Do Baby Walkers Help Infant To Walk?

Introduction

Walking is an important developmental milestone in a child’s life. A baby begins to crawl at about 7 months of age and may start walking anytime between 8 to 12 months of life. Some parents consider using a baby walker as an aid to help their child in learning how to walk. A baby walker is a circular framed device that is set on wheels, seating a baby that has not learned to walk yet.

How Does A Baby Learn To Walk?

Babies go through various stages before they learn how to walk. These stages include:

• Rolling
• Sitting
• Crawling or creeping
• Trying to stand
• Moving around using support

This shows that they need to spend a lot of time on the floor, trying to learn and master these activities before they can walk.

Are Baby Walkers Really Needed?

Many parents believe that the use of baby walkers is beneficial for their children in learning how to walk. On the contrary, various studies have shown that babies who used walkers sat, crawled and walked later than the ones who did not. This could be explained as follows:

• Babies use their front and back leg muscles for walking. When a baby is put into a walker, he or she makes use of the muscles at the back of his or her legs and walks on tiptoes. This creates unwanted tension in the leg muscles and interferes with the normal walking process as well as delays muscle and joint development.
• Babies try to stand by pulling themselves up, thus learning how to balance. When placed in a walker, they do not make an effort to balance themselves upon moving forwards or sideways as the walker completes this job for them. This hinders their process of learning how to balance.
• Children who have used walkers during their early childhood have shown delays in their motor and mental development. This is because the use of walkers restricted them from undergoing important stages necessary in developing certain milestones, thus affecting their motor and mental abilities.
• To establish weight bearing through the use of the shoulders and pelvis, babies need to use their hands and feet in the crawling and pre-crawling positions. The use of a walker gives them lesser floor time to achieve this.
• With every 24 hours spent in a walker, the baby requires three additional days to learn how to walk and four additional days to learn how to stand. This is because of the fact that walkers put the baby in an upright position where they do not have to do anything, rather than learning how to be upright, thus proving that baby walkers do not help and are not really needed in learning how to walk, but rather delay the process!

Are Walkers Safe To Use?

• Children using walkers are more prone to injuries as they move faster and may be able to reach the height of objects which they may otherwise not be able to.
• Babies tend to walk swiftly when placed in a walker, thus injuring their toes and fingers. They may also tip over and end up hurting themselves.
• The use of walkers involves the risk of falling off stairs as a consequence of babies trying to move around briskly and being unable to come to a halt at the right time.
• Due to the various risks associated with the use of walkers, they were banned by the Canadian government in the year 2004. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has been seeking their ban in the US since 1995.

Parents are strongly advised against utilizing baby walkers; however, if you opt to purchase one, it is essential to adhere to the following instructions:

• Always supervise your baby and never leave them unattended while using the walker.
• Only use the walker on a level surface and take measures to prevent access to steps or stairs.
• Clear the surrounding area of any hazardous items, including electrical cords, hot beverages, cleaning chemicals, fires, heaters, pools, or toilets.
• Ensure that the walker is equipped with a lock and a braking mechanism for added safety.
• Refrain from using the walker until your baby is capable of sitting unassisted, and discontinue its use once your baby begins walking independently.
• Limit your baby's time in the walker to a maximum of 15 minutes.

Myths Vs Facts

Myth 1 – A walker will strengthen my baby’s leg.

Fact – A baby walker causes long-term hip, foot and ankle problems by bringing about long-term changes in the child’s walking pattern and strengthening the wrong muscles of the leg.

Myth 2 – A baby walker will help my baby’s development.

Fact – A walker interferes with the brain development of a baby, thus affecting his or her motor and perceptual skills.

Myth 3 – A walker will help my baby learn to walk.

Fact – A baby does not learn the proper balancing skills needed to walk by using a walker.

Myth 4 – A walker is a safe place to put my baby when I am busy.

Fact – A baby in a walker needs more than usual attention and supervision owing to the safety issues related to walkers.

Conclusion

Owing to its greater harmful effects than any actual beneficial ones, it can be said that a baby walker is not really needed in helping a baby learn how to walk. The baby should rather be encouraged to spend more time on the floor where he or she can develop muscle strength and balance. The baby can also be motivated to lie on his or her stomach, as much as possible, such that the majority of the weight is on the forearms, as this position is vital in developing motor skills. The use of a stable push-type baby walker is also helpful when the child can stand on his own or her own. Thus, the use of a baby walker is not recommended, and the baby will eventually learn how to walk on his or her own, in the right way and at the right time, whenever he or she is ready.