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Baby Walker Safety
-- from January/February 1998 Newsletter
Doctors and safety experts have long sought a ban on baby walkers because of the risk of injury they pose to children. The government has tried using education campaigns and warning labels on walkers calling for adult supervision to solve this problem. But a recent study in Pediatrics concludes that these injury prevention efforts have been ineffective. Some 25,000 kids continue to suffer from walker accidents each year, the majority in falls down stairs.
Babies in walkers can travel three feet per second, leaving little time for a supervising adult to react before they get hurt. A safer choice than a mobile walker is a stationary walker, which lets babies exercise their legs while remaining in one spot. If you decide to use a mobile walker in spite of its risks, choose a new one that has been made so it's too wide to fit through a standard household doorway (about 36 inches). Use gates on all stairs, and always stay near your child.
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