Many parents think walkers help children learn how to walk. The fact is they dont. They actually delay when a child starts to walk.

What are the dangers of using baby walkers ?

Children in baby walkers can :

• roll down the stairs – which can result in broken bones and severe head injury
• get burned – a child in a walker can reach higher areas . It therefore makes it easier for her to pull a table cloth off  a table and spill hot coffee or grab handles of stove,  reach radiators, space heaters or fire places
• drown – a child can fall into a pool or bath tub while in a walker
• get poisoned – the walker makes it easier for the child reach higher objects

Most injuries with walkers occur while parents are watching. Parents and caregivers  cannot act fast enough to prevent these injuries.

What can parents do

You can use other enjoyable but safer options such as

• stationary activity centers : They look like walkers but do not have wheels.
• play yards or play pen : These provide great safety zones where kids can learn to sit, crawl or walk
• high chairs : older children enjoy sitting in a high chair and playing with toys on the tray

New safety standards for walkers  have been in place since 1997. As a result walkers  are now a lot wider and cannot fit in most doors. They also have breaks to stop them at the edge of a step. However these improvements does not stop all injuries associated with baby walkers. They still have wheels so children can move fast and reach higher grounds.

The American Academy of  pediatrics has called on a ban on the manufacture and sale of baby walker with wheels.