Infant Walkers and Cerebral Palsy

Holm, Vanja A.

doi:10.1001/archpedi.1983.02140380049016

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…30 In fact, studies suggest that the opposite may be true. 10,31,32 In a study of twin infants, the child who was placed in a babywalker had marked electromyographic changes in locomotive motor pattern, because the walker allowed gross mechanical errors to be committed without impeding successful bipedal locomotion. 10 Adult supervision is a strategy commonly suggested for the prevention of babywalker-related injuries, but data do not support its effectiveness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Babywalker-related Injuries Continue Despite Warning Labels and Public Education

Smith¹,

Bowman²,

Luria³

et al. 1997

Pediatrics

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ABSTRACT. Objective. To describe the epidemiology of babywalker-related injuries to children treated in a pediatric emergency department despite current prevention efforts, and to investigate the beliefs of parents regarding babywalker use.Design. A descriptive study of a consecutive series of patients.Setting. The emergency department of a large, academic children's hospital.Participants. Children treated for babywalker-related injuries during the 3-year period of March 1993 through February 1996.Results. There were 271 children treated for babywalker-related injuries. The mean age was 9.2 months, and 62% of patients were boys. Ninety-six percent of children were injured when they fell down stairs in their babywalker. The number of stairs that a child fell down was significantly associated with skull fracture and admission to the hospital, and a fall down more than 10 stairs had a relative risk (RR) of skull fracture ‫؍‬ 3.28 (95% confidence interval, 1.35 < RR < 7.98). There were 159 children with contusions/abrasions (58.6%), 35 concussions/head injuries (12.9%), 33 lacerations (12.2%), 26 skull fractures (9.6%), 9 epistaxis (3.3%), 4 nonskull fractures (1.5%), 4 avulsed teeth (1.5%), and 1 burn (0.4%). Three of the skull fractures were depressed, and three also had accompanying intracranial hemorrhage. Ten patients (3.7%) were admitted to the hospital, and all had skull fractures resulting from falls down stairs. Supervision was present in 78% of cases, including supervision by an adult in 69% of cases. Forty-five percent of families kept the walker, and 32% used the walker again for the study patient or another child after the injury episode. Fifty-nine percent of parents acknowledged that they were aware of the potential dangers of babywalkers before the injury event. Fifty-six percent of parents favored a national ban on the sale of walkers, and 20% were opposed.Conclusion. Despite the currently used prevention strategies, including adult supervision, warning labels, care giver education programs, and stairway gates, serious injuries associated with babywalkers continue to occur to young children. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission should promulgate a rule, similar to the voluntary standard adopted in Canada, regarding design requirements for babywalkers that will prevent their passage through household doorways at the head of stairs. The manufacture and sale of mobile babywalkers that do not meet this new standard should be banned in the US. A recall or trade-in campaign should be conducted nationally to decrease the number of existing babywalkers. Pediatrics 1997;100(2). URL: http://www. pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/100/2/e1; babywalker, pediatric trauma, falls, injury prevention.ABBREVIATIONS. ED, emergency department; CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk; CPSC, Consumer Product Safety Commission.T he use of babywalkers dates back to at least the mid-1600s, 1 and the hazards associated with their use have been increasingly recognized during the last two decades. An estimated 25 000 chil...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Babywalker-related Injuries Continue Despite Warning Labels and Public Education

Smith¹,

Bowman²,

Luria³

et al. 1997

Pediatrics

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“…Infant walkers do not help a child learn to walk, and, in fact, they can delay normal motor and mental development. 2,4,9,56,57 Safer alternatives to mobile infant walkers, such as stationary activity centers, are readily available and can provide many of the same benefits that parents perceive infant walkers to provide. 12 Therefore, the US government should follow the lead of the Canadian government and ban the sale, importation, and advertisement of mobile infant walkers in the United States to prevent additional infant walker-related injuries from occurring to young children.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parents like infant walkers because they think that walkers help young children learn to walk and believe that walkers are a source of entertainment for children. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] They also state that walkers give their child enhanced mobility and serve as a baby-sitter, thereby keeping the child occupied so that they can do other necessary things. 6,8,9,12,15 However, infant walkers allow infants mobility beyond their natural capability, thus providing them with a means of getting into dangerous situations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Success in the Prevention of Infant Walker–Related Injuries: An Analysis of National Data, 1990–2001

Shields

Smith

2006

Pediatrics

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OBJECTIVE. Here we describe the epidemiologic characteristics and secular trends of infant walker–related injuries among children who are younger than 15 months in the United States. METHODS. A retrospective analysis was conducted of data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1990–2001. Sample weights that were provided by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System were used in all analyses to adjust for the inverse probability of case selection and make national projections regarding infant walker–related injuries. RESULTS. An estimated 197200 infant walker–related injuries occurred among children who were younger than 15 months and treated in US emergency departments from 1990 through 2001. Five percent of these children required admission to the hospital. The number of infant walker–related injuries remained relatively constant from 1990 through 1994, averaging 23000 cases per year. After the introduction in 1994 of stationary activity centers as an alternative to mobile infant walkers and the implementation of the revised American Society for Testing and Materials F977 voluntary infant walker standard in 1997, there was a marked decrease in the number of infant walker–related injuries. Overall, there was a 76% decrease in the number of injuries from 1990 to 2001 from 20900 injuries in 1990 to 5100 in 2001. Soft tissue injuries and lacerations represented 63% of the injuries. Trauma to the head region occurred in 91% of cases. Skull fractures were the most common (62%) type of fracture. Falls down stairs was the mechanism of injury in 74% of cases. CONCLUSIONS. The adoption of passive injury-prevention strategies, such as use of stationary activity centers as alternatives to mobile infant walkers and redesign of infant walkers to prevent falls down stairs, were associated with a marked decrease in the number of infant walker–related injuries.

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“…Some inconsistencies exist regarding which milestones were affected, probably reflecting comparatively low numbers of children in the studies, but overall evidence shows significant developmental delays associated with babywalkers. Anecdotal reports note adverse effects from the use of babywalkers in a child with cerebral palsy4 and even the development of cerebral palsy-like symptoms in apparently normal children 5. No published data are available that imply that development may have benefited, although this is a common reason why parents choose to use babywalkers 1.…”

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confidence: 99%

Babywalkers

Taylor

2002

BMJ

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Infant Walkers and Cerebral Palsy

Cited by 10 publications

References 3 publications

Babywalker-related Injuries Continue Despite Warning Labels and Public Education

Babywalker-related Injuries Continue Despite Warning Labels and Public Education

Success in the Prevention of Infant Walker–Related Injuries: An Analysis of National Data, 1990–2001

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