Walkies (Chicco Square Baby Walker)

Member Name: Vicki H

Product:	Chicco Square Baby Walker
Date:	24/08/01 (170 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Baby enjoys the freedom, Keeps baby occupied., Easy to clean

Disadvantages: Can be dangerous., Outgow them very quickly., Expensive for amount of use they get.

My reason for buying a baby walker had nothing to do with wanting Joe to walk early it was more a way of satisfying his increasing desire to stand up. Joe was constantly pushing up and made himself totally rigid so that you couldn't put him down - he was wearing us out!

I'd seen the baby walkers advertised but felt uncertain as to whether they were a good thing or not. You read about so many accidents with these things and then you hear about it delaying the baby from walking etc. Anyway one wet Sunday afternoon when our arms could no longer stand holding the little porker we headed for Toys R Us (again!).

There were quite a few walkers on display and one tended to look pretty similar to the other. Some did have trays on them with toys attached which were nice but I didn't get one of these as I hadn't heard of the make before. After much debate we bought the Chicco one. We had already got a Chicco chair and were very pleased with it and so trusted the make. We also checked it out for sturdiness etc and it seemed very solid. Another couple were also going through the same process and they decided on this one too which reassured me for some reason.

The walker has a large white base and 8 wheels. It has green, blue and yellow fabric in squares. The seat is very firm and wipes clean well. There is a big white tray that also cleans nicely. The walker is height adjustable and has 3 different settings. My son is very tall for his age, yet when we brought this walker home it was much too large for him even on its lowest setting. He was 6 months when we bought it and a fair size! The other couple in the shop had a daughter who was about half his size so I reckon her feet might just be touching the floor now! It took a few weeks for him to reach to the floor.

The walker came in a large box but was not heavy. We did have a struggle getting it into our car though it is very small. The walker was easy to ass
emble it just needed pulling into position. It folds flat for easy storage.

Once he could touch the floor he didn't move in it at all. We did all the running round the house business to demonstrate but he just wasn't interested. After a few weeks he started to go backwards and then all of a sudden he got the hang of it. Word of warning here, move everything! He was very fond of the telephone and anything decorative and expensive. I did not allow him in the kitchen in it but I was always careful to move wires out of reach and to cook on the rear rings of the hob. The problem with a walker is that you never know when or where they might appear next (especially if Dad is looking after them and the footie comes on!).

I found the walker useful in the respect that it gave Joe a change from sitting and crawling. If boredom crept in a whizz around in his walker would usually help. I knew that he was safe in it as I was very through with checking that nothing was in his reach. I think the problem with these things is when children are not properly supervised yet I would never criticise a parent as it only takes a second for a baby to have an accident in something like this.

Yesterday I took Joe for his assessment and I pointed out that he is standing up on his toes. This is said to be very characteristic of chldren who use these walkers. The Health Visitor advised that I take the walker off him now and this should solve the problem. I am not worried that this has put him backwards with his walking. He is 9 and a half months old and is pulling up to a standing position with the furniture. I think however it is something that you need to be aware of when you buy one of these (I wasn't). So with some sadness the walker has gone away. I think it served its purpose but for such a short time that it is not worth buying a new one. I would buy second hand next time if I decided to give one to another baby.

Thanks fo
r reading.

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