As injuries continue, doctors renew their call for the ban on baby walkers

Watching a baby propel itself on the ground on wheels in a saucer shaped walker can be as entertaining as a comedy episode. But as hospital emergency rooms treat more than 2,000 babies a year for injuries sustained while using these walkers, US pediatricians are repeating their call to the decades-old ban. .

"I see baby walkers as inherently dangerous objects that have no benefit and should not be sold in the US," says Dr. Benjamin Hoffman, a pediatrician who chairs the US Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

According to one study, more than 230,000 children under the age of 15 months were treated in US hospital emergency departments for skull fractures, concussions, fractures and other injuries associated with baby walkers. in the newspaper Pediatrics published on Monday

The walkers are designed to mobilize babies who are not yet able to walk alone, but moving on four wheels sometimes sends them on dangerous paths or tumble stairs.

Pediatricians have long warned against the use of trotters and consumer groups joined them in calling for a ban in 1992. Publicity about the dangers has led some parents to stop using walkers and manufacturers to voluntarily reinforce safety standards. In fact, the number of baby walker-related injuries dropped from nearly 21,000 in 1990 to 3,200 in 2003, the study notes.

In 2010, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission tightened the safety requirements for the manufacture and testing of baby walkers, including installing brakes to prevent falls from falling. The study reveals that injuries have decreased by 23% over the four years following the entry into force of mandatory federal safety standards compared with the previous four years.

The study is the first to examine the impact of these regulations on visits to emergency rooms. The researchers conclude that the rules have probably slowed the number of injuries, but thousands of children continue to be injured.

"Despite this great success, there are still 2,000 children treated each year for injuries, many of which are seriously injured in emergency departments," says Dr. Gary Smith, lead author of the study and director. of the Injury Research and Policy Center. at the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. "Therefore, we support the position of the American Academy of Pediatrics that trotters should not be sold or used.There is absolutely no reason for these products to still be on the market."

Smith and Hoffman, who work at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, agree that the study provides further evidence that the CPSC should follow Canada's initiative and ban the manufacture, sale and import of baby walkers. babies. Canada banned the devices in 2004.

The CPSC, an independent government security agency composed of five people appointed by the President, notes that the study shows that injuries have significantly decreased since the 2010 regulations. "The CPSC continues to monitor the safety of products," she said in a statement to NPR.

But doctors say that the damage that children's walkers can do to children's brains and bodies is not worth the risk of keeping them on the market. Smith cared for babies who landed abreast on concrete after falling on a staircase while tied to a baby walker. The same is true of Dr. Jerri Rose, a pediatric emergency physician and professor at Case Western Reserve University's Faculty of Medicine in Cleveland.

Rose, who did not participate in the study, says she has seen a slight drop in the number of babies entering the hospital after being injured in baby walkers. But she continues to care for infants who fall into accidents among walkers.

"They really are not safe," she says, not least because parents often use them as babysitters to turn away and focus on other tasks.

Walkers can allow babies to move to areas they can not normally reach: stairs, swimming pools, baths and kitchens. Some drowned and some suffered burns after removing boiling food from the stoves, Rose said.

A previous survey identified eight babies who died from 2004 to 2008 as a result of injuries to baby walkers.

Smith estimates that babies tied to walkers can travel 4 feet in one second – faster than their parents.

"The parents bought the myth that, if they looked closely at their children, they would not have any problems," he says. "But it was a myth."

In addition, many parents mistakenly believe that walkers can accelerate their children's ability to walk. But studies have shown that they could slow down motor development, says Rose.

Many families continue to buy baby walkers despite the warnings, and some families pass them on from generation to generation, the authors of Pediatrics study write. The stores stock a colorful selection of walkers decorated with a wide range of animals and characters from Disney or Sesame Street.

As a safer alternative, Rose recommends stationary activity centers, which allow babies to be entertained without mobility.

It's not just baby walkers that cause injury. Recent use of baby walkers, baby carriers, strollers, changing tables and bath seats brings children aged 3 and under to US hospitals to be treated for injuries every eight minutes.

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Ronnie Cohen is a journalist from northern California who writes frequently on health. Follow her on Twitter @ronnie_cohen.