AUSTIN, Texas — An important warning from Consumer Reports about a popular baby product called baby walkers. They’re marketed as a way to help infants move around, but baby walkers have been linked to thousands of injuries and even deaths. Consumer Reports explains why they are so dangerous and what parents can do to protect their children.
For years, baby walkers have been a popular choice for parents looking to help their little ones move and explore. Jesie Uzueta, seen here with her two baby cousins in baby walkers, used one as a baby herself; her siblings have gotten it for their children.
“Like family members would always get baby walkers for our family members. would always, like, even without asking, they were like, you should get a baby walker.”
What Jesie’s family didn’t know —and many parents still don’t— is that over just one four-year period, sit-in baby walkers were linked to an average of 3,000 injuries per year and eight deaths.
The most common injuries were from babies falling out of their walkers or down the stairs, causing injuries to their heads and faces, contusions, abrasions, and internal organ injuries.
That’s why Canada banned them twenty years ago. The American Academy of Pediatrics says baby walkers should never be used.
“Parents don’t realize how fast babies can move in these walkers. They can travel multiple feet per second. And it’s not just the risk of falling down stairs, but other hazards like increased access to stoves or pools.”
Despite repeated recalls, updated safety standards, and expert warnings, baby walkers continue to be sold in the U.S.
Hispanic consumers are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic consumers to have purchased a baby walker in the last six months.
“It's more of a tradition I think for our family, since everyone always had one.”
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group, responded in a statement to Consumer Reports saying in part, Baby walkers on the market in the U.S. today include a number of design improvements and safety features that have made them, like all baby products, safer than at any other time.
But many safety advocates, including Consumer Reports, say the risk of injury or even death is too great.
“It’s time for the U.S. to follow Canada’s lead and ban all baby walkers.”
Another reason to avoid baby walkers: Studies show that children who use them extensively may not get enough practice standing up on their own and could actually make it harder for them to walk independently.