Pediatricians Urging Ban On Baby Walkers

A group of pediatricians is calling for a ban on rolling baby walkers, saying statistics show they put infants at risk of injury and death, and have no proven benefit.

“The positive benefits of walkers are often cited by parents who use them, but data supporting such benefits do not exist,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement published in the May issue of its journal, Pediatrics.

Approximately three million walkers are sold annually nationwide, the group said.

In 1993, the latest year for which figures are available, 25,000 children between the ages of five and 15 months were treated in emergency rooms for walker-related injuries ranging from fractures and head injuries, to pinched fingers and toes, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Eleven deaths occurred between 1989 and 1993.