They’re colorful, engaging and fun, and they seem like great places to place your infant while you take a much needed break.
But are walkers, exersaucers and jumpers really good for infants?
There’s growing belief among pediatric physical and occupational therapists that these common childhood devices aren’t the best way to promote gross motor development or cognitive development, and that they actually can promote delays or atypical development. It’s a good idea to understand exactly what’s happening when your infant is using a walker or jumper, so that you can make an informed decision about integrating them into your daily routine.
Possible Safety Concerns
Safety is an ongoing concern with these devices. One of the biggest safety concerns is that the infant is now upright, and mobile if in a walker. This allows them upright freedom of movement before they are cognitively and physically ready for this movement, and it allows them access to a variety of harmful items that are on counters, tables and other places around the house. In fact, these kinds of concerns led to a ban on baby walkers in Canada, which has been in place since 2004.
Understanding Development
To achieve proper physical and cognitive skills, infants and children need to go through certain developmental milestones, such as rolling, sitting, crawling and walking. If you’re apt to put your infant in a walker, exersaucer or jumper frequently, it can interfere with the brain’s pathways and the natural milestone progression. Infants tend to have poor posture when in these devices, as they lean or lock out their legs, or they just lean and keep their legs bent or dangling. This can promote the development of bad habits, such as toe-walking and continually bouncing or jumping when held. Additionally, these devices do not allow infants to rotate their trunks or shift their weight with control, thus affecting their development of balance. Every time we move, our body learns. When an infant is allowed to move on the floor, such as crawling or pulling to stand at a stable surface, they are working on their balance. This is through repetition of movement and feedback from our muscles/joints to our brain. This is a way of developing balance control and is not accomplished in a walker, exersaucer or jumper. Lastly, these devices also do not allow infants to explore their feet, which is needed for overall development, but especially for the progression towards independent walking.
What to do
Limit the use of walkers, exersaucers and jumpers, to no more than 15 minutes a day. When in such devices, place a pillow or book under your child’s feet so they have a better chance of standing with flat feet versus standing on their toes or rolling their ankles. Better yet, create a play place on the floor for infants, such as with baby gates or corrals, which will keep them safe, but allow them to move and explore on their own. Play mats with toys to reach for are also great. Infants like toys of varying colors, textures and sounds. You can also use a Pack n’ Play to keep your infant safe, as this will allow him or her to roll, crawl and even pull up to standing. Best yet, get on the floor with your infant. Interact with them, help them to reach for toys or their feet, help them roll and do lots and lots of supervised awake belly time.
Overall, we want healthy, happy infants and parents. Safe floor play is the best way to encourage movement and overall development. Placing infants in devices such as walkers, jumpers and exersaucers can limit this.
Catherine Stubbs, PT, DPT, PCS is a licensed Physical Therapist and Department Director at Pediatric Rehabilitation, Columbus, GA. She has been employed with HPRC since 2002. Catherine received her M.S. in Physical Therapy in 2000 from North Georgia College and State University and her DPT in 2019 from Arcadia University. She is an APTA board certified clinical specialist in pediatric physical therapy. Catherine lives with her husband, Brian, and children in Columbus, Georgia.
