Dangers of a Baby Walker

Dangers of baby walkers

The danger of baby walkers can cause injuries including death. Find out why and how to prevent this from happening.

Though they have been used for generations by our mothers and even by women today, walkers are extremely dangerous for babies. In 1995, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for a ban on walkers due to the extremely high rate of injuries, major, minor and fatal which occurred from the use of walkers.

Seventy-five to eighty percent of the more severe injuries were caused by falling down the stairs. Walkers may keep babies happy, they may provide them with a means of mobility, but they do not keep them safe. When you baby is in a walker, he can move faster and farther than he ever could on his own and the potential for falls, pinches and other injuries is very high. Walkers do not help your children learn how to walk and in fact, have been found to delay walking for a few weeks and once the children did begin to walk, they presented an abnormal gait in the beginning.

It is very hard to find a walker in the stores these days, but they are still around. Most companies have stopped making them for fear of lawsuits and due to the proposed ban by the AAP. A new brand of walker-type devices has cropped up, these devices are of the same premise, but they are not on wheels and the only movement a baby can make in them is to turn around in a circle or bounce up and down.

These Exersaucer type toys are great for keeping your child in one place to play, especially when they have learned to crawl and you are trying to keep them out of trouble. They don’t, however, provide a means for mobility for your baby. Without using these devices too often, your baby may learn how to crawl faster and find his own means of mobility.

The risk of injury from walkers is too severe and before long they will probably be off the market altogether. You will still find walkers in consignment shops however, don’t buy them. Keep your baby safe from injury and death and he will learn to walk eventually, what’s the rush?

http://www.essortment.com/all/babywalkersdan_rvun.htm

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) feels that walkers should be banned from the United States because:

• baby walkers put children at risk for injury and
• there are no clear benefits from using a baby walker.

From 1989 to 1993 there were 11 deaths involving a baby walker. Each year over 8000 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms for walker-related injuries. Many more children are injured and go to their health care provider's office. Walker injuries can be serious, such as skull fractures, head injuries causing bleeding inside the head, broken legs and arms, and burns.

FACT: Baby walkers do not help your baby to walk earlier. In fact, they often delay walking.

FACT: A baby in a walker can move at a speed of 3 feet per second. This is much faster than a baby can move on his own.

FACT: Gates do not prevent babies from tumbling down stairs in walkers. Children can take the gate down or the baby walker can knock the gate loose.

FACT: Baby walkers put children at increased risk for burns, poisonings, and drownings. This is because the child can move about faster and reach dangerous objects.

FACT: Most baby walker injuries happen while at least one parent is at home watching the child.

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_walkers_hhg.htm