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Are babywalkers good for your baby?
A body of research has been growing steadily indicating that babywalkers slow the development of infant's motor skills. These delays affect the times certain milestones such as crawling, standing alone and walking are accomplished. For example, Irish researches found that babies, who used babywalkers, stood alone an average of 3-4 weeks later than those babies who did not use these devices.
Research is leading us to believe that learning to walk or crawl is a very complicated process comprised of many steps. More importantly, the nervous system needs time to learn these movements or steps through repetition. Lets look at what happens when the baby takes a step. Nerves need to begin to fire synchronously in certain patterns enabling the leg to move. Signals are sent back and forth from the brain to the muscles of the legs via nerves. The smoother the transmission of signals, the smoother the leg movement will be. Picture a baby who takes its first step. The step is awkward and jerky. Over time, this action becomes smooth because the motor system (nerves and muscles) is maturing which enables it to go through all of those steps quicker and more efficiently. This process is similar to that of a golf swing. A beginner golfer needs to remember so many steps necessary to swing a golf club such as keeping the head still; feet shoulder width apart, eyes down, etc. When the golfer actually takes his first swing, the swing is anything but smooth; rather it is jerky and unbalanced. After thousands of swings, the timing comes together, and the golf swing begins take shape and now looks smooth and effortless. This is exactly what happens with development of nerves and muscles in an infant.
Research is indicating that by introducing walkers prematurely, you are skipping crucial steps in the development and maturation of the nerves and muscles. In essence you are short-circuiting the whole process. This eventually leads to the delays in these milestones.
Not only do babywalkers slow the development of milestones, they can cause physical problems to the child. Babies are born with only one curve in the spine. When the baby begins to raise its head, a second curve develops in the neck. Finally, when the baby begins to stand and walk a third curve develops in the low back. Using babywalkers prematurely places abnormal stress on the spine before it is ready to handle the load caused by gravity, as the baby is placed upright in the walker. The baby's spine is physically not designed to bear the load so soon. Is it any wonder that such a high percentage of children complain of low back pain?
Sometimes, we need to let babies develop at there own speed. The more we tinker with Mother Nature, the more we find ourselves on the losing end of the process. My advice is to let your infants mature naturally. When they are ready to crawl and walk, you will be the first to know.
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