As parents, we care deeply about the safety of our children as we raise them from toddlers to adulthood. And a major part of our responsibilities as adults is to monitor our kids to, as much as possible, prevent them from accidents.

So what is the role of baby walkers in all of this? A baby walker is basically a metal or wood frame with a seat placed atop a wheeled base. It was primarily intended to be used for children who are able to sit up but have not yet able to walk around independently by themselves. The seat is normally covered with padded cloth and is set at a height that allows the baby's feed to touch the floor. The baby sits, strapped in the seat which is positioned in the center of the walker. The walker can be a wooden baby walker or plastic baby walker.

Every year, over 800,000 children are killed by accidents. Millions more are injured - some serious.  In fact, in well developed countries, one of the top ten causes of child deaths are accidents. In one of their many childhood research studies, Canada discovered that many of these accidents were caused by baby walkers. In 2004, their response was to ban the sale of baby walkers in their country. Not only that, but after the ban, Canadian citizens faced potential thousand dollar fines if they were even in possession of a baby walker. These harsh restrictions have since been relaxed.

In the United States alone, in the decade from 1990 to 2000, over 150,000 infants were admitted to emergency rooms due solely to baby walker injuries. The majority of these injuries were caused by the baby falling down one or more stairs while in the baby walker. The walkers were of such concern to the American Academy of Pediatrics that they called for a ban on baby walkers similar to the Canadian ban.

A U.S. ban did not occur, but taking note of the emotions surrounding their product, eventually the baby walker industry responded by planning and designing baby walkers that encompassed safety features that made them more safe. Specifically they promised to produce walkers that would made it much more difficult for a child to fall down stairs.

And the efforts of the baby walker industry has actually had a positive effect. A 2006 study by Brenda J. Shields and Dr. Gary A. Smith found that the industry added safety improvements had indeed reduced the overall number of childhood injuries. The main modification to these walkers were that their base was widened to at least 36 inches. This not only added to their stability, but it also make them just wide enough to prevent them from being able to get through doorways. This simple solution cut down on the number of stairway injuries by simply preventing the child from being able to walk through the door to reach the stairway. The second major innovation was the addition of a brake to the baby walker which simply stopped the walker from moving if one or more wheels left the floor.

A U.S. study finds that safety improvements made to the walkers over the past decade in addition to the increased use of stationary play centers have reduced the number of overall childhood injuries. The study, by Brenda J. Shields and Dr. Gary A. Smith of Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio, appears currently in Pediatrics magazine. Cheap baby walkers are likely to not contain these safety improvement and are best avoided. The best baby walkers you'll find have all been produced after 2006. Be especially careful of used walkers which are probably produced earlier.

But that is not the end of the problem for baby walkers. Many pediatricians and other child specialists maintain that these baby walkers serve no real helpful purpose for the child itself. They claim that it can even retard normal motor and mental development of the child. Many also believe that parents basically use these devices as a substitute for their own supervisory oversight, relying more on these type of passive systems rather than taking a more active role in supervising their children. Of course, most parents today laugh at the idea of even being able to find more time in their busy schedules to supervise their child every waking hour.

More recently, studies in Ireland strongly indicated that children who used walkers typically were able to walk and stand without support later than children who had gone through their pre-walking stage using baby walkers. The studies also showed that kids using walkers consistently reached other childhood milestones later than their counterpoints who did not use walkers. Citing the fact that there seemed to be a strong association between childhood late development and the use of walkers, many specialists insist that the use of baby walkers be discouraged by their patients.

Walkers for babies, in one form or another, have been around for over 2 centuries. Their popularity stems from the fact that they are very convenient for the parent as they allow the child to be mobile without the parent having to carry them around. Parents have also viewed these devices as an excellent way to keep their kids occupied, busy, and out of their hair.

Nowadays, parents are continuing their transition from baby walkers to more stationary activity centers that allow the child to practice and improve their motor skills without the hazards inherent in baby walkers. Medical experts also point directly to this transition as the main reason for the overall decrease in child related injuries.