When you mention a baby walker, you can easily bring up a strong debate on whether these are really safe or not depending on the different perspectives of parents who use or don’t use the walkers. This is because the same are known to expose babies to potential injuries therefore bringing in a kind of anxiety to most parents on using them.
Baby walker safety with two safety brakes
One great advantage of baby walkers is that they serve to teach a child more on mobility as the parent relaxes to do other things. In fact, it is more appealing to the baby who feels all the freedom to try things on its own. But the reality is, for the walkers to be safe for use, the parent has to keep on monitoring the child’s movements. It therefore does not call for the parent to place their babies on the walkers and forget about them because they can easily land into problems and bring in major havoc which of course means danger to the baby.
Parents therefore need adequate education on ensuring baby walker safety so that they can apply the experiences learnt in using the walkers to help their children walk. There are tutorials which are available on this topic and these should be of considerable concern to parents. This is a good way of understanding about all the possible dangers involving these walkers and the way the same can be well controlled.
It has been revealed through different studies that out of the many baby equipments available, baby walkers take the largest blame portion of the injuries caused to babies. Mostly, the walkers are extremely dangerous when it comes to children aged 6 to 16 months old. It is estimated that over 20,000 children usually succumb to such injuries and their treatments are treated as emergency cases all emanating from the baby walkers.
Out of the injuries caused through the walkers the two most common occurrences are falling either down a flight of stairs or accidentally falling on hot liquids which subsequently spill on the babies. They are therefore cases which are very serious making baby walker safety compromised and a subject of thought before you introduce your baby to their use. The head is mostly the victim of these injuries and this makes it even worse because it is a very delicate part of the body and can easily be tampered with causing even death.
The baby walker safety should also be assessed from another angle because it does not only risk the baby to fatal injuries but also causes retarded growth. There are many studies on this subject and most of them reveal that the children who use baby walkers have a 12% slower development rate than those who do not. This is because the walker denies the baby some developmental skills, either being physical or mental. Instead of the baby meeting challenges in walking and working their way out they are assisted in doing so. This lowers their thinking capacity and challenges are minimized thus making their optimal development be compromised to a certain extent. It is therefore an issue to think about before incorporating them.
Baby Walker Safety Concerns
Baby walkers have also been known to facilitate the development of weak bones especially in the legs. This is because they do not have a firm and strong holding on the surface because they happen to be assisted. As a result they end up developing weak bones and leg muscles which is not favorable for their later life. They are subject to bone breakages and other weakness in the legs. Remember that legs are very important in motion and need to be fully developed when at a younger age.
There are other studies on walkers and their main argument is that the walkers are mostly to blame for back problems when the baby grows up. This is the reason why the walkers are mostly banned in many countries and they have strict regulations in their use. To make the situation more serious, their sale is also banned from the market and stores do not stock these products. However, we cannot dispute the fact that the walkers are being used and providing tremendous results for many parents and their babies.
All you need however is a good follow up of your child if you still insist on the walker option. Make sure that checks and balances are applied so that your baby cannot fall victim to such problems or injuries and some developmental problems. At least monitor their use and probably time them with an average of 20 minutes being a good time limit for their use at a time.
