Babywalkers are dangerous, they slow down a baby's development and their use should be discouraged, according to the authors of a cross-Border study published today.
The research on wheeled seats which allow very young babies to move around with their feet on the floor was carried out by doctors and physiotherapists from University College, Dublin. The scientists examined healthy infants attending daycare centres in the Foyle.
They surveyed parents of 190 normal infants (83 boys and 107 girls) born at full term and attending registered daycare centres. They asked parents to record the age at which their child reached developmental milestones, including rolling over, sitting alone, crawling and walking alone.
It found that 54 per cent of those assessed used babywalkers, starting at an average age of 26 weeks and finishing at 54 weeks. Parents placed infants in babywalkers for periods ranging from 22 to 29 weeks.
The results, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that infants placed in babywalkers crawled, stood alone and walked alone later than children who did not use a walking aid.
There was also a strong association between the amount of babywalker use and the extent of developmental delay, with each 24 hours of use leading to a delay of 3.3 days in walking alone and a delay of 3.7 days in standing alone. However, babywalkers did not interfere with the age at which infants sat with support, sat alone or walked with support, nor did it affect their ability to stand with support.
Dr Anthony Staines, lecturer in epidemiology in the department of public health at UCD, said: "This study confirms that babywalker- use slows down the acquisition of motor skills by a couple of weeks." He said most parents questioned placed their children in a babywalker for one to three hours a day, so that even with an average use of 26 weeks for each child, the total delay in development was weeks rather than months.
"There is no evidence of long-term effects; we are not producing a generation of babies who are not able to walk," he said.
Both Dr Staines and Dr Mary Garrett, the lead author and director of the UCD school of physiotherapy, said previous research had shown that babywalkers were dangerous. In one US study, children in babywalkers had an increased number of emergency department admissions as a result of head injuries from falling down stairs while using the walking aid.
Asked for their advice to parents, both research authors said babywalkers were dangerous, they slowed down a baby's development and should not be used.