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.
Thanks for this post, Sara. It is very useful to me. A walker is something I hadn’t even considered since I had heard it was such a risk; I didn’t know exactly what the risks were until now. I think we might look into one for Joseph…
Hi Melissa
I’m glad I could clear up some confusion for you about walkers. I was definitely in the same boat as you, and frustrated that I didn’t have any good answers on why walkers were bad. I was also very confused about why they would still sell them if they’re such horrible devices. So, I did the research, and I’m glad I did! If you do end up with one for Joseph, I’ll be interested to hear how he likes it!