This extremely common baby product you probably have in your house is actually dangerous
Millions of parents use and ha💖ve used baby walkers to teach their tots to walk for years, but it may come as a surprise to many that they are considered harmful.
The toy, which helps support babies as they learn to take their first steps and develop other motor skills, has long been declared to be dangerous by experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). They’ve also been banned from sale in Canada for two decades.
Now, has joined the increase in calls to ban infant walkers ൩nationwide.
The consumer advocacy group claimed that, despite federal safety standards that haveౠ slဣowed accidents, the products injure thousands of babies every year.
In 2018, the American Academy of 𝓰Pediatrics (AAP) that found that 230,676 children were treated in emergency rooms in the US between 1990 and 2014 for injuries from infant walkers.
Injuries💖 declined in 2010 when stronger safety standards for walkers were implemented by federal officials.
Federal rules require that infant walkers have four features: Prevention of falls down stairs, tipping resistance, occupant retention and dynamic and static load﷽ testing on seating area.
However, Consumer Reports said the rules don’t go far enough — and the AAP still recommends against using infant walkers.
“The evidence is clear: Infant walkers are unsafe, and the current federal standard fails to address their well-known risks,” Oriene Shin, CR’s policy counsel, said in a stateme🙈nt.
“Thousands of babies continue to be injured by these products every year, and parents deserve better choices for pro🔥ducts that support their baby’s development. Congress should ban infant walkers and help parents keep their babies safe as they grow and learn how to walk.”
The call for a ban comes two decades after Canada implemented a law prohibiting the sale and import of the walkers after investigating pediatric injuries from falls of infants using the prod🐲uct.
Shin noted that there have been countless recalls of walkers, but many consumers by them secondhand or through a third party, like Facebook Marketplace, and these walkers often don’t meet today’s standards.
“Parents and caregivers have countless options online and need to be able to trust that any baby product they buy is going to be safe,” Shin noted. “It should be the rare exception — not the norm — for consume﷽rs to encounter dangerous products like old infant walkers that would fail today’s U.S. standards and are banned elsewhere. Platforms should take their responsibility much more seriously to prevent the listing of unsafe baby products and respond quickly when they learn about a hazard.”
Maral Amani, a pediatric physical therapist and child development expert at Lovevery, told CR there are plenty of reasons why parents should not use infant walkers, with many explaining why babies who use these products walk slower and have their bodies “placed in positions that weren’t conducive to natural walking patterns.”
For example, Amani noted that babies who use them don’t learn how to bear the weight of their body to stand or walk outside of the waꦿlker, they lean forward on their toes rather than shifting their weight back on flat feet, and walkers allow for any walking pattern and limit natural wobbliness.
“Walking is more than just leg strength; it’s about the slow building of foundational skills like෴ cruising along surfaces, getting down from standing, squatting, crawling, and core strengthening that comes from all of these movements🉐,” Amani noted. “This is why a large baby gate/playpen that enables your child to explore safely is the best tool you can have to promote early mobility in your child.”
Without a ban, Consumer Reports advises parents and caregivers not to purchase or use sit-in baby walker❀s. Rather, they suggest parents look for alternatives, such as activity centers or push walkers and toys, to keep babies entertained and safe.
