What Parents Should Know about Baby Walkers?

Most of us have a general idea about baby walkers, but when we need to have it for our kids we are at a loss. It’s easy to get confused to choose in between so many colors, designs, and manufacturers. In addition, safety is another important issue.

Some people think that baby walkers are suitable for their toddlers, to entertain them and aid their walking process while others think they are extremely unsafe for a baby. However, baby walkers can sometimes slow down your baby’s walking growth.

Here are some facts we ought to know before making the leap.

Baby Walker- Its Definition

A walker for is made up of an inflexible structure which runs on small wheels. A material lob with leg holes for your kid so that he can put his feet below, there is a plastic -tray that contains toys for the child, some have musical gadgets and colorful blinking lights for fun. Baby walkers are usually used by infants who are 6 – 15 months in age, and it allows a pre-walking kid to move about by pressing his feet against the ground.

Does Baby Walker Help Balance?

Even though placing your kid in a walker may appear to be a great way to improve his walking skills, there is a lack of proofs to defend this belief. In fact, there are proofs to support the contrary idea- that children who use baby walkers may suffer a setback in crawling, standing, and walking alone.

When your kid spends time in a baby walker, he is missing out on discovering vital pre-walking skills, such as rolling over, pulling up, and sitting up. Furthermore, balancing problems can creep on at a later time. Babies regularly rest on their toes in baby walkers, which can lead to tight muscles that make them begin to walk on their toes.

Reasons for Using a Baby Walker?

Some parents decide to buy a baby walker because they believe that walkers help the infant learn how to walk faster. Nevertheless, the contrary is valid: using such a walker can slow down independent walking. This is because learning to walk is not just about using your legs to walk.

It’s more about knowing how to draw, to stand and then balance their walking steps without support. When kids are placed into walkers, they don’t get to learn any of that. They acquire it by staying on the floor with something they can draw upon like a couch.

The further motive why most parents make use of a baby walker is that babies love them and will play cheerfully in them. This is true to some extent. Babies of about 6 months love to be on their two legs and love to be mobile so that they can sightsee and be full of things.

As for movement, the painful truth is that not only do babies need to learn movement by themselves; they need continuous supervision.

Advantages of Baby Walkers

• Walkers are appealing and engaging:

Most baby walkers are built-in with guileless toys or attractions to make the baby engaged and active. They are aimed to motivate their mental development and bring about visual stimulation. A baby walker lets you go on with your regular responsibilities since the baby remains engaged with the added toys.

• Walkers Promote Mobility:

Children between ages 7 to 12 months are eager to discover their immediate world. The walker can give them the freedom to move and help them to maneuver themselves without any support.

Using Baby Walkers – Some setbacks

Every year, many babies get injured while using walkers. Some suffer severe injuries caused by cuts, burns, broken bones, head injuries, poisoning, and drownings while some even die. Baby walkers may sometimes become dangerous. Most of the incident occurs when children fall over from stairs in a walker which usually lead head or neck injuries.

However, it’s not just the stairs that can lead to injuries. Children in walkers can get their fingers trapped, draw things down on themselves, or take hold of harmful things such as sharp objects or hot liquids. Children can also roll out of walkers and get hurt and get drowned when they raced into a spa or pool. Here are some of the risks, disadvantages, and development issues linked to the use of baby walkers:

• Babies using walkers tends to reach the walking milestones than others who don’t.
• A walker may prevent your baby from roll sitting and crawling which can damage their normal walking development.
• Babies gain access to dangerous objects which are out of reach such as electrical cords or cupboards with hazardous substances
• Babies with a walker tend to go faster to dangerous places such as fireplaces, heaters, ovens or pools
• Your baby’s toes and fingers could get trapped as the walker’s design may have hinges and foldable parts.

Using Walkers for Your Child- Precautions to take

Although the risks that come with a baby walker appear to be more than its benefits if you do plan to get one, here are some vital safety precautions:

• Ensure that the baby walker you are purchasing meet the terms with U.S consumer product safety standards.
• Always stay close to your baby and be conscious that they can move to dangerous areas in seconds.
• Ensure the walker can only be used on a flat surface and make sure you block them off from access to stairs.
• Use baby walkers in a ‘baby-proofed’ zone.
• Choose a baby walker with lock and braking system to prevent it moving anyhow.

Guide on Buying a Baby Walker

To guarantee that a child learns to stand and walk using a walker, here are some guidelines for parents  while buying a baby walker:

• Choose a walker that let your baby maneuver without difficulty. If you choose a baby walker that is really heavy or poses too much friction on the floor due to its poor quality, it may lead to accidents.
• Select a baby walker that has a wide base so that it can act as a preventive agent during falls and will also prevent the baby from entering entrances leading to areas they shouldn’t venture into.
• Look for extra safety qualities such as seat belts or wheel locks which would make a walker a safe experience for your infant.
• Ensure that the material used for producing the walker is harmless, that is, it must be made from non-toxic materials with non-toxic dyes.
• Look for manufacturing deficiencies or poor finishing marks like rough edges, uncomfortable sewing on the seat that can easily come off from small parts which may hurt the baby.

Conclusion

In our busy world, a baby walker is really helpful to keep the baby absorbed in fun and enjoyment. For the baby, it is a toy, and the sound buttons and the colorful lights delight him much. The essential thing is that the baby is kept to itself without our interference.

He can explore the area around him and does not hinder the work of the people near him with cries and shrills. Once the baby, is settled calmly, the worries of the parents are minimized.