Original | Pregnancy
Summary:
Stop trying to save trouble!
Many babies are “people with cars” at a young age, such as strollers, twisting cars, balance cars, walkers…. The whole nine yards.
But not all cars are suitable for babies, such as walkers.
The walker is called “parenting artifact” by many parents, and when the baby is seven or eight months old, put it in, the baby walks leisurely, and parents are happy to see it, and they also free their hands, and they can do whatever they want.
But parents who are still using walkers really advise you to panic, because the safety hazards of walkers are really beyond imagination.
In a news item at the end of March, a 1-year-old baby in Guangdong rolled directly down the stairs because he was unsupervised in a walker.
It can be seen from the news video that the baby has been alone at the staircase for more than ten seconds, counting his walk from the house to the staircase, there should be at least 1 minute or more of the baby is unsupervised.
Young babies, walking alone in a walker, walking….. Parents have no idea that danger is approaching their baby!
It wasn’t until the baby cried loudly after rolling down the stairs with the car that the family reacted and rushed to check.
According to parents, there is usually an isolation door at the entrance of the stairs, but this scene happened that day because someone forgot to close the door after opening it.
Watching the video, I was really scared and distressed, and many netizens said:
Seeing that my heart is about to jump out, I want to hold the baby across the screen, how it hurts.
There are also many netizens reminding:
Walkers have long been banned, why give them to children!!!!
Fortunately, this time the child was only injured by the skin, and there was no big problem, which is really lucky!
The walker is not a safe existence, there are many hidden dangers, and leaving the baby alone in the walker is a danger in danger.
Knock on the blackboard:
The safety of your baby should not be handed over to any tool such as this at any time.
(News source: Yu Video)
The “baby artifact” in the eyes of parents is actually a “parenting murder weapon”!
In the hearts of many parents, walkers are still a “parenting artifact”-like existence, simple installation, flexible wheels, and most importantly, free hands.
But the fact is that there are many hidden dangers in walkers, and the use of walkers has seriously injured many babies, and some babies have lost their lives.
A 9-month-old baby boy in Xining City, Qinghai Province, died on the spot after sliding down the stairs on a walker.
A 10-and-a-half-month-old baby boy in Qingdao, Shandong Province, was extensively scalded by boiling water when he was playing on a walker because the sliding walker knocked over a warm water bottle.
In Changsha, Hunan Province, a little boy fell on a walker with chopsticks, and the chopsticks poked directly into the upper jaw!
A 10-month-old baby girl in Dongguan fell to the concrete floor while using a walker, causing serious damage to her head and both lungs.
(News source: Modern Express)
There are many, many more such shocking examples to list… In the above news comments, the screen is full of dangerous experiences shared by mothers, which makes people tremble!
“My eldest daughter also took this walker three flights of stairs to lie down, fell her lips with two stitches, and I fainted directly!”
“When my child was a child, he fell on a walker in the house and broke his collarbone.”
“My son is also like this, ask someone to take it, stumbling from the third floor to the first floor, two teeth are knocked out, his mouth is broken, he has many stitches, and when I see my son, my heart hurts so much that I drip blood, fortunately there are no sequelae.”
Watching the baby injured, parents are distressed, regretful, and afraid!
But at present, there are still many people who are using walkers for babies, because it saves trouble, because they can temporarily put down the baby and free their hands, because walkers can give people the illusion that the baby walks one step faster.
But the risk of a walker is what parents should consider the most, because nothing is more important than the safety of their children.
Walkers have long been blocked, banned and discontinued by many countries!
Although there are endless accidents caused by walkers, just open a shopping website and search for “walkers”, and there are all kinds of baby walkers of all brands and price points, and the sales volume is amazing.
But walkers have long been banned and banned by many countries!
As early as July 2004, Health Canada issued an order prohibiting the sale, advertising and import of baby walkers, even second-hand goods cannot be sold on the market.
In Canada, the sale of baby walkers, depending on the situation, can be fined up to $100,000, making Canada the first country in the world to ban the sale of baby walkers.
Subsequently, developed countries such as the United States and Australia also called for the banning of walkers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) repeatedly recommended that walkers not be used.
In China, China’s Ministry of Health also clearly stipulates in the “Technical Guidelines for Child Fall Intervention”: do not use baby walkers!
(Excerpt from the “Technical Guidelines for Child Fall Intervention” issued by the former Ministry of Health)
Why are walkers banned altogether?
Because falls are the leading cause of injury in children worldwide, the leading cause of non-fatal injuries and disability in children, and the most common type of injury in children in the emergency department.
The use of walkers by infants is an important risk factor for falls, which has also been an important cause of infant fall deaths in developed countries.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) survey found that since 1990~2014, 230,676 children under 15 months of age in the United States were admitted to the emergency room due to walker accidents.
