05 Nov Did you know that Baby Walkers DO NOT help Babies 👶🏻 walk earlier🤔
Research shows that Baby Walkers are not beneficial to a baby’s gross motor development, and in fact may delay the development of independent walking in infants. 😳😳
Here are 3 Top Reasons to avoid Baby Walkers and Jolly Jumpers 😳
1. When babies 👶🏻 are placed in baby walkers or jolly jumpers, they are missing out on the time that should be spend on their tummies on the floor learning to roll, sit, crawl and pull to stand. Studies have shown that babies who use jolly jumpers repeatedly for 15 minutes or longer are delayed in achieving independent walking. 😱
2. Baby walkers are the number 1 cause of head injuries 🤕 in children under 5 years old, as the infants tend to fall of the stairs or reach up to higher surfaces and pull objects down onto themselves. Infants using jolly jumpers have sustained injuries when the baby in the jolly jumper has lurched sideways into the doorway frame, or has been pushed by another young child. Injuries in jolly jumpers has also occurred when the laces have snapped under the tension of a bouncing baby and caused them to fall.😱
3. When babies 👶🏻 are in baby walkers and jolly jumpers, they have to extend and arch their bodies to tip toe to move themselves while in the walker or to jump in the jolly jumper. These arching movement patterns delay the onset of walking and encourage tiptoe walking. Once toe walking becomes a learned adaptive movement pattern, it results in tight calf muscles, 😖loss of ankle range of movement that compounds into bigger problems with running, balance and coordination as a child grows up. Toe walking also has a life long negative impact causing knee pain and back pain in adulthood.😳
So if you have a baby walker or jolly jumper at home, its time to throw them out.
If you have any concerns about your baby’s gross motor skills development or have noticed that your child is toe walking, ring My Favourite Physio 📱on (02) 9790 4233 to book an appointment with one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today.
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