Baby Nursery Furniture, Wooden Toys, Feeding, Strollers, Activities & Accessories - Hello Baby

Hello Baby believe that Baby Walkers are one of the most dangerous “toys” that can be given to Baby and should be banned. HelloBaby does not sell Baby Walkers.

As parents, we investigated Baby Walkers for our children and decided there were too many safety issues. In December 2008, a Case Report was published in The Lancet Medical Journal (Sabir et al. Baby-walkers: an avoidable source of hazard. Lancet, 2008; 372: 2000) which reminded me to re-visit the data and to share the concerns on the HelloBaby Blog.

Baby Walkers are not a new idea. Visit the Old House Museum in Hereford High Town and you will see a Tudor version which is not dissimilar to the modern design (see http://tinyurl.com/6rts3q for a picture and further details). Baby Walkers seem to have grown in popularity on both sides of the Atlantic during the baby boom years of the 40s; this was when mass manufactured goods became widely available at affordable prices.

During the past 30 years there have been increasing incidents of injury associated with Baby Walkers; these range from bruises, fractures, burns, poisoning and regrettably deaths (34 from 1973 to 1998).

In 2002 the Child Accident Prevention Trust stated that 2350 babies were taken to hospital as a result of accidents with Baby Walkers in the previous year, 70% of these accidents involved babies under 1 year old.

In 2004 Canada banned the use and import of Baby Walkers.

Due to these concerns, the Baby Walker EU Standard was tightened in 2005 to incorporate speed restriction design which made them easier to control. A new requirement was introduced that the Walker should stop when one of the wheels ran over an edge or step; the aim of this was to reduce the risk of falls.

The Standard is BS EN 1273:2005.

Manufacturers responded by making the base frames wider and longer and by adding rubber “stop” blocks which reduced ground clearance. These blocks should stop the Baby Walker if one wheel goes over the edge of a stair. The blocks should also slow the Walker on some carpets (but not on wood floors or thin carpets).

With these additional safety standards/modifications in place, Baby Walkers might seem to be a safe option to amuse and entertain Baby and help walking development. However, reading through the literature tells a different story as follows:

The RoSPA Home Safety Policy on Child Safety states:

“RoSPA actively discourages the use of Baby Walkers because of the high number of accidents associated with their use and the lack of any evidence that they assist a baby’s development…….”

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy supports a ban and blames Baby Walkers for 4000 injuries per year and also claims that they disrupt the ability of children to develop walking and visual skills.

In fairness it should be noted that accident data is several years old and it is unclear how the Standard changes and safety modifications have altered the statistics.

Nevertheless let’s look at some of the issues as follows:

Baby Walkers encourage Baby to walk on tip toes, causing tight heel and leg muscles which can delay sitting and crawling.

Many parents believe that, with close supervision, Baby Walkers are safe but many accidents have been recorded with parents in the same room. This is because the Walkers give Baby the mobility of a toddler which is outside Baby’s development zone. Basically Baby has massively increased mobility without appropriate sense, or experience, and this results in furniture/table crashes and tumbles.

Most injuries happen as a result of Baby and Baby Walker falling down the stairs. Some were as a result of not having a stair gate, others where the gate is not closed or due to crashing through the gate in various ways. It is unclear how successful the new design changes will be in reducing these injuries.

Burns have occurred where Baby and Walker collided with a table and liquid was spilt. The additional reach has also allowed baby to grab hot cups and saucepans.

Poisoning is an unexpected result of using Baby Walkers. The increased reach can allow Baby access to household poisons including perfumes, alcoholic drinks, pills etc. A study in Australia found that Baby Walkers were the second most common factor associated with baby poisoning in the under one year olds.

In conclusion, and returning to the Lancet article, the final paragraph states that “Baby Walkers are a hazardous toy, of no benefit to Baby”. Hello Baby agrees.

About the author:  Trevor is the founder of Hello Baby and father of two screaming children. Read more from this author