SAY 'NO' TO BABY WALKERS

Ladies, about to buy a walker, need yr opinion. There are many researches showed that baby walker has most accidents rate baby accessories. Many doctors do not recommend it cos it does not help baby to walk but in fact delay this ability. There are news about banning baby walkers in Canada. (fifi)

MMB has made a stand previously that everyone of us should not use walker. More so if our baby is going to be left in the care of another person for a long period of time. Personally, I base this decision on paed's stories because some children have ended up with blood clot in the brains due to fall from walker. He has seen cases like these in the hospitals. Sliding around in a walker is not going to make baby learn walking faster but instead hamper it because baby never have the chance to try out his own limbs. And gosh! babies are such curious creatures and if given the freedom to zoom around the house, they are going to get into BIG trouble. I attended a CPR for infant course conducted by paed who is a certified instructor from the American Academy of Paeds and had been grilled on home accident prevention. Even high chair is not recommended. Or the sarung buaian. I am not over paranoid but I had been in hospitals long enough to see what kind of horrific accidents can happened even under the closest scrutiny. So, my vote is NO to walker. _________________ Lilian

I find putting my 11-month-old boy, Adam, in a walker to be more scary than just letting him crawl about and keeping an eye on him. In a walker, he is at a level where he is able to pull down chairs and my baby sumo is very strong. After a couple of times of near mishaps with chairs, I've decided to keep away the walker for good! Min

definitely no walker for my little one. Ihave read enough articles to know that its better to be safe than sorry. But Inote a point brought up by lilian from her course on CPR for infant that high chair is also not recommended. i am currently using the hi chair to feed yee rei during his meals, but i made sure that the hi chair i bought is stable. amongst other features, i ensured that it had 2 long 'bars' as the base support instead of those 4 pointed 'poles' coz knowing how active yee rei is, he will likely topple over with the latter. how about others? do you mommies use hi chair? _________________ Mum to Yee Rei

I am against walker due to reasons most of you have mentioned. Without it, you can also experience baby's growth more intimately, like his first crawl forward, his first stand by pulling himself up, his first cruising step, etc. _________________ Kim Lan

when I gave birth in UMMC, the nurses beside assist me on BF, they also gave me some advice on baby/child care, she very seriously told me about the walker and high chair, jangan pakai, langsung tak boleh pakai, she said. then she told me more then half of the baby/children accident happen because of this two items, her jangan paksi reason got two, one which is above mention, another one is for the sake of our baby's body and mind development. it is very natural for a baby from head up, sitting up, to crawl, to pull themselves up, then walk, they know how to do it when they feel the time is right, and from those step they start to learn, they will adjust themselves to all the tasks, and THINKS how to move around, they learn all the tiny skill, little bit of here little bit from there, slowly they develop. may be you heard someone said their baby so clever, before they can crawl, they put them in the walker, then AMAZINGLY they can walk, skip the crawling, but the baby missed out the skill she can pick up during the crawling. _________________ Maria (mother of twin girls--Isabelle & Annabelle)

thank you lilian, it had been insightful opinion from you. thank you also for bringing up another concern on high chair. almost bought last week. but now, really have to seriously even consider. - WALKER, i mean we all grow up with walkers & how my dad & relatives are all asking how come eZen still not on walker, said compared to other cousin's babies la! already know how to slide so fast & stuffs. haiyo...headache. but now i just confirm. NOPE to walker!! -fifi

I would not buy a walker just due to the dangers associated with falls. Actually, I put Rowan in one once just for a second and it collapsed with her in it and cut her leg, poor girl! These have been unavailable in Canada for a long time - not only would I not buy one, but it didn't even occur to me, to be honest! The other concern with these types of toys is that they force infants in positions that they are not developmentally ready for. Newborns lie flat for a reason, and babies learn to sit up and stand up when they are ready. Forcing them into those positions before they are ready is very BAD FOR THEIR SPINES. The doorway jumping toys are particularly bad as the jumping motion puts even more pressure on the spine. (Jen, the chiropractor's wife.)

Definitely a NO walker vote from me! When Steffie was about 6 months old, the baby sitter requested for a walker so that Steffie could roam and cruise around the living hall and she did not have to carry her while doing her daily chores. She also strongly encouraged it with her 'theory', that a child would learn to walk earlier and better. Being a first time mom, i followed her 'advice' and bought 2 units, one at babysitter's and one at home). Eventually, Steffie learned to walk ONLY at 16 months old. With Phoebe, i refused to let her sit in a walker and the baby sitter (a different one from Steffie's) also discouraged it and Phoebe started to walk at 13 months old. Out to the window her theory goes! _________________ Geok Hong