When buying things for an infant, do not buy a wheeled baby walker; if you want a place to sit and play, use a stationary activity center with no wheels, or a play yard

A child sitting in a baby walker can shoot more than 0.9 meters in 1 second, and most injuries happen while an adult is right there watching. From 1990 to 2014, children in the United States made about 230000 emergency visits because of baby walkers. 9 in 10 of the injuries were to the head and neck, mostly the child and the walker falling down stairs together. A baby walker also does not teach a child to walk.

Cost

No money, and you save the price of 1 walker. A stationary activity center with no wheels, or a play yard, has to be bought separately, or it can be borrowed. The hard part is being willing to throw it out when an elder gave it, or when you already bought it.

Benefit

From 1990 to 2014, children under 15 months who went to emergency care for a baby-walker injury made an estimated 230000 visits (exact value 230676). Of those, 90.6% were injured on the head or neck, and 74.1% fell down stairs while sitting in the walker. 4.5% were admitted after the injury, and 37.8% of the admitted children had a skull fracture. From 2010 the United States enforced a mandatory safety standard for baby walkers. Over the 4 years after that, the average number of injuries each year was 22.7% lower than over the 4 years before. The authors still say a baby walker remains an important source of injury to children, and it can be avoided. The American Academy of Pediatrics 2001 position statement says that from 1973 to 1998 the United States reported 34 deaths linked to baby walkers. Warning labels, publicity and education, an adult watching beside the child, and a stair gate have all been shown not to prevent this kind of injury. A baby walker also has no clear benefit, so the academy calls for a ban on making and selling wheeled baby walkers, and recommends a fixed activity center with no wheels instead. The note the academy gives parents says most baby-walker injuries happen while an adult is right there watching. A child sitting in a walker can shoot more than 3 feet (about 0.9 meters) in 1 second. On whether a walker helps a child learn to walk, the academy says it does not, and may delay it. The evidence that it delays walking is not strong. In 1 Irish survey of 190 infants, children who used a walker walked independently about 3 weeks later on average (61.12 weeks against 58.14 weeks). The more they used it, the later they walked. That was only a 1-time questionnaire, with no grouped comparison. 1 small review in 2002 found 2 trials that assigned children at random, and neither showed a clear effect on when walking started. Pooling 4 studies, the delay was 11 to 26 days, and the quality of the studies was low throughout.

Notes

From April (4) 7, 2004, Canada has banned the sale, advertising, and import of baby walkers. Used ones may not be sold at flea markets or garage sales either. For a walker already in the home, the official advice is to take it apart and throw it out. The current Canada Consumer Product Safety Act puts it on the banned-sale list. Nobody may make, import, advertise, or sell a walker. No ban was found in China. Infant baby walkers are made to the current national standard GB 14749-2006. The standard governs the product itself. It does not stop a child from shooting toward the stairs. From 1997, a baby walker in the United States either had to be made wider than a door, or had to have a brake at the edge of a step, and the academy still considers that not enough. A child sitting in a walker can reach higher, and can also pull a tablecloth and tip hot coffee, grab a pot handle on the stove, or fall, walker and all, into a pool or a bathtub. The academy suggests 3 substitutes: a fixed activity center with no wheels (the seat can turn and can bounce), a play yard, and a high chair. When you send the child to a childcare place or to someone else's home, confirm they are not using a baby walker there either. The order for buying big items is in item 11 of this section (consider big items in the order borrow, buy used, buy new).

Sources · 8

1. Sims A, Chounthirath T, Yang J, Hodges NL, Smith GA (2018). Infant Walker-Related Injuries in the United States. Pediatrics, 142(4), e20174332. doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-4332
2. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention (2001). Injuries Associated With Infant Walkers. Pediatrics, 108(3), 790-792. doi.org/10.1542/peds.108.3.790
3. American Academy of Pediatrics (2022). Baby Walkers: A Dangerous Choice. HealthyChildren.org. healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention…
4. Garrett M, McElroy AM, Staines A (2002). Locomotor milestones and babywalkers: cross sectional study. BMJ, 324(7352), 1494. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7352.1494
5. Burrows P, Griffiths P (2002). Do baby walkers delay onset of walking in young children? British Journal of Community Nursing, 7(11), 581-586. doi.org/10.12968/bjcn.2002.7.11.10889
6. Health Canada (2004-04-07). Minister Pettigrew announces a ban on baby walkers. News Release 2004-15. canada.ca/en/news/archive/2004/04/minister-pe…
7. Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (S.C. 2010, c. 21), section 5 and Schedule 2 item 3. laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-1.68/FullT…
8. 全国标准信息公共服务平台. GB 14749-2006 婴儿学步车安全要求. std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbDetailed?id=71F77…