Walkers

What's the deal with baby walkers? We got a handout from our pediatrician's office telling us not to use a walker because they are dangerous. It went on to say that stores do not sell them anymore because they are such a hazard, and that if we got a hand-me-down one, we should immediately dispose of it. One, that's not true. We were gifted a walker at the baby shower. Brand new. From a store. And two, you're gonna have to give me more reasons than "it's dangerous" to make me leave it, forlorn and rejected, in the box out in the garage. After speculating with Travis about all the ways a walker might be dangerous, we came up with:

1. She could ram into a tall bookcase and stuff could fall on her. (We don't have a tall bookcase)
2. Maybe the walker could spontaneously collapse and crush her legs. (It can't)
3. If the door is open she could make a run for it, and somehow make it out in the middle of the street. (That is beyond far-fetched)

So, off to Google I went! What I found concerned and confused me. On basically every health and pediatric website, there are unanimous reasons why walkers should never be used in households. Here they are:

Children in baby walkers can:

1. Roll down the stairs.
2. Get burned. (Presumably by pulling on a tablecloth where hot coffee or tea is sitting near the edge, or by pulling pans off the stove.)
3. Drown. (In a pool or bathtub)
4. Be poisoned. (By putting objects in their mouth that they can now reach)

WHAT?!?! These are seriously the reasons why my pediatrician is telling me not to use a walker?? To that I have to say:

1. Who puts a child that can move, in a walker or otherwise, at the top of a flight of ungated stairs, or near it? It's not the walker's fault that the kid rolls down the stairs.
2. Who uses tablecloths? AND... who uses tablecloths that hang so low that a kid in a walker can reach? Do they realize that a walker does not make your baby 4-feet tall? Babies are the same height in a walker as they are standing up without one. That makes them not nearly tall enough to grab a pan off the stove.
3. Drown? In a bathtub? In order for this to happen, the baby would have to charge the bathtub at such a speed that when she hits the side, she ejects out of the walker seat and into a bathtub randomly filled with water. I almost want to try it. I understand the danger if you have an in-ground pool. But if you leave your mobile child unattended in a place where they can walk, crawl or roll into a pool, you are a moron.
4. I guess that means I will need to store my arsenic elsewhere. That's too bad, the coffee table has been the perfect place!

What I'm trying to say is that none of these unfortunate happenings can specfically be blamed on the walker. They can all just as easily happen when a child is walking or crawling by him/herself and the parent happens to not be paying attention. Don't make the walker the scapegoat for negligence. Most of the websites suggested other activities that render children immobile, like a playpen or a highchair. You know what else would work? If we cut their legs off! Then parents would never have to actually watch their kids!

Don't get me wrong, I am not in love with the walker. I know it won't make her walk sooner. But it does afford her some independence and a different vantage point other than my ugly shirt, the ceiling, or the floor. If an accident happens while she is in it (knock on wood), I will claim full responsibility, because I am her parent and it is my job to make sure her environment is safe. I refuse to handicap her in the process.