Walker, Enemy Of Baby’s First Steps?

Many of us grew up with the help of the walker. That’s why our mothers or mothers-in-law, currently grandparents, insist that we should use this equipment to help you walk.

However, the pediatrician recommends that you do not use the baby walker and, no doubt, your children’s grandmothers do not understand and accept your position, so they continue to give advice that is far from recent medical indications and insist on its use. But why is this equipment not good for babies?

The baby walker is not only useless for teaching the baby to walk, but it also alters the baby’s natural neurological and motor development . In addition to being an imminent danger to the baby at home, according to studies in recent years.

From Neurology, they point out evolutionary aspects

The baby walker is questioned by neurologists and evolutionary psychology specialists, as it avoids the activity of crawling, which is essential for the development of every child, as it connects the cerebral hemispheres, and creates crucial information routes for the maturation of different cognitive functions.

According to experts, crawling allows you to intersperse opposing movements, recreating the cross pattern, a neurological function that allows a body to move with balance. When the baby alternates the left leg with the right and the right arm with the left, it promotes an integrated brain state.

In addition, the crawling movement – ​​ignored by the use of the baby walker – tones the muscles that will then allow the baby to keep the spine straight, also exercising the focus of the eyes, as when looking at the floor to differentiate where it will support the hand or knee, he stares at a point a short distance away.

Furthermore, when the baby rests on his palms and supports the tension in the joints of the shoulders and wrists, he can feel gravity and learn to deal with it, which helps to measure the world and a “lateralization” of the brain, where one of the hemispheres dominates and the other obeys.

The walker, in the sights of orthopedists

According to specialists in this area, the walker alters the natural development of both legs and back, as it forces you to have postures and movements. This equipment not only requires the baby to learn to walk with their legs apart, but also involves anomalies in the knees and feet.

In addition, lifting the legs inevitably affects the development of the back, as it is not prepared to keep the baby upright when he does not yet have the strength to stand. At the same time, orthopedic surgeons ensure that this deforms the arches of the legs.

This equipment also requires the baby to remain on tiptoe, an abnormal position, which usually remains for a long time, which demonstrates that babies are not prepared, when it comes to motricity to deal with problems of balance, height, and calculation of distances using the walker.

The walker does not teach how to walk

As experts suggest, babies first learn to sit, then crawl, then some learn to crawl, and later start to get up and walk. This entire process is linked to a mental development, which should not be forced, as each baby has its own rhythm.

Therefore, putting the baby on a walker when he doesn’t know how to walk cancels his mind against the movement: which makes his legs not match his mental development. And so, do not incorporate the spatial notions of your own body in relation to the environment: the baby does not see his feet moving.

Thus, considering all these aspects, several scientific studies, including the one published in the British Medical Journal, concluded that, far from teaching to walk, the walker delays the start of gait, and impairs motor skills and cognitive development of the baby.

And what can we say about walker accidents?

Specialists advise against using a walker, as it increases four times the number of serious accidents.  According to figures provided by the Argentine Society of Pediatrics, about 45% of babies who move with a baby walker have an accident while using it.

It’s a fact: training wheels and the little control that babies have can cause all kinds of accidents. Babies who use a baby walker are twice as likely to suffer a head injury than those who don’t and twice as likely to have broken arms and legs.

These probabilities also increase to four when it comes to falls, going down stairs, increased exposure to burns, injuries from sharp objects, suffocation, and even cases that ended fatally due to the walker have been reported.

Why can it be so serious?

Although in some countries like Brazil or Canada the use of the walker is completely prohibited, in other places it is still sold and used. However, pediatricians and health experts advise against it because of the various disadvantages related to this equipment.

Probably many consider everything that science has demonstrated to be exaggerated;  even more so if they are still using it today, or we can see several generations who have grown up on these wheeled chairs. Here appear phrases like “I love it”, “the baby never happened” and “he learned to walk quickly”.

Of course, if the walker is used with moderation, control, and extreme care, accidents can be avoided. However, it does not prevent some problems in the baby’s health, well-being and development, as it is completely unnecessary equipment; the decision is up to the parents. Walker, yes or no?