Contact: Susan Griffith, 216-368-1004, sbg4@po.cwru.edu

Posted 1/22/98

Study puts wheels on the case against the baby walker

Siegel tracked the motor and mental skills of 109 infants between the ages of six and 15 months to see how baby walkers affected the onset of sitting, crawling, and walking -- considered the motor milestones in young children's lives.

She also looked at whether or not infants experience "an exploration deficit," since continued restriction to a walker after the onset of crawling limits free exploration of the environment, which facilitates mental development.

The findings add fuel to efforts to ban walkers, which have proven unsafe, said Siegel.

Citing medical studies, she reported, "Baby walkers are the No. 1 reason why infants under the age of 15 months visit emergency rooms."

Canada has banned the manufacture of walkers. Siegel said approximately 92 percent of U.S. households with infants have walkers. In 1993, U.S. infants suffered approximately 25,000 injuries from walker use.

"They offer a false sense of security. Even when parents are sitting right next to the child, there is absolutely no way they can keep a constant watch of their children," said Siegel, whose interest in baby walkers came from watching her young niece navigate in one.

"Children spend too much time confined to strollers, high chairs, baby seats, and walkers. This restricts the time available for free exploration of the natural environment, which is important for mental development."

Parents can encourage mental and motor development in young infants by providing supervised "free time" on a blanket on the floor with some toys within reach and others a few inches out of reach. Parents also can play with infants and gently roll them, help them sit, and practice balancing on their legs.

Half of the children in the research project did not use walkers. The other half were in walkers an average of 2.5 hours daily. Some babies used the walkers for as little as 30 minutes a day, and others for as long as 6.5 hours.

Siegel collaborated with Roger V. Burton from the State University of New York at Buffalo. They found a significant difference in motor and mental development between babies reared with walkers and those without walkers.

Babies in the study were found through the listing of births in the Buffalo Law Journal and pediatrician offices. Most of the parents in the study came from more affluent homes and had some education beyond a high school degree.

She said some parents put infants under five months of age in walkers before they crawl.

The development of self-produced locomotion between the ages of six and nine months sets the stage for development in mental as well as social functioning.

"While some feel that precocious locomotion with the aid of a walker device is an enriching experience, I looked at this in terms of deprivation," noted Siegel.

She recalled 1960s animal studies in which researchers placed collars around the necks of newborn kittens to find out whether there is a correlation between vision and motor skills. The kittens with collars were unable to hit a dangling ball with their paws after the collar was removed. The kittens recovered from the visual-motor deficit after several weeks.

"Baby walkers provided a natural child-rearing practice that is similar to the collared kittens," noted Siegel. Plastic trays on walkers prevent infants from viewing their legs and feet.

While the walker enables the child to move from one place to another, independent exploration is restricted, as the tray prevents the child from reaching a desired object. The walkers also did not allow infants to crawl or walk away from unpleasant social situations, such as siblings bothering the infants or disrupting the infants' play.

An unexpected research opportunity arose during the study as she questioned parents about the use of walkers. She observed that some parents had purchased used walkers with a smaller tray that allowed the child to see his or her feet, as well as reach for dropped objects.

"We could now see whether it made a difference if the child could see its moving feet while restricted to the walker," she added.

The researchers made two visits to the infants' homes. Babies were assessed twice, using the Bayley Scales of Mental and Motor Development to test for language, memory, perception, and motor skills. The researchers also asked parents to fill out a checklist of the children's mastered motor skills.

Mental scores on the Bayley Test averaged 113 for babies in the regular walkers, 116 for the "see-feet" walkers, and 123 for babies who did not use walkers. A score of 100 is considered average.

All scores are inflated because of the families' high socioeconomic background, said Siegel. However, she added that the differences between walker and no-walker babies were statistically significant.

On average babies sit at five or six months, crawl between eight and nine months, and walk at 11-12 months.

Infants in the study without walkers sat and crawled on average in their fifth month, while babies in walkers which blocked the view of their feet crawled and sat near the end of the sixth month. Babies who used the "see-feet" walkers sat and crawled at an age midway between the other two groups.

Walker babies who could not see their feet began to walk at almost 12 months, while the babies without walkers and those who could see their feet started to walk in their tenth month.

Babies in walkers also showed some abnormal postures and gait in walking. As in the kitten study, the abnormalities corrected themselves shortly after the baby began to walk.

Siegel reminds parents that although each baby develops at his or her own rate, babies -- like adults -- respond to challenges of new experiences that are just beyond their skill level.

Although babies like to scoot around in walkers before they can crawl, this experience is not only dangerous, but may also be developmentally detrimental.

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