Baby walkers are used all around the world as fun equipment for infants between 4 to 12 months of age. Despite the popularity of baby walkers, there are notable concerns about them. They are highly associated with accidents and injuries, happening in 12% to 50% of users Also, in contrast with public beliefs, some researchers have claimed they can cause developmental delay.

The possible developmental delay can be discussed in two aspects. First, they provide precocious locomotion in infants, which may interfere with the natural process, that an infant needs to take to develop.

Second, they prevent the visual experience of moving limbs because of their design, believed to have a critical role in the development of motor systems. For these reasons, baby walker sale has been banned in Canada since 1989 and the American Association of Pediatrics has not recommended baby walker as well.


Case Study 1

Of 315 articles found in PubMed, 1630 citations in Google Scholar, 18 articles in EMBASE, and 38 papers in Scopus, only 9 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Among them, a cohort study and two cross-sectional studies reported developmental delay in baby walker users. Other studies including clinical trials did not show any developmental delay in these children.

Conclusion

Evidence against baby walker is not enough regarding its negative effect on child development. This subject needs to be addressed more, considering a large number of baby walker users worldwide.


Case Study 2

Methods

The study was conducted in İstanbul University İstanbul Medical Faculty Social Pediatric Outpatient Clinic. Children aged 18-30 months who used baby walkers for 30 minutes or more a day for at least 1 month constituted the user group (n = 100) and those who never used a baby walker were in the control group (n = 100). Information was obtained through the personal health record of the unit and by a face-to-face questionnaire applied to the families during their visits to the unit.

The Ankara Development Screening Inventory (ADSI) was used to assess language-cognitive, motor, and mental development. Sitting without the support and independent walking age and four measures (history and physical, neurological, and orthopedic examinations) of gait disorders were evaluated in relation to child development.

Results

There was no developmental problem in any of the children, but there was a statistically significant difference in terms of an atypical gait pattern between the two groups Atypical gait pattern and especially toe-walking were more frequent in children who used baby walkers. The accident rate in baby walkers users was also significantly higher than those who did not use baby walkers. The most common reasons for using baby walkers were keeping the child occupied and improving his/her development.

Conclusion

The use of baby walkers should be avoided since it has no positive influence on motor development but carries a risk for accidents and toe walking. This information should be part of the parent education offered in Well Child Clinics.

It is evident from the provided researches that although baby walkers don’t cause any delay in the development of children, still their use should be avoided as it may lead to accidents and may interfere with the natural growth process of children.

Written by - Prachi Raheja