Say No to Baby Walkers

"Kimi ni dah besar dah ni, dah nak tatih ni, dah boleh pakai walker dah ni! nanti lambat sangat pakai walker ni lambat dia pandai jalan nanti ni! ".

Lately, we've been getting suggestions like that, but we have reservations. I read somewhere that walkers are not good for baby's physical development, but didn't really pay attention that time sebab belum kena pakai lagi. So recently I did a bit of googling and this is what I found (source):

• Newer-style walkers have large trays that prevent infants from seeing their moving feet.
  Walkers of all sorts (new style, with trays, and old style, without trays) prevent infants from exploring and grabbing at things around them, which is critical to their early mental development.
• Walkers give parents the false impression that the baby is safer in one of them, than left free to crawl on the floor. The truth is that walkers effectively give babies the mobility of a toddler at 5 months - abilities that neither the baby has the development for nor the parents are prepared for. Think about it, which is easier: to grab your child if it starts crawling towards the staircase, the TV set or your hot cofee, or to plunge after it while it darts towards danger at 3 feet a second?!
• The baby tends to falsely believe that its world is flat: while rolling with its walker, it does not understand the concept of uneven surfaces, steps and obstacles, because the walker cannot be operated on such surfaces. However, the baby must learn that the world is definitely not a flat place to move about!
• The baby using a walker is taught that it is weightless: harnessed in the safety of the walker, the baby gets the surprise of its life when, suddenly out of the walker, it finds (very painfully so) itself sprawled against the hard floor, where nothing is there to support it!
• Many parents claim that walkers save them time and energy. This may be partially true. Yet again, being with your baby and learning along with it the entire world is such a gratifying experience you will have only one chance to live through! If you have to invest time and energy somewhere, what more proper to do it on your own child? (totally agree but then kesian la jugak the ancient bibik yang kena merangkak sekali dengan Kimi)

Okay I know it's from ebay, it might lack the credibility we're looking for. But the points kinda make sense that's why I'm quoting it. More googling lead me to this article (it's a .pdf file) which pretty much confirms what that fella on ebay was talking.

So, I guess off the walker goes then! =)

More references:
http://www.drgreene.com/21_810.html
http://www.babycenter.com/404_will-baby-walkers-and-jumpers-help-my-baby-learn-to-walk_6878.bc
http://rickemmerich.com/blog/baby-walkers-good-or/