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Hawaii Babies
Walkers?
I saw this on BRU's website & I don't have anything like this. Did/do you use anything similar with your LO?
Chicco DJ Walker https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2835095
Fisher-Price Stride to Ride Dinosaur https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4010472&csm=181903030&csc=1275071&csa=180024342&csu=1277096
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Re: Walkers?
My mom bought J the dino. He loves it and my friend's LO loves it. I don't see how it will be "fun" to ride it but another friend's very tall 2 y/o played with it the whole time she was at our house for a party.
I thought it was really stable - compared to a cheapy $3 one I picked up at a thrift shop like this:
Can't say he has continued interest in it now that he can walk, but he does occasionally climb on it like a riding toy and push himself backwards (hasn't mastered going forward). For a while it was his absolute favorite activity. DH and I would sit on opposite ends of the basement to turn him around b/c he couldn't do that himself and would just reach the wall and get frustrated.
As for the walker - ppl say they are dangerous but I think that is just b/c ppl were not watching kids well while they were in them? I wasn't interested in letting him be that mobile upstairs and we have a jumper so I never looked into them.
we don't have one b/c MH insisted that they are not safe... I guess pedi's don't like them b/c some babies can get going and then slip/face plant while using them (but if you saw my FB post you'll see that they can face plant anyway w/o a walker LOL)
there is also some debate about whether or not a walker will delay a child's ability to walk independently. it's hard to say b/c you'll hear lots of parents w/early walkers who say it didn't cause any problems and then you'll hear another set of parents who say they regret having let their child have one b/c he/she was a late walker.
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
I've read about this debate as well. From my understanding, part of the reason for the concern is that the gait you use when "walking" with one of these is totally different from the gait for actual walking. Though I'm sure the kid will learn to walk without one at some point regardless, so I'm not sure how much it matters. For now at least, we've decided to not get one, mostly just because we have enough crap, I mean things
for baby to interact and play with. I'm not sure this is necessary. Who knows, I may change my mind later though!
oh that is interesting. I always wondered if J's non-stop obsession with the dino would inhibit him walking since that requires the baby to hold on and push forward. So he wasn't very upright when he "learned" to walk. But he walked pretty early so I don't think it mattered. I also rarely used the jumper at home because I know he got some exposure to an exersaucer at daycare.
sidenote: since dino isn't getting much love, his fav toy for walking these days is this:
it makes a pleasant noise, was cheap (got it a thrift store) and can be pushed or pulled.
dangerous b/c they could walk right off the edge of a stairwell?
yeah, that is what I always thought which wouldn't really be an issue in my house. This is what I just pulled up really quick:
https://www.babyzone.com/shopping/gear_furniture/article/baby-walkers-pg2
"Walkers allow children, many of whom are not yet crawling or walking, to be mobile," explains Bridget Clementi, Injury Prevention Manager at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. In other words, the walker lets your carefree baby explore a world in which she does not yet fully appreciate the dangers. Once mobile, she might be able to touch a hot oven, reach housecleaners, pull at electricity cords, or even plunge down stairs.
To me those seem to be things that happen when a child is unsupervised and if I did happen to have one he would be supervised the entire time. I didn't really know about the walking issue, but would lump them in with jumpers and exersaucers that should be used limitedly.
Kind of like a bath seat, we use one because he won't stay sitting down during bath time. It says right on the seat they are associated with drowing (and it was HARD to find one still in production for that reason) - clearly he will not drown while I remain 2 feet away from him the entire time and having it is safer for us than if he were to stand up and then slip. But some children did unfortunately die b/c some parents felt they were secure enough to be used outside of supervision?
We got the Dinosaur for Ryan for Christmas and he loves it! Once he is able to walk I think he will still like it because then he can ride it, and it plays cute little songs that he loves.
Our pedi gave us a long lecture about how bad walkers are for little ones (like the first one you listed). I guess they are unsafe as far as kids getting their ankles caught under, tipping over and also it's hinders them walking on their own. The lady from Parents as Teachers told us the same thing.
Heh, this is the main reason we haven't even considered getting one. Safety and developmental debates aside, we already have enough crap and not a huge house.
We got this one for $5 second hand. For months she just played with the activities on it (spinners, rattles, etc.) and then started pushing it around while on her knees. Then, right after Christmas she started to pull up on it and walk it up and down our hallway and maneuver it all around her room and our living room. I think it's helped to build her confidence in walking independently, which she just started doing on Tuesday!
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
We didn't get any b/c of the warnings, but A's grandparents got a sit-in one for their place. He's there so infrequently that I don't mind him playing in it... he enjoys it OK.
But he recently tried one of those push-walkers at a friend's place and WOW, he loved it. I can totally see the face-plant concern b/c he took off running, but honestly, he could do that with a lot of things around our house -- like empty laundry baskets or his big Tonka truck. He's done both already! He just took his first independent steps a few days ago, so I think he'd actually really enjoy a walker with an activity center right about now.
Mason has a saucer that he uses at my parents house(they keep him 3 days/wk) a walker (got it at target), and also a toy like Libby has at our house. His favorite is the walker he likes to chase the dogs, chase the broom while you sweep, and try to get the dishes out of the dishwasher. We don't have any steps in our house so there was no concern over that but we keep everything closed off except the kitchen and living room so that we can't get out of our site. The only bad things he has gotten into is that he ramed it into a plant stand and knocked the plant off but it didn't hit him and during christmas he would ram it into the christmas tree so I had to take off all the ornaments that he could reach. I like that he is able to self entertain and also explore on his own. I have never feared for it turning over or running over his feet. He started using it when he was 4 mon. I don't think it will delay his walking b/c he will crawl over to something and pull up and walk down it and will walk holding our hands.
This is the one we have
https://www.target.com/Cosco-Beep-Walker-Safari-Friends/dp/B003VRUB5S/ref=br_1_9?ie=UTF8&id=Cosco%20Beep%20Walker%20Safari%20Friends&node=15312791&searchSize=30&searchView=grid3&searchPage=1&sr=1-9&qid=1296228457&rh=&searchBinNameList=target_com_category-bin%2Cstyle_name%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Cprice&searchRank=pmrank&frombrowse=1
B's pedi. told me no walker that she can actually sit in and walk-- the ones that she can push herself are OK. So we got this one:
and she LOVED it. It's how she started taking her first 'steps' pushing it back and forth in our house. Now it sits in her room, locked but she still plays with the buttons and whatnot
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We have this one, too, but I don't recommend it because it tips over when she pulls up on it. Plus, none of the lights work anymore.