For Safety, Toss Your Baby Walker

An estimated 4,360 children were injured in 2004 because of baby walkers, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Most injuries are minor, but skull fractures make up about 10 percent of walker injuries.

The dangers that walkers present include the following:

• A child can roll down stairs, causing head injuries and even death. This is the most common way children get hurt in walkers, accounting for 75 percent of injuries. A child also can get hurt if the walker tips over.

• Your little one can reach unsafe items. Children in a walker may be able to reach a hot cup of coffee on a table or a pot on the stove. Or they may be able to reach poisonous items you thought were out of reach.

• A child in a walker outside can roll into a pool.

• Children can pinch fingers or toes. A child's tiny digits can get caught between the walker and furniture.

The AAP suggests you use a stationary jumping device instead. These devices don’t have wheels. Instead, they have seats that rotate or bounce.