Parents Be Warned

Many doctors want to ban baby walkers due to the overwhelming amount of injuries that occur with their use. One study showed that the walkers were responsible for over 9,000 ER visits a year, and most of the injuries involved infants’ heads and necks.

This troubling revelation for parents will hopefully change as more realize the danger of moving baby devices of this nature. Doctors recommend stationary play devices and “tummy time” instead, and some have been pushing for the ban of these devices for years.

The American Academy of Pediatrics wants a full-scale ban on the baby walkers in the US. Many parents assume that the devices can help a child learn how to walk faster, and grow their independence. But pediatricians say there is no indication of any benefits from these devices, and that they may even hamper a baby’s development.

The problem with many of these walkers is that the infant has very little understanding or control of where it is going, and often times can tumble down a set of stair, or simply fall out of the walker. Any head and neck injury on a child younger than 15 months could be serious and deadly, so doctors want to keep parents informed on what the leading causes of these kinds of injuries may be.