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Original poster

Friend reaction to baby walker

197 replies

Charmander123 · 09/02/2018 21:51

My baby really enjoys me holding up on her legs so I was thinking of getting her a baby walker!
Quite a few of my friends have them but I mentioned it to one and she basically had a go at me saying that they are horrible for baby development and that if I bought one I'd ruin my child's legs!
I was pretty taken aback by her response but was she right , am I being unreasonable buying a baby walker or are they ok for babies? Xxxx

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 09/02/2018 22:43

Get the kind of walker they can push along instead - DS had a wooden truck thing from ELC with bricks in it and we ended up with a plastic VTech one with all the buttons on too - both got lots of use and then once he was more stable a doll's pushchair was v fun too.

I also liked the jumperoo which is much safer than a walker because they stay in one place. If you do use a jumperoo make sure the child's feet reach flat to the floor. If not put a heavy box or books under where their feet go. We used yellow pages but I'm not sure they're thick enough any more!

BertieBotts · 09/02/2018 22:48

Hmm but even if you don't have an open fireplace, and you have stairgates, no steps etc (modern ones do have anti tip guards for steps I think) most people do have tall furniture, TVs, speakers, coffee tables, pot plants, bookcases etc and even just walls! You can't get rid of all of those dangers and babies can injure themselves pretty badly from having more mobility than they're actually able to cope with. Have you never seen a toddler who just runs randomly at surfaces? They tend to do that and then bounce off, get up and move on - because they can only get up to a certain speed running by themselves, but also because they're big enough to withstand a small bump and fall. A smaller baby has even less sense and the walker on the right kind of floor can get up to quite a speed. If they do for whatever reason find it fun to propel themselves towards walls or furniture they can suffer quite the bump and/or knock items off which can hurt them.

MotherofaSurvivor · 09/02/2018 22:50

Jumperoos are amazing!!

SheelaNaGiggle · 09/02/2018 22:53

Get one OP. Ruin your child's leg? Your friend sounds a tad ott. Perhaps her mother used to hang her upside down from a door bouncer when she was a baby.

SheelaNaGiggle · 09/02/2018 22:54

Take it as a sign your friend cares about you and your child, it’s awkward to being something like this up with a friend but she cared enough to put up with the awkward for your child’s health.

I'll take that comment as a sign that you're a bit hysterical.

callmeadoctor · 09/02/2018 22:58

Blimey, you had better not give them milk either!!! Wink

Eatalot · 09/02/2018 22:58

Just get your dc a baby cage.

mommytoboo86 · 09/02/2018 22:59

I will say that baby walkers are dangerous in 1 way... to the supervisors shins!! I have permanent marks on both my shins from my dd playing the apparently hilarious game of 'ram mummy as hard as I can'

FrozenMargarita17 · 09/02/2018 23:03

My MIL bought a walker for my daughter this Christmas. I didn't realise they were dangerous!! Might keep it in the spare bedroom until she's too big for it... eep

Bananalanacake · 09/02/2018 23:11

So did mine margarita. My 8mo dd1 rarely sits in it as her feet don't reach the floor instead she walks and pushes it along.

LizzieSiddal · 09/02/2018 23:15

We had a playpen too. I couldn’t have coped without one. It was in the kitchen, in the corner and I plonked them in there whilst I made food.
They could see me, I could see them, they had toys to play with, I got to make good and they were safe. Win, win!

LizzieSiddal · 09/02/2018 23:15

*food

Troels · 09/02/2018 23:17

We had a walker for our oldest, but used to set it so he couldn't reach his feet to the floor so it never went anywhere.
Ds 2 tried out one of theses activity stand and really liked it

QueenNefertitty · 09/02/2018 23:18

For the Pp who said they are the same as baby Bjorn and ergo carriers...

The baby bjorn is a "crotch dangler" and has also been linked to hip development issues

The ergo baby supports a squatted hip position (i.e. no crotch dangling, supported bum etc) and eliminates this risk.

PastaOfMuppets · 10/02/2018 01:44

A guy I went to school with (born in 79/80/81 I guess) walks with a permanent limp and has ongoing leg pain from falling down a short set of back stairs in a walker. Apparently the damage caused by being in the walker was much worse than it would've been had he been toddling without it. His legs got broken, one is permanently much shorter than the other, and he got severely bullied because of it, poor kid.

Other parenrs I know bought their babies things like those bumbo seats that are also not recommended. You have to do so much research with this stuff. What was considered ok 10, 20, 30 years ago isn't necessarily advised these days. It's enough to make a first time parent so paranoid.

PancakeInMaBelly · 10/02/2018 01:56

Funny how fashions change, I used a baby walker and a playpen!!! (Child survived!)

Thats not any sort of proof that somethings not gangerous

Didnt goldie hawns parents have a pet lion? She survived so I guess it was a koshir idea!

PancakeInMaBelly · 10/02/2018 01:56

"dangerous"

halfwitpicker · 10/02/2018 01:59

It's enough to make a first time parent so paranoid.

^

You're not kidding

notangelinajolie · 10/02/2018 02:08

My 3 loved their baby walkers. Gave them their first experiences of being independent. And of being able to sit up and move to another place without me carrying them. All walked before they were 10 months old and I have nothing negative to say.

DixieNormas · 10/02/2018 02:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IggyAce · 10/02/2018 02:47

Absolutely awful things, they should ban them. My aunt works in children’s physiotherapy and they can cause all kinds of damage especially to hips.

Amanduh · 10/02/2018 03:18

DS is 14 months now and walked at 9 months. He had one but really it was a glorified chair, he mainly sat in it! He only went in in for 10-15 min at a time somewhere safe and never unsupervised. He had a jumperoo that he LOVED and went in more often.

Upsy1981 · 10/02/2018 08:07

I was a very high needs, discontented baby. The only thing that kept me happy was being in a baby walker. I would be in it from morning until night, have my meals sitting in it and even sometimes fall asleep in it. I walked at 9 months old and was happier then as I could get about under my own steam. No issues with me.

I used one for my DD (she was similarly high needs but not as bad as me) but we lived in a tiny house then with awkward doorways and angles so she couldn't go very far in it as there wasn't much room for manoeuvre so she wasn't in it as often. I also knew that she couldn't get anywhere she shouldn't be in it as, due to the tricky doorways, she had to stay in the room I put her in. She also had a jumperoo, which she loved. She walked at 11 months. No issues.

So there's my sample of two!

zsazsajuju · 10/02/2018 08:11

My youngest loved hers. Obviously use it sparingly, in an appropriate area and supervise. Nothing is risk free.

yikesanotherbooboo · 10/02/2018 08:13

My oldest DC is 26 and they were deemed dangerous and bad for development then... I , too, am amazed that they are still on the market.

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