Of these, 74 per cent were injured as a result of falling down stairs while using a walker, about 91 per cent were injured in the head or neck, and 4.5 per cent were injured in the upper limbs.
Baby walkers, really dangerous existence, there are many, many hidden dangers!! Parents must pay attention!!
Walkers, not only can not help the baby walk, but also affect the baby’s development.
There are many safety concerns when using walkers, and children in walkers may:
(1) Roll down the stairs –
This can result in severe fractures and severe head injuries, which are most common cases where walkers cause accidental injuries.
(2) Scalds –
Babies sitting on walkers can reach higher, and if they pull down the tablecloth, spill hot water, hot soup, hot coffee, or grab the hot pot handle on the stove, reach heaters, incubators, fireplaces, and dangerous kettles and thermostats, which can easily cause burns.
(3) Drowning –
Walkers may cause your child to roll over into the pool or into the bathtub.
(4) Poisoning –
Children sitting in walkers are more convenient to reach things in high places.
Too many children have broken their heads and bleeding because of walkers, knocked out their teeth, and have been unable to take care of themselves for more than 10 years…
These injuries cannot be withstood by any child or family, let alone that
Walkers bring not only accidental injuries, but also affect the child’s development, not only can not help the child walk, but also delay the child’s start of walking.
(1) Walkers cannot help children learn to walk.
The walker takes up the baby’s time and will make the baby miss a lot of opportunities to practice, climbing, standing, and walking, which are necessary for the baby to reach the walking milestone.
(2) Walkers will affect the correct way of walking for children.
The cushion of the walker is high, and the baby can only touch the ground with the toes to sit on it, so when moving forward, it is basically forceful with the toes, which is easy to deform the foot joints, forming toe valgus, O-shaped legs, X-shaped legs, and even flat feet, which in the long run will also cause tiptoe walking, and this habit can even continue into adulthood.
(3) Affect the baby’s balance.
When the baby sits up and stands up on his own, the process is a process of learning balance, but riding in a stroller can make it impossible for the baby to learn to master balance, delaying this important skill.
(4) Affect the baby’s development.
Children learn to recognize objects through contact, grasping, knocking, throwing, etc., free exploration helps the development of children’s intelligence, walkers restrict children’s free activities, deprive children of learning opportunities, and affect children’s intellectual development.
(5) Walking is weight-bearing exercise, when the joint muscles have not yet reached the weight-bearing requirements, premature start will affect the development of the child’s lower limbs.
It’s safe to say:
Walkers can’t help babies learn to walk!
There are even studies that confirm that:
Babies who use walkers actually learn to walk alone later than babies who don’t, and parents must not learn to walk on their own anymore.
Babies learn to walk is a very natural process, there is no need to deliberately learn!
Walking is natural for the baby, and it is a skill that can be developed as the baby’s bones, muscles, and brain balance mature, and there is no need for tools to learn.
Conforming to the baby’s growth law is the help to the baby’s growth.
The right thing parents can do is to properly support their baby as he develops the skill of walking.
Encouraging your baby to develop the following skills on his own is the help for him to learn to walk!
1. Walk barefoot
When babies learn to walk barefoot, their toes can grasp the ground hard, which is conducive to mastering balance and walking more steadily. Moreover, walking barefoot can exercise the baby’s plantar muscles and ligaments, which is conducive to the development of the baby’s arch.
2. Encourage cruising
Once your baby is familiar with standing on their own, they will start cruising along the furniture. You can keep toys out of reach to encourage this activity. Long-distance cruising strengthens your baby’s standing endurance and strengthens the muscles of his hips and thighs. Over time, they will become more stable on one side of the weight and better transfer the weight from foot to foot.
3. Encourage squatting
Squatting is a very important skill that will greatly support your baby to stand independently. With the support of the sofa, place the toy at their feet and encourage them to crouch down and pick it up. Up and down exercises work the muscles of the hips and thighs.
4. Encourage crawling
The most important thing that the baby does during the crawling phase is to practice moving his arms and legs at the same time, this skill is also important when learning to walk, this physical coordination allows the child to walk well.
The last thing to say to all parents is:
Don’t think it’s safe to use a walker when your parents are watching, the vast majority of injuries occur in the presence of parents! When the accident happens, parents simply do not have time to react!
A child who “drives” a walker can move at a speed of 0.9 m/s, which is quite fast, so don’t assume that it is safe to have a parent present.
The safe way to keep your baby safe from harm is to throw away the baby walker and take good care of your baby!
Reference article
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-home/Pages/Baby-Walkers-A-Dangerous-Choice.aspx
https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/baby-walkers