Keep In Mind Before You Buy It, Baby Walker is Dangerous For Your Children!

Some parents believe that baby walkers can help their baby's growth and development, especially helping the children to walk faster. However, is it true that baby walkers can help child development? Or even dangerous? Let's take a look at the pros and cons of baby walkers below.

What is a baby walker? Does your baby really need this tool?

Baby walker

Baby walker is an object that forms a square, with wheels on each side below, equipped with a cloth in the middle as a baby's seat. Sometimes it is also equipped with toys on the top, or it's body designed uniquely to put baby cups and plates.

A baby walker is assumed can help the baby run faster. When the baby is able to sit or stand, many parents buy this tool and hope the baby's walking ability will be faster.

In addition, this tool can be said as a child's toy. Why? The reason is, children aged 5 to 12 months will smile cheerfully when they are on the baby walker while shifting to and fro in the house. Even though they really can't walk alone.

The need for or not this tool actually depends on the needs and goals of parents using this tool for babies. To determine whether or not you need it, please look at the benefits and risks of using this tool.

Are there benefits?

Baby walkers are generally designed with a colorful design. It aims to attract the attention of children. The presence of a toy that is installed can also make a child sit quietly by using a walker. Many babies like and enjoy sitting, eating, or even watching television shows from walkers.

By using a baby walker, parents also not too troublesome when feeding the children. Because, when sitting on the walker, the child becomes calmer. The process of feeding or maintaining a baby also becomes easier because the child's body does not move too much and we can control it.

The risks and dangers of using a baby walker

Some studies show that using baby walkers does not help the learning process to walk. You can even make your baby lazy to walk. In addition, not all baby calf muscles are able to withstand the burden of walking. When parents force children to use a baby walker, this can make the injury even the risk of defects in the baby's feet.

Keep in mind, that babies tend to use their toes when on a walker. This way of walking on tiptoes or using fingers will tighten their leg muscles and interfere with normal development.

In addition, try to look after the baby comes out of the walker, there is a chance for them to use their toes to stand or walk. In fact, the baby should walk and hold his body with all the soles of his feet, not just resting on his fingers.

According to research by the American Academy of Pediatrics, there are a number of dangerous things that can occur due to the baby walker, including:

Fall from stairs

This is the case that mostly happens from using a walker. The ease of movement of the baby walker sometimes makes it possible to reach the end of the stairs, which if unattended, will lead to falls. Falling babies often experience broken bones and severe head injuries.

Burnt

Using this tool can make it easier for babies to reach something higher. For example, babies who walk into the kitchen can reach a teapot, food, or hot drink. They may also be easier to pull on the tablecloth, making objects on it overwrite the baby, including food or beverage containers that might have contents. In fact, other dangerous things, using this walker, babies can hold the stove, oven, socket or even dangerous objects that have electricity in it.

Sinking

By using a walker, an unattended baby can walk out of the house (or another place that attracts his attention) quickly and risk falling into the pool or bathtub.

Eat or drink some objects

When assisted by a walker, the baby can reach or pick up objects and eventually put it in his mouth. Using this tool can increase the risk of choking on strange objects and eating foods that are placed on the table.

In addition to the various risks that might occur, keep in mind that using this tool can hinder the ability to walk instead of helping it run fast. This is because walkers can disrupt the strength of the child's leg muscles. 

When using a walker, the leg muscles that become strong are only at the bottom side. In fact, the development of the leg muscles should be balanced with the hip and thigh muscles. As a result, instead of walking fast, the upper leg muscles can be weakened.

So, is it better to use a baby walker or not?

As discussed above, in fact, there are more dangerous facts with a baby walker. The Pediatrics research journal in 2018 has also published that cases of child accidents in the US due to the use of baby equipment, such as walkers or jumpers, increase every year.

It's good for parents to practice the ability of children to stand up and walk using other methods, namely by letting the child stand or freely move on the carpet specifically for babies or on the grass.

When babies sit and stand up, that's when they are learning how to maintain their body balance. If you help them in the process, the baby's ability to walk and stand in balance becomes less. There is no need to fear if the baby falls seated or rolled over while learning this standing and walking position.

Freeing a child to move on the floor or carpet can also help hands and knees in all fours or pre-crawling. This is important to make the child's body become more heavily burdened through the pelvis and shoulders.

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Instead of using a walker, Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician, speaker, and author of various books on child health science, He suggests other alternatives to develop children's abilities when standing, namely with exersaucers. This object is shaped like a walker that has toys and seating, it's just not equipped with wheels.

Exersaucers can make children jump, bounce, stand or even try to hold on to both sides of the tool while playing toys in front of them. This was felt by Dr. Greene is safer and more in line with children's development.

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