Baby learn to walk walker

9 Best Baby-Walking Toys for 2021, According to Amazon Reviews

Getty Images

Watch out, world, baby's on the move! When your little one starts to pull themselves up to walk around, having toys that encourage them to do so can be an engaging, lively way to introduce them to moving those chubby little stems. For years, the standard walking toy — the walker — was thought to be your only option. But since those have proven to be an unsafe and unwise choice, parents are left to wonder which walking toys are best and which are actually safe?

What to Consider

First and foremost, make sure that your child is in a secure area when they're using their walking toys. In other words, make sure they're not near stairs, pets, or the stove when using these toys. And as already mentioned, sit-in walkers with wheels are a recipe for disaster. In fact, they should never be employed, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

You want a walking toy that does not elevate your child near anything they could pull down on themselves, one that encourages movement but doesn’t put them at risk for falls, and ideally, one that has safeties built-in to keep them protected, like a parent’s involvement, or slow-moving parts. Thankfully, there are a ton on the market, and we found several walking toys that aren’t just fun — they’re functional too!

Baby walkers: Are they bad for babies?

Experts say baby walkers aren't safe – and they don't help babies learn to walk faster, either.

Baby walkers are circular, wheeled toys with suspended seats. They're designed so your baby's feet can touch the ground while they're seated, so they can propel themself around.

Even as new safety features have been implemented over the years, thousands of babies every year end up in emergency rooms and doctor's offices from falling down stairs or bumping into furniture while in a walker.

Walkers on the market now are required to have "stair-fall protection" – either a gripping mechanism that keeps the walker from going over the edge of a stairwell or a design that prevents the walker from fitting through a doorway. Older walkers (such as those bought secondhand) don't have these safety features.

But even with the extra safety features, experts say baby walkers aren't safe to use. Walkers make babies taller, so they might be able to reach dangerous objects (like hot cups of coffee or knives on countertops) or touch a hot stove. Babies could also tip and fall over objects.

(To find out whether a walker or other baby product you own has been recalled, check the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's list of recalled products.)

Activity centers and jumpers are much safer alternatives. And baby walking toys – which have wheels so babies can stand in front of them and push them along as they learn to walk – are safe to use.

If you're looking for a toy that you can set your baby in and have a few moments to yourself, activity centers and freestanding jumpers will keep your baby occupied – and stationary, so you don't have to worry about them wandering off. Both offer your baby plenty of opportunities to safely explore and practice their fine motor skills like grasping, grabbing, and shaking, as well as gross motor skills like standing and bouncing.

Experts recommend a 15 to 20-minute limit on time in a jumper or activity center, though, since your baby also needs plenty of floor time to practice their skills independently.

Advertisement | page continues below

Baby walking toys – also called push toys – are great for when your baby can pull themself up, stand, and even cruise. They give your baby extra support and help them balance. Once they start taking steps, your baby can push the walking toy in front of them.

Just make sure the walking toy is sturdy enough that it won't tip over if your baby uses it to pull themself up. Block off any stairways, as well as rooms you don't want your baby to go in, and supervise your baby while they're playing with the walking toy.

No, and neither do activity centers, jumpers, or walking toys. In fact, research shows that babies who use a walker may actually learn to walk later than those who don't.

Babies learn to walk in part by watching and understanding how their feet and legs move. Since most walkers have trays, babies can't see what's happening with their lower body and don't get the information they need about their motor development.

Babies need to practice crawling, pulling themselves up, and cruising to learn how to walk – none of which they get to do if they're in a walker.

Here are some good ways to encourage your baby to walk:

Give your baby plenty of tummy time to help develop their core muscles.
Let your baby work on strengthening their legs by holding them under the arms as they jump on your thighs.
Once your baby is cruising around, encourage them to walk toward you by standing or kneeling in front of them and holding out your hands. Or, you can help them walk by holding their hand while they take steps.

Walkers and jumpers: friends or enemies?

What do Chelyabinsk orthopedists think about them: pros and cons of popular devices. How not to harm the baby? Safety regulations

In the USSR, they were discontinued: it was found that they fix the wrong position of the feet and hip joints. In Canada, they were withdrawn from sale: they allegedly pose a serious danger to babies. But half a century later, they again conquer the world. Walkers and jumpers, bright, funny, so comfortable .... Friends or enemies to your baby?

The health and development of a baby directly depends on how much and variously he moves, and what emotions he experiences. Best of all - in the hands of my mother: you can turn your head, touch it with a pen, try it on the tooth .... But, alas, mom needs her hands for a lot of other things. And it seems a good decision to buy a special device that will free both mother and entertain the child. So walkers appear in the house.

Baby walker - a device that allows the baby to move without parental assistance. This is a frame on wheels, inside of which a special “saddle” for the child is fixed. The child sits in this saddle and rides around the apartment, pushing off the floor with his feet.

— Walkers have their pluses and minuses, says Alexander Semyonov, traumatologist-orthopedist of ChDOKB. “Mostly, there are pluses for the mother: she has free hands, she rests from the baby. But for a child, there are still more disadvantages - putting in a walker affects the position of the leg, a child in a walker refuses to walk on his own, does not learn to crawl, he is already comfortable, the walkers support him. But from a medical point of view, this is wrong.
So, on the one hand, baby walkers open up a new world for the baby, transferring from a horizontal position to a vertical one, which, of course, has a positive effect on his intellectual and emotional development. Walkers satisfy the child's need for movement and at the same time do not allow reaching dangerous objects, protect against sharp corners and falls. But in these pluses, the minuses are also hidden: without learning how to fall correctly, the baby will not learn to group when falling, to protect his head from a blow. He does not learn caution either, because he does not feel pain when he hits a wall or a corner. In the future, these "failures" can lead to serious injuries. Walkers also have a negative effect on the function of the cerebellum: getting used to the support, the baby does not learn to balance. And when he then begins to walk on his own, he often collapses and falls. Finally, a prolonged load on fragile legs can lead to their deformation, and overstrain of the back muscles - a constant vertical position and the inability to change it on your own - to a curvature of the spine.

