As a pediatric physical therapist (see article on "Baby Walkers..."), I admit to cringing when I see a child in a baby walker! But having been a parent, I know that there are times when you have to put the baby down in a "safe" place so that you can cook, do the laundry, go to the bathroom, etc.!
The best place to put a baby is on its tummy on the floor, and the second best place is on its tummy in a playpen or play yard/playard. (Later you will be able to seat her in a high chair.) But these options are not always available for all parents. So I accept that walkers and bouncers, swings and infant car seats will be used. The key is that they be used in moderation and with some supervision. In a walker or bouncer, watch that your baby is not continually up on her toes, and in a swing or car seat, she should not be asleep. (Babies should sleep in their cribs.)
What's wrong with using a walker? Millions of kids have used walkers and they turned out fine...
In 1993, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for a ban on the manufacture and sale of baby walkers with wheels. Canada has banned wheeled baby walkers since 2004, after 15 years of retailers voluntarily not selling them. The reason for the ban is due to the danger of injury or death from falling down stairs, being able to reach hot drinks or household poisons, running into heaters or hot stoves, grabbing electrical wires or drapery cords, dragging down tablecloths, tipping over after catching on the edge of a rug or running over a toy, or drowning by tipping into the toilet or falling into a swimming pool.
Well, isn't it common sense to put a gate across the stairs, baby-proof the room by removing objects that can burn or poison, etc.? Unfortunately, "common sense" is an endangered commodity. In the U.S., the solution in 1997 was to establish manufacturer guidelines (not laws, but voluntary guidelines that not all manufacturers follow) to make the walkers wider so that they don't fit through doorways and down the stairs (whose stairs?), to have a wider and deeper tray so babies can't reach beyond them, or having a brake system that stops the walker if all four wheels are not on the floor.
The second reason for the ban is that there is no clear benefit from the use of walkers. Studies have been done that indicate that their use actually delays motor and mental development. I have not seen these studies, but can easily see that a child will develop a dependence on the walker and will not be motivated to sit or walk on his own. Also, the posture a child assumes in a walker is usually not good, which can lead to other problems.
From a normal development point of view, babies do not learn to sit by being assisted in sitting, nor do they learn to walk by assisted walking. If a child has any tendency (genetics, atypical muscle tone, atypical bone and joint development, hyper-stretch reflex, etc.), the overuse of a walker can lead to atypical walking, usually toe-walking. (Toe-walking may be seen in a 3-year old, but should no longer be seen in a 5-year old or older. Toe-walking can be caused by other conditions as well.)
Okay, there is nothing wrong with toe-walking. Most toe-walkers turn out within the wide range of "normal." However, all the kids with autism with whom I have worked were toe-walkers. Most of the kids with learning disabilities were either toe-walkers or early walkers.
Normal development follows a progression where motor control and skills build on earlier development. There are so many building blocks needed for the skill of independent walking (see article "On Walking..."), from head and trunk control, core strength and leg muscle strength, grading of movement (controlled movement with controlled speed), flexibility, proprioception (unconscious body awareness), spatial awareness (awareness of body in space), static and dynamic balance, dissociation (ability of parts of the body to move independently of other parts) and rotation along the spine, lateralization (unconscious awareness of two sides of the body) leading to bilateral coordination, to ... integration of infantile reflexes.
So if you really want to help your baby learn to walk, he needs to start with TUMMY TIME!
And make sure he spends a couple months crawling on hands and knees (before and/or after learning to walk)!
Check out the article by Day2Day Parenting on Walkers, Exersaucers, and Jumpers. In summary, avoid walkers, exersaucers, jumpers, and bouncers, and do not keep the baby in a swing or infant car seat all the time! (Common sense, eh?!)
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