Walking Ring: Friend or Foe?

The dog won’t stop barking, your oldest still hasn’t finished his homework, the middle child wants to “help” making dinner and the baby is packing out the plastic cupboard, again. When life gets busy the walking ring seems like the perfect solution. You know the baby is staying out of trouble, it has a tray for some toys and the baby is in the perfect position to walk, right?

Wrong!

The following areas are negatively effected when using a walking ring:

1. Development

Children develop in a specific sequence, they are meant to roll then sit, crawl, stand and THEN they learn to walk. The walking ring places the baby into the walking position and movements before they are ready. Studies have found that babies in walkers can skip crawling and may even walk a month later! Strong muscles in the arms, shoulders and trunk are developed when crawling which leads to better precision when using their hands.

2. Exploration

Babies are constantly learning from their environment, they are constantly experimenting to see the effect of their actions. Did you think your baby is just being naughty by dropping whatever is placed in front of them? Babies need to learn how to voluntarily release objects from their hands. By dropping things, they are also learning consequences of their movements. The walking ring prevents babies from reaching toys on the floor that they just dropped.

You may think you are helping because the baby gets frustrated when they can't move or reach things. However, that frustration is what drives them to learn to crawl in order to reach toys or people.

3. Sensory systems

The baby's eyes should be looking closely at things as they would when crawling at this stage. By putting them in the standing position, they have to look at items further away before their eyes have developed properly. This could have an impact on their visual perceptual skills used when learning how to read and write. When crawling, the baby's whole body comes in contact with different surfaces and textures, which is necessary when developing the sense of touch. Crawling also involves a lot of head movements, looking at their hands, looking up and looking around. This is necessary when developing the vestibular sense. Poorly integrated senses, aversions or under-responding to stimulation can influence a child's emotional well-being, behaviour and concentration.

4. Safety

Walking rings have come under scrutiny and some European organizations have even called for a ban on baby walkers. They pose a safety risk with very little benefit. They can tip over, get stuck on objects on the floor and the child can reach new heights without the necessary awareness of where their body is.

I understand you have the best intentions and thought you are actually helping your baby develop. Parenting is hard and you just want the best for your child. I suggest that the walking ring can be used in short sessions, just don’t make this their sole mode of transportation!