Are baby walkers safe?

What the evidence says

In Canada, this question has a clear legal answer: wheeled baby walkers are banned outright, not just discouraged. Health Canada prohibits manufacturing, importing, advertising or selling them, and recall notices repeatedly warn that walkers let babies reach hazards, and can tip or roll down stairs causing serious injury or death. This isn't just a Canadian opinion.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has also called for a ban on wheeled walkers, citing thousands of emergency department visits yearly, mostly from falls down stairs, plus burns, poisonings and drownings from babies reaching things they normally couldn't. On the walking question, a review of the research found something interesting: two randomized trials found no effect of walkers on when babies start walking, but cohort studies suggested walkers actually delayed walking by roughly 11 to 26 days on average. Either way, there's no evidence walkers help babies walk sooner.

Safer alternatives that pediatric sources recommend include stationary activity centers (which look similar but don't roll), play yards, or simply supervised floor time. If you already own a wheeled walker, Canadian guidance is to destroy it and throw it away rather than pass it on, since reselling or even giving it away is illegal here.