Strollerderby

I too wondered why they still sold bumpers, but then my babies got older and got their arms and legs caught in the rails of their cribs and cried and cried and so I re-bought the bumpers and am still using them now and they are almost 3 years old. I think after a certain age, they are safe. Don't know about the walkers and bath seats though...

We use mesh bumpers to prevent stuck arms and legs, since we had a dislocation from an arm through the slate. No risk of suffocation and he can't climb on them. As far as head bumps, he's gotten a few, and now sleeps in the middle of the crib. :)

I can't imagine why anyone would use a walker, or what the purpose of them is.

And wrestling with a bath seat is too much for me. We have one of those bean-bag style "tubs" that goes in the regular tub, and baths only last about two minutes til meltdown anyway....

I used a walker with both my kids.  They loved it and it really seemed to satisfy a different need than an exersaucer -- the desire to get around and explore before they were able to crawl.  However, 1) we put the walker away once they could crawl so it was a pretty short lived item  2) there were no stairs for it to fall down  3) we babyproofed the house the same as you would if you had a toddler (e.g. get rid of any hanging cords, don't leave hot cups of coffee on accessible tables, common sense stuff).

I disregarded the safety warnings since they all seem to have to do with the danger being that walkers can fall down stairs.  If we don't have stairs, how are they dangerous?  Also, they are highly recommended in Burton White's "The First Three Years of Life", a guide to child development that I found really helpful.

I think walkers and bath seats are still out there because they're not *inherently* dangerous, they're dangerous when misused.  They're so frequently misused that it's easier to advise people just to avoid them in safety lists, but the products themselves don't hurt the children, it's being left alone in them in unsafe situations that hurts the children.  If the products themselves were injuring kids they'd be pulled off the market, but they're not.

Okay, I'm clearly out of the loop-- what kind of "bath seat" is an issue? And what's the danger? If it's just "tempts you to leave the kid alone in the tub", I don't want to hear about it :)

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Isn't it amazing what people are willing to subject their child to? Everyone knows it's not good to smoke around children but cigarettes are still sold in the stores. With the right lawyers and advertising, you can sell anything. The final choice comes down to the parent and it is up to them to make the right choices in the end.

Of course it's up to the parent, but the cigarette analogy is not a good one. The products Madeline mentions here are specifically made for infants and toddlers. Presumably there are some people buying cigarettes who are not planning on smoking around children.

I have a 15 month old daughter and have used bumpers & walkers, though not a bath seat.  The bumpers didn't go on the crib until she was rolling over unassisted (since then I felt comfortable with the idea that if she did roll up against one, she could roll away again), and came off once she started trying to use them to stand up.  And after my daughter tried a walker at a relative's house and fell in love with it, the walker came home with us.  As for the bathing, I bathe with my daughter so there's no point for a bathseat.

Look, anything can be dangerous.  But parents need to take responsibility for their actions.  Remember all the upset over the bumbo, when in fact the only injuries that ever resulted from the infant seat were when parents put their childs in the seat on a TABLE and then the little tykes fell out?  Well, a) don't put your baby on a table and for Pete's sake, if you do, b) don't walk away!

And for anyone who's going to bring up how walkers negatively impact walking--as a parent, it's your responsibility to not plop your kid in a walker, or an exersaucer, or any other contraption meant to keep your kid busy ALL THE TIME as opposed to actively engaging them most of the time and using those tools occasionally.  My daughter started walking unassisted at 11 months old and hasn't looked back since.  Seems to me she's doing just fine, thank you.

My youngest are almost 5 and 6 years old, which is huge.  

Used a bath seat, never had a problem with it.  It was hard to hold a wet, slippery baby upright and wash at the same time in a big tub.  But I was there every second and the thing never tipped, and if it had, I would have been there.

No walker.  We had an exersaucer.

Bumper pads were just starting to go out of fashion when the youngest was an infant.  His crib set came with the pads and I used them because he was another one of those babies who got his foot "stuck" in the crib slats.  I took them off after about 6 months because I had heard that they can use them to climb out of the crib.

With the last two, I wanted a nursery....all pretty and babyish, so we had a changing table/dresser.  It had 4 drawers and a huge storage area. Used it a lot.  Loved it.

We use a walker (and love it) - don't have stairs so that's not a concern, and baby is ALWAYS supervised.  The warnings on most of these products (particularly walkers - I did A LOT of research before buying one) are there to avoid law suits.  Anything can be dangerous if unsupervised (my daughter almost choked on a piece of strawberry).  The problem with crib bumpers is that there are dangers AND the baby is unsupervised when used so makes sense to avoid them, but supervised walkers = safe fun to me.  

I never heard the thing about bath seats, and we use one every day. My husband and I are always with the baby in the bath, and he can't sit up yet. Seems more dangerous not to have it.

We didn't use the crib bumper at first, per the pedi's recommendation, but we put it in once my son started rolling into it and getting his limbs stuck. Once he gets old enough to stand in the crib (he's almost 6 months), we'll probably remove it.

As for walkers, I fell down the stairs in one when I was a baby; there's no way I'm getting one now. Besides, there's no room in my condo for one.

Here in Italy you find a huge assortment of walkers and bath seats available.  Everyone has a story of how their children or grandchildren survived a fall down a flight of stairs with a walker, but there doesn't seem to be any concern about the danger.  You also frequently see cars where children are without seat belts and infants are held in their parents' arms.   On the other hand parents and grandparents are hyper-concerned about children being dressed in hats and coats and scarves for fear they should catch cold.  As the outsider, I bite my tongue and resist the temptation to point out the hypocrisy of it all.  

I'd have to question the idea of jogging with a baby in a stroller, of any kind.  The BOB stroller touts it's safety strap that is low on the stroller to prevent the "likelihood" of flipping the stroller back on the baby's head should you happen to fall and pull the strap (apparently some straps are up by the push bar!)

But seriously, you are running with a child!  So what if they are in a super duper bike tire stroller.  You are running! And you're pushing the child along at a good clip and may well lose control of not only your self in a face plant, which is exacerbated by the reduced ability to see where you are going(!) and the added coordination required to steer the whole contraption at high speeds.

I intend to buy a jogging type stroller for its smooth ride and ability to go over grass or sand reasonably well.  For the record, I am well over 6' tall and physically capable, but I sure as hell am not going to jog with my child in it!

Otherwise I might as well be convinced to just put my kid in a McDonald's booster seat in my car, because hey, what's the worst that could happen?!!

We use bumpers in our 3 month old's crib. To be honest, I'd never heard that they were considered dangerous. I'm glad we use it because he kicks his way up into the corner and will kick himself into the sides of the crib, bumping his head over and over. He also runs his hands up and down the fabric of the bumpers. I'd bet he would get his hands or feet stuck between the slats without much effort. We have a little bath sling seat thingy that came with a baby tub. We put the seat in the sink and hold him up while we bathe him. We never leave him alone in the tub, that would just be irresponsible!