As parents, we are always curious and excited about our child’s milestones. We can’t wait to see them crawl, walk and run. To make our children mobile, we decide to give them a baby walker. We get different types of baby walkers and most of them also have features that keep the babies busy while allowing mothers to go about their business.
Parents also give walkers to babies to teach them to walk. Before they begin to walk, babies usually successfully complete the preceding milestones of rolling over, sitting up, crawling, pulling themselves to stand and hovering. While most of these achievements happen over time with parental support, for some reason we introduce a device such as a walker to make walking easier.
Walkers are usually introduced to babies aged 8–14 months, but with a prior requirement that the baby can touch their feet to the floor and support their head while holding the walker. While there is no recommended age for giving a walker, one should ensure the strength and development of the child to use the walker. Let us look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of introducing baby walkers to make a better decision.
Benefit
Walkers are attached
Walkers come with a lot of inbuilt activities and engaging toys that can help in the cognitive development of the baby as well as develop fine motor skills and sensory skills. Setting up toys like push toys can also keep them occupied for short periods of time.
Walkers make babies active
Babies get active in walkers as they are colorful and offer interactive games giving them a sense of mobility. They are able to carry things from one place to another while indulging their curiosity.
Walkers teach walking
Walkers help the baby to walk. It gives them the ability to move around with support and gives them a sense of independence.
loss
walk slowly
Studies show that children who use walkers walk slower than other children their age. The child runs in complete Artificial Intelligence mode. Infants rely on walkers for balance and are unable to balance naturally.
Misleads the body
Normally the bones above the knees are used for walking, but with a walker the baby uses the bones below the knees, which is not beneficial in the long run.
bowed leg
As babies with walkers walk within a limited space, they adjust their feet and end up bending their feet inwards.
Dangerous side effects
Walkers can make it dangerous for a child to reach out. He is capable of reaching for hot, electric or sharp things and harming himself. Infants are unable to make a judgment about stairs and steps in some walkers, which can result in injury.
To crawl vs to walk
Babies have to drag their legs to move along. This reduces their ability to go through the correct process of lifting their legs and walking. Also when babies learn to walk naturally, they sit with loose balance. This sit-and-stand routine is essential for developing the child’s large muscles and increasing gross motor skills. The process also helps them learn the act of balancing.
Now that you know the pros and cons of baby walkers, the decision to give your baby a baby walker is yours. There are walkers who come up with creative and engaging activities. Maybe you can lock them in lockers and use them only for the purposes of keeping the kids occupied and not for actually teaching them how to walk. Researchers and the American Academy or Pediatricians are gradually moving toward the decision to ban baby walkers. It is always advisable to let your baby grow in a natural way.