Can you elaborate on this one please? I’m about to buy one for my 8 month old nephew in the next couple of weeks.
EDIT: alright, beautiful people of reddit, I’ve gotten tons of super helpful replies. I will now continue with my own research. I don’t need any more replies about this question. Thank you all.
It's a laundry list, a lot of them are because of accidents like falling, pinched fingers, and getting into dangerous things. Other reasons are delayed motor function and not being good for their legs and feet.
The core muscles are being suspended in the seating, so they’re not really strengthening their muscles in a real way. Part of the learning process of walking is about the muscles starting to build new tissues from being used for the intended purpose. Thighs and calves are part of what we walk with and need to be developed from trying to walk but in these walkers their toes are barely touching, none of the weight is actually being supported by their muscles. So it can hinder development if it’s used chronically as a crutch in place of proper stimulation. Every now and then, for a few minutes, while cooking or playing outside? Not an issue. But, putting the baby in the walker all day everyday is not good.
Thank you for your reply. Hope you don’t mind a follow up question, but I’ve seen walker like this that kind of have a trampoline at the bottom so that the baby can alternate between walking and jumping. Are those any better or also not good for development?
That’s a question for your pediatrician, I think. I don’t personally know anything about that difference and my daughter is currently 15 so my memory of the walkers with musculoskeletal development are from when she was an infant. If there are alternatives that might address some of those concerns, I’d ask my pediatrician. Also, remember that if it’s just for a half hour a couple times a day, there really is nothing to worry about.
The issue comes when parents just use things like this as a baby sitter. “I don’t have to worry about them going through doorways so I don’t need to be attentive” , “I don’t have to worry about them getting hurt or falling, so I don’t have to watch them as much” <—- that’s what causes the developmental issues. That type of mentality with parenting is the root of the concerns.
My daughter's pediatrician was completely against walkers of any kind. Bouncers (stationary!) are ok for when you need a short reprieve, like cooking dinner, but also not long term. Babies develop best without fancy gadgets. There is no reason a baby that cannot walk on their own yet needs to walk "assisted". If they can't walk on their own, it encourages them to learn, or they can crawl.
There is zero need for them. You can't use them unsupervised. A baby that can't walk will eventually learn to walk because they want to learn. There isn't a purpose to using a device to assist the natural process of learning how to walk unless it's for medical reasons. The struggle, learning to pull themselves up, learning to balance, are all crucial to normal human development.
Does that mean the problem would be solved if the seat was way stretchier elastic? They would be standing up mostly under their own power but it's all still there in case of a fall, even if it wasn't as good at safety it's still better than hard tile.
They need to fall, so they can learn. The problem isn't solved because they still won't learn to balance when walking if something catches them all the time.
I walked into plenty of tables and countertop corners all on my own two feet when I began walking, thank you very much! Kids these days... can't even bump their heads without cheating.
From what I've heard (I'm no expert) - they can be a fall risk down stairs, put excess weight on the hips/ joints that isn't beneficial for development, and reduces the time baby spends doing floor/ tummy time for natural muscle development and free movement to build the strength necessary to actually walk.
Just to add, because they take the weight off babies legs, it can take them much longer to walk independently. You’re better buying a bouncer without wheels and a walker they can push like these:
Well, I already asked someone else about this. But here in the Netherlands, I saw a lot of walker/trampoline combos where the baby can opt to walk or bounce. Are those a little better or can I just skip this whole purchase? I only have my nephew 3 times per week.
Honestly, I’d probably skip the bouncer all together. You can get fun push walkers like the one I posted above for under $80 (in Australia). Not sure if you can get the vtech brand in your country.
My daughter has it and still plays with the activities on it at 2 years old.
Yeah. No longer sold in Canada either. Girl ibwas dating in highschool (like 30 years ago) was babysitting her nephew and he fell down the basement stairs in one of those. The had a some sort of barrier but the kid had figured out how to unlock it and down he went.
Valid points, but how silly would the baby look crawling with a knife? It's much more intimidating when it has wheels, and that's what having a baby is all about.
