Is it good for babies to use walkers? Is it good for babies to use walkers?

A baby walker is one of the facilities that many parents will choose when their baby is preparing to learn to walk. However, there has been a lot of debate recently about whether a baby walker is good for baby learning. Today, let's talk about it.

Can a baby walker be used?

1. Advantages of baby walkers

1. Provides convenient tools for babies to learn to walk;

2. Help your baby overcome his fear and walk independently;

3. It is less likely for babies to fall than when they learn to walk by holding onto table legs or other objects;

4 To some extent, it liberates parents (no need to hold, support, or pull the baby to learn to walk, etc.).

Second, the disadvantages of baby walkers

1. The leg bones become bent and form bow legs: The baby's bones contain more gelatin and less calcium, and the bones are soft. The sliding speed of the walker is too fast, and the baby has to push the ground with both legs to walk forward. Over time, it is easy for the leg bones to bend and form bow legs.

2. Causes the baby to lack confidence: In the normal process of learning to walk, the baby learns to walk by falling and crawling, which is conducive to improving the baby's body coordination.

3. The development of multiple abilities is hindered (reaction ability, coordination ability). Many babies do not have the coordination and reaction ability to use a walker, which can easily cause damage to their bodies.

4. It increases the risk of babies learning to walk. Some parents often leave their babies in the walker and go to do other things, which can easily cause accidents to the babies, such as bumping and contact with dangerous objects.

What the experts say

Using a baby walker affects gross motor development

When children are learning to walk, using a walker can help parents save a lot of effort. However, little do people know that the "small benefits" brought by these walkers may bring "big disadvantages".

The Ministry of Health has released a series of child rescue guidelines that point out that falling is the main cause of child injury, the leading cause of non-fatal injury and disability in children, and the leading cause of injury for children aged 0-5. Falling from a baby walker is also one of the main causes of child injury, so the guidelines recommend that parents do not let babies use baby walkers.

In fact, using a baby walker not only brings about safety issues, but more importantly, it will affect the child's gross motor development ability. Liu Zhaoqiu, director of the Department of Preventive Health Care at the First Affiliated Hospital of Tsinghua University, said that when giving lectures to parents, the Department of Pediatrics usually specifically recommends that parents not use baby walkers for their children. The reason for emphasizing this point is not only because there are many cases of children being injured by using baby walkers, but also because using baby walkers will affect the development of children's intelligence.

She said that the intelligence problem here mainly refers to the development of gross motor skills. Every child needs to follow the rules of gross motor development. After six months of age, children have to go through the process from crawling to standing and then walking. In order to save effort, many parents will use a walker to let their children start walking before they learn to stand. This way of learning to walk often makes children rely on the inertia of the walker to walk, rather than relying on their own balance ability to walk.

The consequence is that the development of the child's own balance ability is affected, so parents who originally hoped to let their children "walk" earlier with a walker end up delaying the time when the child can actually learn to walk independently. Liu Zhaoqiu said that there have been surveys and studies showing that children who use walkers generally stand up and walk independently later than those who do not use walkers.

However, many parents are upset about choosing a walker for their children, and even worry about their children's developmental problems. Liu Zhaoqiu said that if the child is not hurt or has sequelae during use, parents do not need to worry. If parents find that their children have some problems with their walking form, such as walking on tiptoe or walking with their feet turned inside out, they need to seek medical attention in time.

It is most reliable to learn to stand first and then learn to walk

"My baby is almost one year old and still can't walk. I'm really worried," a netizen named "mamammi1980" posted the above message on a parenting forum. Many young parents hope that their children can learn to walk early. Some parents even said that "children who walk early are smart, or at least have strong athletic ability."

In this regard, Liu Zhaoqiu emphasized that children's motor skills development follows its own rules, and parents do not need to rush it.

Generally speaking, the first gross motor skill that needs to be trained after a baby is born is prone lying. When the baby is two or three months old, he or she should be able to lie prone and lift his or her head. After four months, the baby needs to be trained to sit, starting with leaning against something, and learning to sit alone at five or six months. After that, when the baby is seven or eight months old, the baby needs to start training to crawl. And when the baby is about ten months old, he or she needs to start learning to stand, starting with standing with the help of something, standing against a wall, and then standing alone.

After the baby has the foundation to stand on his own, he can start to learn to walk. When he starts to learn to walk, the baby needs the care of his parents, and he can also use some auxiliary tools, but the premise of choosing these tools is that they will not affect the baby's ability to balance. Liu Zhaoqiu suggested that parents can use a large towel or belt to tie the child to help him learn to walk, or use some small strollers. After letting the child walk for a while, pay attention to observe or ask the child if he feels tired, and let him rest in time.

■Experts refute rumors

The statement that "early learning to walk can damage eyesight" is unscientific

Some babies are born wanting to "learn to walk before they can crawl", and now a hot post on the Internet has made the parents of these babies very worried.

The reporter saw a hot post on many parenting forums: infants who learn to walk too early are prone to myopia. The post said that infants under one year old who learn to walk may damage their eyesight. In response, Wu Xi, chief ophthalmologist at Peking University People's Hospital, said that parents do not need to worry too much. Generally speaking, the vision of infants around one year old is relatively mature and close to that of normal people. At this time, when children learn to walk, let them walk straight, their vision is wider, and the radius of vision can be increased, which is beneficial to the development of vision.

Some parents are also worried that their babies will spend more time outdoors during their toddler years, and that the ultraviolet and infrared rays in the sun will damage their eyesight. Wu Xi said that as long as the sun is not too strong at noon, it should not damage their eyesight. However, in order to protect the baby's eyesight, parents are advised to take their children to teach them to walk in a dark place such as the shade of trees or eaves.

In addition, Wu Xi also emphasized that instead of worrying about the damage to the baby's eyesight caused by learning to walk, parents should pay more attention to the damage to the baby's eyesight caused by words and books. Wu Xi said that early exposure to words, books and animations will damage the baby's eyesight, and it is best to wait until the baby is 2 years old before exposing them to such things.

Advantages and precautions of baby walkers

Having said that, I am not advocating how good walkers are, nor am I advocating that walkers are a must-have for families with children. I just think that walkers can allow children whose legs and feet are strong enough but cannot walk independently to practice walking happily and independently, saving the trouble of parents occasionally not having time to supervise or failing to supervise them, resulting in falls, bumps, and bruises, and can also help children build primary self-confidence. Why not? In my opinion, walkers are very practical and easy to use (I mean the sitting ones I use at home): 1. When there is only one person at home taking care of the child, the adult can eat and squat in the pit without worry. 2. When playing with walkers, children can build a sense of direction and space, build self-confidence, and stimulate happy emotions.

However, when using a baby walker, you should pay attention to:

1. It is best not to use it when the child's waist and legs are not strong enough, which is manifested by the child having difficulty walking with it or walking on tiptoe.

2. Do not use it for too long each time. If the child obviously wants to be held, or starts to sit in it for a long time instead of standing upright, stop using it.

The above is purely my personal experience sharing and does not contain any scientific research. Parents please selectively refer to it.

Finally, I hope that parents can always keep a correct mindset towards parenting, not be blinded by pseudoscience, and be able to distinguish the true from the false among the massive amount of parenting knowledge obtained from various channels, make extensive references and think carefully, and then find the method that best suits themselves and their children.