WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) is informing consumers of the availability
of a new generation of safer baby walkers. These new walkers
have features that will reduce the stair-fall injuries
associated with traditional baby walkers.
More children are injured with baby walkers than with
any other nursery product. CPSC estimates that, in 1997,
walkers were involved in 14,300 hospital emergency-room-
treated injuries to children younger than 15 months. Walkers
also have been involved in 34 deaths since 1973. Most
children sustained injuries when their walker fell down
stairs.
To make walkers safer, CPSC worked with the industry to
develop a new standard. Each walker meeting the new standard
and certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers
Association (JPMA) must meet one of two requirements: 1) it
must be too wide to fit through a standard doorway, or 2) it
must have features, such as a gripping mechanism, to stop
the walker at the edge of a step.
If consumers choose to use baby walkers, CPSC strongly
recommends that they replace their old walkers with a
new-generation baby walker, which meets the requirements of
the standard. Consumers should look for the "Meets New
Standard" label.
If consumers want a wheeled walker, they should buy one
that has new safety features to help prevent falls down
stairs. Another alternative is the stationary activity
center, which does not have wheels. Whichever new product
they choose, consumers should follow these safety tips when
using a baby walker or an activity center:
Close the door or gate at the top of the stairs.
Keep children within view.
Keep children away from hot surfaces and containers.
Beware of dangling appliance cords.
Keep children away from toilets, swimming pools and
other sources of water.
CPSC said that without the new standard, baby
walker-related injuries would increase to as many as 32,000
injuries in 2002. With CPSC's intervention in getting the
new standard in place, the number of baby walker-related
injuries is estimated to decrease to less than 10,000 per
year by 2002.