving down below (once his feet reach the ground…)
There are essentially 2 safety factors - first, that babies can easily tumble down stairs in a walker. In our house a walker would never be near any stairs, and is always on the first floor, so there is no tumbling concern for us. Second, is that babies are able to reach things and pull things down onto themselves. As with most baby entertainment centers, you’re not supposed to leave your child unsupervised (regular common sense). Since we mostly use the walker while we’re in the kitchen cooking, or in the living room while we’re playing, the lack of supervision also isn’t an issue.
As for developmental concerns, the experts say that you should not leave a baby in a walker for more than 1/2 an hour at a time, as babies need time to wiggle and move around unrestricted in order to learn how to move on their own. Since Xander only tolerates the walker for about 20 minutes at a time, there is no concern there yet either. Overall, we’ve been very happy with our walker - Xander seems to enjoy it as well. And, every parent I’ve talked to who has had a walker raves about how much their children loved them. I think as long as you are aware of the risks and concerns, walkers can be very fun and liberating toys.
Xander is now officially 5 months old. It feels like just a few weeks ago we were bringing him home from the hospital. At the same time, those first sleepless nights feel so far away. But when I say “my son is 5 months old” out loud, I’m shocked at how old he is. For the past week or so Xander has begun to sit on his own - froggie style with his hands as support. He can only stay this way for about a minute or so, but it’s a sign of independence - soon he won’t need me or Zach to sit and see things, he’ll be able to do that on his own. I’m excited by this milestone, and also saddened. I suppose this mixture of emotions is something that I will struggle with for a while - happiness and excitement at my son’s development, and sad that each new development will foster more independence - not that I want to encourage a dependent child - independence is something that both Zach and I feel strongly is a good trait to teach our child, but that doesn’t make it any less heart wrenching as Xander grows up.
I don’t know how many other parents experience this, but Xander hates “tummy time”. Developmentally most places say he should be able to do a little baby push up, and maybe even roll over one way by now. But every time I put Xander onto his tummy, he just cries. He can lift his head, but mostly he just flails his arms, and cries, face down. I have tried everything I can think of - we’ve got different mats with interesting things on them - one even has water with some colorful animals in it. I’ve tried rolling up a receiving blanket and putting that under his chest so that his face isn’t planted into the ground. I’ve tried laying next to him so that he can see me, or putting him on a couch or chair and sitting underneath him so he can see me. I’ve tried flipping him over after diaper changes, but then the changing table that he used to love started to make him cry whenever I put him on it, so I stopped that. So, I’m out of ideas.
Our sleepy, happy baby has started to change a bit in the past week or so - he has started crying and fussing more often, and sometimes goes from completely happy to completely freaking out in mere seconds. We haven’t entirely figured out the cause of this change, though we suspect that he may have started teething.
So, 