Over 20 years ago I remember telling students in my lectures that they should not encourage the use of baby walkers. At the time these were very popular and most people placed their babies in walkers, quite often a lot of the time. I was interested to see a recent South Australian Health Department and Kidsafe publication which now says the same thing, recommending that baby walkers and jolly jumpers (baby exercise jumpers) are not used.
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There are sound reasons for taking this position. Baby walkers and Jolly Jumpers place children in a position where their legs and hips are not in the correct position for balance and walking.
This means that their muscles and bones are not getting the right kind of practice at movement. They both take much of the weight from the baby’s hips and legs with the support provided around the seat and lower trunk. The ability to stand upright, and balance the body through the hips and the legs is an essential skill needed before babies can walk.
If they are not getting the experience of bearing their weight through their hips and legs correctly then the muscles, tendons and bones do not develop appropriately and this can create major problems. In addition, babies are placed in walkers before they have the understanding needed to be safe in their environment. Babies in walkers do not understand the danger stairs pose for them, nor sharp corners, changes in floor covers, furniture that might be in their way.
Their intellectual development is not sufficiently advanced at that age to understand depth perception so they will simply walk straight out over steps. They do not understand (or even have the motor control) to go around the coffee table to reach the toy that they can see on the other side; instead they simply barrel straight towards what they want.
Often we find babies placed in walkers and jumpers when they should be spending time on the floor. Floor time is essential for babies’ development. When babies lie on the floor on their tummies (called lying in prone), they have opportunities to lift their heads up, then lift their shoulders off the floor and even move their arms under their bodies to prop themselves up. All of the muscles used in these movements need regular practice to grow strong and healthy. Strengthening the neck muscles is particularly important for very young babies and, before they have developed this skill, they can be placed on their tummies with a rolled up cloth under their armpits to prevent their face from being mashed into the floor. Crawling itself is important because it strengthens not just the legs and hips, but the arms and shoulders.
The key message is your baby is better served by spending time on the floor, and it is better for you to focus on providing interesting toys and activities around your baby to encourage your baby to reach, to kick and to move.