There's an article in the current British Medical Journal about babywalkers, and their effect upon development. Naturally the papers picked up on it and sensationalised it saying that "BABYWALKERS hold back tots who are learning to stand
and walk, a new study shows".
Basically they claim to show that for every 24 hours of babywalker use there is an associated delay of 3.3 days in walking alone and 3.7 days for standing.
Actually reading the article, rather than just the tabloid headlines shows that the group using babywalkers rolled over on average 2.86 days later than the non walker group, and walked 2.98 days later. A difference of just 0.12 days ( about 3 hours, and I doubt their measurements were in units of any less than 1 whole day, so that's statistically insignificant) between a milestone which would occur before the use of baby walkers began, and one which would occur after their use. But of course that doesn't make good headlines, and I suspect (cynic that I am!) that it wasn't the result the researchers wanted.
Asking around it seems to me that people with babies who seemed quite advanced (rolled and sat early for example) seem to have been less likely to use walkers, as they were more confident that their child would learn without the help of developmental aids - which would seem to fit in with that 2.86 day difference between the groups at the rolling stage. Without a random sample, rather than a group which self-selected which babies would use walkers, I'm not sure that this research has any real validity.
Leaving aside the issues of safety surrounding walkers, what have been your experiences. Did you use walkers? If so why? And for a bit of anecdotal research how long was it between rolling and walking alone for your babies?