— When parents keep a baby in a walker for a long time, he starts walking on his toes, and this is the wrong position of the foot, - the expert notes. - Therefore, if parents want to put the baby in a walker, they need to remember that walkers can be used from 6 months, and by this time the child should sit up and hold his back on his own. The time that can be spent in a walker without harm to the health of the baby is on average up to 40-60 minutes per day. And of course, it is necessary to accustom a child to a walker gradually, starting from 3-5 minutes.
Don't lose sight of your baby in a walker. Walkers can get stuck in the doorway, and when moving from one floor to another, for example, from linoleum to carpet, the structure can roll over with the baby. And this is much more dangerous than if the child fell himself. By the way, the child is able to develop a decent speed in a walker: up to 10 km/h! Therefore, the choice of walkers must be taken very seriously.

Ideal walker has a wide, stable base and many wheels around the perimeter, a deep, wide seat with a soft inner bumper and a high rigid back. It is also possible to adjust the height of the seat according to the height of the child.

Jumpers are another popular device.

Baby jumpers - a special seat, similar to a kangaroo backpack, with a high chest, back and springy straps. Usually jumpers are hung in a doorway. The kid hangs, touching the floor with his feet, and pushing off with his legs, he can bounce a few centimeters.

— I have a more loyal attitude towards jumpers, — Alexander Semenov admits, — this device also unloads the mother, but at the same time there are pluses for the baby himself: jumpers stimulate coordination, the child in them can push off the floor, jump, turn, and while experiencing a lot of positive emotions.

So, jumpers develop leg muscles, stimulate the vestibular apparatus. It is not difficult to understand whether the baby has grown up to them. Place the child on a hard surface, hold under the armpits. If the baby begins to actively push off from this surface, bend and straighten the legs, and this usually happens at 4-5 months, then you can introduce jumpers and live for 15-20 minutes for your own pleasure. Claims to the jumpers are almost the same: violations of muscle tone, squeezing of the perineum with the wrong design. In addition, in jumpers, the child pushes off the floor with both legs at once, and then, starting to walk on his own, tries to do the same. And often falls.

When choosing jumpers, pay attention to the seat: it should be deep, ideally fix the child to the armpits, have a rigid orthopedic back. "Jumping" possibilities depend on the type of belts that are attached to the seat. The best option - the belts are connected to the spring, adjustable in length.

Despite all the disadvantages, both mom and baby like walkers and jumpers - this is an interesting new toy with which you can explore the world. The main thing is to keep the child in sight, observe safety precautions and keep track of time. But the main criterion for the duration of the use of walkers and jumpers should be the mood of the baby. If he is tired, capricious, then it's time to move on to other activities.

Category: Useful information

Walkers: pros and cons

Reviewer Kovtun Tatiana Anatolievna

29279 views

September 15, 2021

The feeling when you enter the nursery and find that your baby is standing in the crib is something incredible. Just yesterday, he tumbled to one side when trying to sit down on his own, and today he is already standing and even trying to squat on his legs funny. Very soon he will take his first steps. And here the mothers of the whole world are divided into two militant camps. Some, in an attempt to help the baby, and at the same time unload themselves, are puzzled by the choice of walkers, while others simply let the development process take its course. We do not join any camp, but simply present the facts regarding the pros and cons of walkers.

What is a walker

A baby walker is a device that allows a baby who is not yet able to walk to move without the help of parental hands. They are a frame on wheels, inside of which a special “saddle” for a child is fixed; the child can, sitting in the saddle and pushing off the floor with his feet, ride around the apartment. Walkers are successfully used in the treatment of cerebral palsy (infantile cerebral palsy), and are also intended for older children (1-3 years old) who cannot walk on their own.

Pros of walkers

Walkers were invented, like most modern gadgets for children, to relieve mom and dad. They make it possible to calmly drink tea, do household chores and even work without worrying about the baby.
Walkers move the baby from a horizontal to a vertical position, thereby expanding the possibilities of learning about the world around.
Positive emotions for the baby. It's so cool to explore the world around! And when all this is accompanied by sound and light effects, just thirty-three pleasures.
Security. A beloved child will not fit into an outlet, will not fall, will not fit into a cupboard with dishes, and so on, because it is limited in movement and space.

Disadvantages of walkers

Lack of motivation in the baby. If there is a device that helps you stand on your own two feet and even run, the incentive to learn to do it yourself disappears: why? After all, my mother will put me in a walker, and I will run!
The load on the fragile apparatus of the legs can lead to a number of problems.
Walkers can affect the function of the cerebellum. A baby in a walker quickly gets used to the fact that when walking he has support from all sides. As a result, the functions of the cerebellum, which is responsible for the coordination of movements, are formed incorrectly. And then, starting to walk, the baby begins to fall in all directions and fall.
Frequent use of a walker can hinder a baby's motor development. Children who are often placed in walkers start walking 3-4 weeks later on average, and the gait is characterized by uncertainty and springiness.
Loss of sense of caution. If the baby does not fall, does not encounter obstacles, then he simply will not develop the instinct of self-preservation.
Risk of injury if the baby is in the walker without supervision.

Orthopedic Warning

Incorrect position of the feet when walking (in a walker, the child gets used to walking on tiptoe)
Overstrain of the back muscles (constant vertical position and inability to change it)

As you can see, walkers have their pros and cons.