Infant Walkers: Why Are They Still With Us?

Infant walkers have been available for the consumer parents for decades. And despite excellent data that show us the danger in these products (along with data showing that they delay both physical and mental development), they are still available.

A recent article in our journal Pediatrics (October 2018, Vol 142) further emphasizes the importance of getting rid of or banning these products all together. In fact, our own academy (AAP) has asked for a ban on these for years. Sadly, this request has fallen on deaf ears, with the death of children across the country continuing.

Between 1990 and 2014, approximately 230,000 children were treated in ERs across the US for injuries sustained from an accident in an infant walker. Most of these were head and neck injuries. Following a federal change in safety guidelines in 2010, there was a greater than 85% reduction in these injuries.

While this is promising trend, there is a way to get this number to 100% (or in other words, 0 injuries or deaths from infant walkers). Simply ban these dangerous devices. There is simply no reason for them to exist at all. They do not help kids walk sooner (why would you want this anyway!), there is data to support that they may hinder normal development (as children are upright too much, and not on the floor where they learn to crawl, then pull to a stand, then walk), and even more important, they cause
injuries (brain and spinal cord) and even death.

So, if you as a parent have any thoughts of getting an infant walker, DON’T DO IT! If you are given an infant walker as a gift, either politely ask for something else, or return it and get something more beneficial or practical.

Your first job as a parent is to protect your kid. Just do it. keep your kid away from infant walkers.