Infant walkers: developmental tool or inherent danger

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of pre-walking practice in an infant walker on the onset time of independent walking. 15 pairs of twins were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Only the experimental group was exposed to an infant walker. This group spent a minimum of 1 hr. per day in an infant walker from 4 mo. of age until the onset of bipedal locomotion. The infants in the control group were not placed in infant walkers. A one-way analysis of variance indicated there was no significant difference between the mean ages of initial walking for the experimental and control groups. The use of the infant walker did not influence the onset of independent walking.