Baby Walkers

[iamLisa]

I want to get my son a baby walker but I dont know which is one is best. Value? How long they can use it for? Where the best place to get it is? I have been looking at the cheap ones on e'bay but im not sure how good they are. Should I just go to a baby shop and get a brand name one? Has anyone got any advice for me?:) :)

[the_queen]

To be quite blunt, don't get one.
Babies learn to walk at their own pace, and the reason they go from tummy time to push-ups to crawling backwards to crawling forwards to standing to cruising to walking is because that's how their bodies learn how to walk.
There's some evidence that putting babies in walkers when they're too young will actually delay their natural development.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you asked for advice (of course, you don't have to take it:) ) and mine is, research the issue a little more and decide whether or not it will be beneficial to your baby.

[xkwzit]

Hi Lisa
I have certainly heard many negatives about baby walkers (dangerous near steps, inhibits them learning to walk properly) ... but all that aside, I don't think you'd get much use out of one. By the time they are strong enough to move around in one, they would already be pulling up on furniture, maybe a month before they can cruise around the room using the furniture and in 2 or 3 months, they may well be walking around by themselves. It has always seemed to me like a potentially dangerous thing with a very short useful life (JMO ;) ).

Cheers

[jarrahsmumma]

They are also bad for hips and spinal compaction. Some of them are really badly made and tip easily. I agree with the others, let your babe develop in his own sweet time.

[cwsmum]

I have not heard anything good about baby walkers either.
My SIL swears the walker is the reason her kids walked at 9-10mths old...until I told her that all 5 kids in my family walked at or before 9mths without a walker...and so did my nephew and alot of other kids I know.
I personally think they get more benefit from a Jolly Jumper.
I hope you do a little more research before you make your final decision :)

[O&GMUM]

I have them for my kids and they absolutely love them. Of course you would never put them near stairs or leave them in too long, 10-15 min max. i got given both mine second hand, so I probably wouldnt have bought them new, probably because of the fact that I didnt use them until about a month ago (my two are 9 months now) and will stop using them when they can walk. I know you hear alot of negative stuff but I know heaps of children who have used them and are no worse off for it (including my 8 now teenaged neices and nephews)
Word of warning though watch your ankles! my two gang up and corner me sometimes!!

[the_queen]

My DD absolutely loved putting worms into her mouth. Doesn't mean I'd let her do it.

When I was a baby there was no law about carseats, so mum used to hold me on her lap. I survived. Doesn't mean I'd do it with my kid now.

[jarrahsmumma]

:cool: Good one.

[O&GMUM]

that is so totally not the same thing!!

[the_queen]

Baby walkers used to be recommended, as a way to encourage babies to walk. Now, research has shown that they don't have any benefit (except for mothers saying "oh my baby loves it") and in fact they can do real damage to growing bones. Plus of course all the horrible accidents that could happen while bubs is in there.

As an example of how times have changed, our grandmothers were advised to keep smoking during pregnancy, as a way to keep their weight down. I think it's fantastic that we are better educated these days about child development and safety.

[mumoftwoboys2005]

I bought one a few weeks ago from the Pram Warehouse at Sumner Park. It converts to a rocker as well. DS likes to sit in it for a while, then get on the floor and push it around. He pulled himself up on it this evening and toddled a few steps holding on to it. He thinks he's the bees knees now.

I think everyone has their own opinion of walkers. I never really thought about it till DS started to crawl and kept cornering himself and then cry for me. At least with the walker he pushes himself backwards and starts again. Just in case anyone is panicking by this stage, please don't as he is in my eyesight at all times and we live in a single story house with all screen doors locked at all times. (I keep reminding myself of the Fake Energex Man Thread)

[goldcoastgirl18]

my brother had 2 fingers cut off when he was younger in a walker- walked over put fingers in the back end of the door and my older sister was on the otherside and couldnt see him and banged the door shut....

there very dangerous- im not getting one for my son

[O&GMUM]

thats awful that that happened to your brother but that could have happened if he crawled up there as well.
If walkers had been proven to be that dangerous Australian Standards would not approve them to be sold in this country and they would be illegal, just like it is now illegal for a child to travel in a car unrestrained.
If you CHOOSE let your child use a walker in my opinion they should by able to bear their own weight for a length of time and be FULLY supervised.