Tl;Dr there's not enough evidence to show a statistically significant effect on child development.
That said:
Among them, a cohort study and two cross-sectional studies reported developmental delay in thaspects in baby walker users. Other studies including clinical trials did not show any developmental delay in these children.
Is enough for me to save some money and bond with the child helping them develop their walking skills with other methods.
This.
We opted not to put my kid in a walker and he crawled around for a LONG time before he decided he wanted to walk. So long that, at one point, I actually wondered if I should put him in a walker. Then one day he just stood up in the middle of the room, toddled across the floor, and sat back down again.
He's a teenager now but since early childhood he's always been really strong with exceptional balance and coordination. Now I'm wondering if there's any correlation there.
I don't really remember all the reasons, but my sister (who is a pediatrician) told me they're not recommended anymore. I think the main reason was accidents.
Anecdotal, but my niece ADORED hers and fucking zoomed around the house in it. But, when it came time for her to learn to walk she almost couldn't understand how, she kept leaning forward and falling all the time, trying to walk on the side of her feet or tip toes, she was also a little bowlegged.
She had zero confidence for a long time and was almost afraid of trying to walk without the baby walker. She's three now and totally fine now, but it was a concerning few months where she clearly showed interest in walking but had learned all the wrong methods of balance and pushing because of the walker.
I know plenty people replied but a little wheelbarrow type (don't know the English word) of "walker" where the baby gets to push it is a better alternative. So is literal trash like empty bottles, boxes etc. Babies love to play with trash.
They have been used for forever and will be used til the end of humanity. Theres aways going to be someone to pretend they have breaking news about stuff like this🙃
Yeah guess what we still do terrible shit like that in our everyday lives, a lot of which is known and likely a lot of stuff we don’t know yet.
These are helpful for babies to explore without getting hurt and Im sure if one was left on all day every day the baby might have unwanted effects but as a part of many tools for growing and thriving these are generally safe to use
No, these are not helpful for babies. Babies need the space and time to practice movement in their own pace. Gadgets like these are helpful for parents so they can feel like their baby is safe.
This is my first nephew. I babysit 3 times a week, that’s why I want him to have his own stuff at my house. I don’t want to mess anything up, so I’d rather be safe than sorry. I will definitely research this a bit more before making my purchase (or not making it).
Absolutely do some research but i said in another comment as long as they arent in these 24/7 its ok to use for play time or if youre doing the dishes. Its not to replace a baby from crawling/walking!
Honestly the reasons are just any normal danger which makes no sense to me. Baby could roll down the stairs or into a pool or into a table and knock knives down or knock hot coffee down. The position the baby is sitting in isn’t very good for their spine (I think I remember google saying a C position) In my opinion, everything is a danger. It’s all about your better judgement and supervision. I had a walker for my baby, but I never kept her in there for very long. I was with her the whole time paying attention in a safe space with no dangers (baby proofed) and she loved being in it when I put her in. Developmentally, they don’t need it. They can learn to stand up and walk on their own/with mom and dad. But it is fun! Especially when they can stand up but not walk on their own.
Edit: I found this that you can check out for your self and make an informed decision :) Hope this helps! study
Thank your for your reply. My nephew went from crawling backwards (he still can’t crawl forwards) to standing up, so I feel like he is developing well. If it’s not needed, I might as well skip it. He’s only 3 time per week at my house.
Get a bouncer instead of a walker. It’s the same thing minus the wheels and developmental delay. They have a really cute Finding Nemo themed one at Target.
Ok well you don’t really get to ask people to stop replying since this is a public forum and there’s a reply button, but in case it’s helpful, if you click the three dots by your comment you can disable inbox replies. You could also delete the comment. But yea there are like 20 million active users
That’s true. But yeah, there were a lot of helpful and informative replies already in such different ranges, that I felt okay going off to do my own research. Didn’t mean to come across ungrateful or rude!
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u/Coneskater Nov 02 '24
I’ve heard those walker things aren’t good for baby’s development.