Молодые родители со временем задумываются о purchasing baby walkers for your offspring. In the department for selling toys in shopping malls, you can easily find many such devices that will help kids learn about the world around them, as well as take the first steps in their lives.
Is it harmful to use baby walkers?
As your baby grows and developsseeks to explore the surrounding space. While the baby has not learned to confidently crawl and walk independently, he can move around the room in the hands of parents. However, parents can not devote all their time to the baby. To occupy the curious little man, the game industry has released a device called "baby walker." Seating a child in such a device, parents can rest for a while, because the child will be carried away, being in complete safety thanks to the intelligently designed walker design.
Security measures
Walkers can only be useda short time, otherwise the infant may have problems in the field of orthopedics (flatfoot and curvature of the spine). Some orthopedic doctors prohibit the use of such devices at all or allow the child to be seated in them in special orthopedic shoes.
If adults still decide to usewalkers, it should be remembered that the baby will move freely throughout the nursery, so you should take care of safety beforehand: close the sockets with plugs, remove sharp, small and other objects that threaten the life and health of the little man.
Walker design
Walkers for children look like a littleChair for babies. At the bottom of the device is equipped with several wheels to facilitate movement. Premium models of walkers-wheelchairs (Baby, Chicco) are equipped with colorful buttons, a music player, beeper, a labyrinth and rattles. All this should be of interest to curious karapuz.
The undoubted advantage of wheelchairs
Despite the fair criticism coming from pediatricians, walkers-wheelchairs have a number of useful properties:
- Adaptation gives time to rest for parents.
- A small child independently plays, learns, develops, while being in complete safety.
- Colorful panels captivate the child, allow you to develop motor skills and logical thinking.
- Since the child, seated on a gurney, is actively moving, he has an appetite, muscles strengthen. After such exercise, the baby sleeps soundly throughout the night.
- A sturdy plastic bumper protects the passenger of the gurney from sharp corners and other hazards in the room.
What can hurt the walker?
Specialists in pediatric orthopedics converge.in the opinion that it is undesirable to use walkers for children until the baby learns to crawl, roll over, stand on its feet and sit. Such a strict prohibition is explained by the fact that without additional devices, the baby independently seeks to develop in the physical plane.
The negative side of using walkers:
- A child seated in a walking device is in a relaxed state, due to which his body is strengthened more slowly.
- The crumbs do not produce a sense of self-preservation, since it is constantly protected by the buffer zone of the device.
- Sometimes parents leave a child in a walker unattended for a long time. This should not be done, because the child may be injured.
- The load on the fragile spine of the child increases, which can lead to pathologies at a later age.
- A small child must learn to keep balance so as not to fall during self-movement. If the child is constantly in walkers, he will not develop this skill.
- Between the legs, many children experience irritation as a result of long walking with the use of a restraint;
In addition, if a child has rickets or a muscle tone disorder, walkers are strictly contraindicated for him.
How old is a walker to buy?
When to put her child in a walker, each mother decides on her own, but it will not be superfluous to adhere to a number of recommendations of experts:
- the baby should sit down confidently and well without the help of adults;
- he must study the surrounding space, try to crawl or reach out to objects of interest.
The exact age at which it is allowed to sitchild in a walker, is not specified anywhere, since each little man develops differently. Typically, such a device is acquired when the child reaches six months of age. The time spent in it should begin with a few minutes, and then it is necessary to increase the walks of the child day by day.
If parents nevertheless decided to use a device that helps babies to walk, an important rule should be followed - the child should touch the floor with the entire foot.
Walker types
In children's stores you can find a huge number of walkers for small children. They are divided into varieties, each of which must be considered separately:
- Wheeled walkers are products with smallwheels. There is no saddle in this model. The kid, leaning on the handrails specially designed for this, keeps his balance and makes his first uncertain steps. The manufacturer of walkers, wheelchairs Chicco produces very popular models in Russia.
- Classic models have a round protective frame and saddle, where the child is seated. In the lower part there are wheels for movement in the children's playroom.
- A device called "walker-transformer",in addition to training the baby walking, has a number of additional functions. For example, they can easily turn into a playpen, a convenient table for meals, and even on a swing!
- The following type of walker is called"Jumpers". It consists of a saddle where the child will sit, springs and belts that are mounted on a high-mounted horizontal bar or hook in the ceiling. In this design, the baby can jump and swing from side to side.
How to choose a walker?
Before buying a walker-wheelchair should be paidfocus primarily on the quality of materials, the reliability of the design of the device. The hull must be stable and durable. Wheels should spin easily. The saddle or seat where the child will sit must be securely attached to the soft inner bumper. In addition, the orthopedic panel should support the back of the passenger on children's walkers / wheelchairs so that the baby does not overwork during the game.
Also during the selection of a suitable model is notBe lazy to study the passport of the product, where the permissible maximum passenger weight, the presence of a brake on devices with wheels, and the possibility of folding the case to save space in an apartment should be indicated.
Popular Models
Choosing children's products, you should focus onwell-known manufacturers, because they guarantee the quality and safety of the product. One of the most conscientious manufacturers of walkers, wheelchairs (reviews confirm this) deservedly recognized as European brands (Chicco, HappyBaby), and less well-known manufacturers from Russia ("Firefly"), which produce quality products at a lower price.