[xkwzit]

Hi All
Thanks for reclaiming the thread, it good to see a controversial subject staying on point. Just please remember to keep all responses polite, we are never all going to agree, but that doesn't mean that we can't debate the issue.

Be excellent to each other ;)

[mummy sam]

I never really thought about getting a walker for my son but then i decided to. I got the walker/rocker kind from ebay and its great. his 4 months old and loves rolling over but cant do anything else once he has done this, and then screams. So at times he sits in his rocker and plays. he loves it because he can see whats going on and he can play as well. I mix it up he does'nt spend all his time in the walker so he is still learning about crawling and walking ect.

I understand what everyone else is saying, we all have our own opinions. But what i dont undersatnd is the damage to growning bones? how is this caused??

[veve]

I personally couldn't bring myself to buy a walker.. I teach special ed and have taught kids who have fallen down stairs and ended up severely impaired :( (we dont have stairs .. but still) ...

they are for sale in baby shops... but with a long list of warnings- and according to the govenment booklet I got when Jack was born they no longer recommend them at all...

I have a jolly jumper for Jack (which works his legs) - but he is stationary .. what about getting a baby playcentre thingy (sorry I cant be more specific) - where the munchkin sits up/ stands in the middle??? they use their legs in that to weightbear a little - have lots of stimulating things to play with within reach - and they are upright .. which they love soooo much :)

this is JMO - feel free to buy a walker if that is what you really want for YOUR bubs... just be careful and MAKE SURE that it has the BEST safety possible ..

xxx
Jen

[IamHero]

I used a baby walker with my first child, she loved it. She walked at 14 months
I didn't use one with my second child, He walked at 14 months. I seriously believe they do not harm any child or effect their development or ability to Walk.
With regard to accidents, most of the time i'ts the parents fault. who in their right mind would leave a baby upstairs in a walker with no safety gate. or why would you ahve a walker upstairs at all. I wouldn't even do that when they are not in a walker. & with regard to catching fingers in doors that can happen in a walker or just crawling about. It's a personal choice, if you think you're baby would enjoy it then get one.

[jarrahsmumma]

Valid points Anna, but studies *have* shown them to be bad for development and bad for babies spines.

[lovemybub]

I have to say I will not get either a walker or a jolly jumper for my DD.

My understanding is that physiotherapists and chiropractors are now warning parents against the use of these for the following reasons:

A baby should not be standing or jumping on their legs or feet until they are developmentally ready to do so by themselves. This is at around 9-10 months of age when most babies are beginning to 'cruise around on the furniture' by themselves.

Jolly jumpers allow the baby to bounce off the floor, acting like a bunjy jump and compressing the spine with each bounce, possibly leading to nerve damage and abnormal foot development.

Walkers encourage the feet to propel the baby along, usually on the toes, leading to abnormal development of the foot.

Ultimately you will need to make the decision yourself. Personally, I can see the logic in what they're saying and so I have made a decision not to buy those items for my daughter, however I can fully recognise that many people may have used them in the past with no apparent side effects.

Having said that, many people have also driven while drunk and arrived home perfectly safely... In other words, just because it doesn't happen 100% of the time, doesn't mean it's not a valid concern.

[giggles]

OK so this is not fact, just good old hearsay but if too much time is spent in a walker can it not have some effect on the way the muscles grow?

[jarrahsmumma]

Yes. Babies who cannot walk yet are not ready to be in a walking position, supporting part of their weight in that position. The way jolly jumpers and walkers supprt the childs weight from the croth is also really bad for the spine, and not at all the natural way that we walk. We walk with our legs straight down, not out to the sides with the hips splayed. Babies tend to walk on their toes in a walker, so the muscles in the back of the calves cannot extend properly - this is not natural.

[iamLisa]

Well I got a walker. Max (6 1/2 months) loves it. He is also now crawling and trying to pull himself up on things to walk (Believe it or not) I think the baby walker hasn’t changed his development at all. He is fully supervised at all times while he is in the walker and I restrict the amount of time he is in it so he doesn’t miss out on any other things he should be learning.
I think everyone should make their own decision on what their baby needs are. Every baby is different and my baby is a lot happier for the decision I have made. It has given him the independence he has needed instead of being frustrated not being able to explore.

:) Thankyou to everyone who helped me with this decision :)