Almost every individual is aware of the baby walkers and its uses. But, only a few of them know about the negative sides of the baby walkers. If you are one of those who want to know the cons of the baby walkers, consider reading it. We have made this article to inform the parents about the potential risks of using the baby walkers for their babies.

Although the baby walkers seem simple but they are not all nice and fun. According to some researches, the baby walkers have shown to have developmental delays on the babies. In some cases, the baby walkers even cause injuries. Let us have a discussion below.

What is a baby walker?

A baby walker is a device or tool which is used by the babies for walking. The baby walkers help the babies walk even before they can walk on their own. The baby walkers are known to have so many different names such as baby runners, trainers, and walking stools. In the 17^th century, people used to consider baby walkers as something that helps babies in moral and physical development. In the present era, the baby walkers are created using hard plastic. They have wheels on the bottom portion.

Is a baby walker safe for babies?

Most people like having a baby walker for babies in their homes, they are the ones who are not aware of the adverse effects of using the baby walkers. The idea of having a baby walker in the home seems fun and interesting but in reality, the baby walkers are not safe for your loving babies. Below are the reasons why the baby walkers are not safe:

1. The baby walkers increase the chances of injuries: Yes, you read it correctly. The baby walkers are known to increases the chances of baby injuries. The reason behind this is that the baby walkers tend to move very fast, even faster than a mother or father can react. This can lead to the falling of the babies down the stairs. Sometimes the babies reach the harmful things that they are not supposed to reach. This can cause a potential injury to the baby. We know you would never want that to happen with your child.

• According to a research, around 230,000 injuries occurred to the babies between the year 1990 and 2014. Unfortunately, all of these injuries happened due to the baby walkers.Most of these injuries occurred to the heads of the babies leading to the head trauma.
• What are the common types of injuries that occur due to baby walkers?
• Poisoning and burns occurs due to the babies’ ability to access the places that they were not supposed to access).
• Drowning because falling into the pool or toilet.
• Head bruises and bumps (occurring due to falling of the babies down the stairs or pulling the items from the shelves or counters onto themselves).
• Pinched toes or fingers.
• Suffocation due to the compression of the neck on the feeding tray (this injury occurs rarely).

In the year of 1994, the stationary infant walkers were introduced by the brand manufacturers. This decreased the number of injuries with the passing year. According to the experts, the decrease in the injuries does not necessarily mean that the baby walker is safe. The risk of injuries is still there.

1. The baby walkers tend to delay the motor and mental development of the babies:

Even if the baby walker does not cause injury to your child, the probabilities are they can have a detrimental effect on your child’s motor and mental development. According to a study, ‘the babies who use the baby walkers learn walking later than those who do not use them. A different study showed similar results; the researchers noticed that the babies who use the baby walkers crawled, walked, and sat later than the ones who did not use the baby walkers. Also, the walker using babies scored very low points on the Bayley scales of motor and mental development.

1. The baby walkers hinder the development of muscles:

Yes, this is true! According to some researches, the babies who used walkers make the development of the muscles hard. Some researchers even say that the baby walkershelp in strengthening of the baby lower legs but they make the upper hips and legs week.

Bottom line:

The bottom line here is that the baby walkers are not as helpful as the damage they cause. We would suggest our readers to avoid using the baby walker unless it is not extremely important. It would be better if your babylearns to walk and run on his/her own. We hope our article proves to be helpful for our readers.