Do I really need a walker ???? -Beth would love your opinion too

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

Directed at anyone who will answer...but Beth I hope you'll weigh in on this as well...

For some reason my gut is to NOT get one!!! I feel like I am a walker :), I have his foot prints all over my legs and belly to prove it!!!!

If I get one it will be the Radio Flyer since I love Radio Flyer items...

But honestly T is climbing on everything and walking arounc the table (holding on and falling a time or two), but for some reason the walkers kind of scare me and I have no idea why. He does use what I have called a "walker", the device you sit in and walk and eat from and crawls on that and pushes it. So do I need to buy an official "walker"...
Neve
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[brigmaman]

I don't think that you necessarily NEED a walker. Ds received one (plastic, I can't think of brand right now, it has music) last Christmas when he was 5 months. When he was old enough to sit up it was simply a toy we put in front of him so he could play with the activities on it. When he was learning to cruise, then walk, he never used it.
That said, when he was learning to walk, he loved to push around his leap frog learning table and laundry baskets full of clothes! He probably would have been afraid of the clicking noise the wheels on the radio flyer make as he is afraid of anything out of the ordinary. :) It is only now, a year after he received it, and 4 months after he started walking, that he is pushing the walker all around the house like the little boy in the diaper commercials. So now, at 16 months, I can tell he would like to push a Radio Flyer walker around and even put some of his favorite toys in it.
Babies obviously learn to walk without toys designed to help. I guess it probably depends on your child's preference as to whether he/she will actually play with a walker.

After I wrote this, I saw your post on possibly just saving for a wagon. I just wanted to mention that Brig also go a wagon last x-mas and loved to climb in and out this past summer. He actually fell asleep in it while his cousin pulled him around the yard! I can remember playing with our RF wagon as kids and it was so much fun! The best was having someone push, and have 1 or 2 of us (there are 5 siblings) sit in the wagon. Whoever was in the front would steer. Wagons, I feel, are a must!

[MelissaTC]

Sounds like it is something you are not really wanting anyway Neve. I didn't want one but was given one by a neighbor after her son was done with it (he is a few months older than Matthew). We used it for a bit but it wasn't something I was going to buy. By the time we received it and actually used it, Matthew was pulling himself up and starting to cruise.

I would hold off and buy a push toy. You will get more use out of it and it is safer.

[22tango]

We never used one. I found a suggestion here on BBB to use an empty box and Karenna just pushed that around the house. I tested it to see if it would move smoothly and it worked great. You can even throw a towel inside to help weight it if it slides too quickly.

[kristine_elen]

I got one for my son at a consignment store and he uses it once in a while, but it's not a fave, and I think he's learning more about walking by cruising along the couch. Someone on this board pointed out that you can just flip a laundry basket upside down and use that as a walker, and my son also thinks that's fun. I wouldn't buy one if you're not excited about it.

[egoldber]

Well, I had one for Sarah, but I think that Tristan is too old and too mobile for one now. I used mine when she was about 4 to 7 months. As soon as she could get around using another method (in her case scooting), I put it away.

HTH,

[lukkykatt]

Neve, we've never had a walker, and both my children walk! IMHO, there are lots of things that are just as good (if not better) and will have a much longer life. The Little Tykes shopping cart is great - every child loves to push it; it is very stable, and will be useful far into the future. Wagons are another great thing - if you are so inclined, there are walker wagons, but I think that the regular wagons are fantastic and will also be used forever. There are some scoot-on vehicles that have handles on the back that would be good and have alot of longevity too.

Also, everyday items like boxes, laundry baskets and step stools make great "walkers". Of course, I am not against walkers, but if you don't think you need one, you can certainly do without it. We did, and lived to tell the tale! :)

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

Oh Karenna is too cute!!!...adorable picture thanks for sharing :)...I like that idea!!!
Neve
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[Momof3Labs]

Colin has loved push toys, like his Little Tykes shopping cart. He's been big on pushing his toys around for quite a few months now - maybe 5 months? But a laundry basket would have been fine too, I'm sure.

[22tango]

Thanks!! :) She used it from about 7-10 months old then started walking at 10.5!!! She really adored it pushing it around. Best of all -- I just broke it down and recycled it when she was finished! Now I don't have to store it forever. LOL!

[cchavez]

I am confused....are you talking about a walker or push toy.

we just got Diego the RF push toy. it arrived yesterday. it will be his Xmas gift. I hope he likes it. But I also figure this is a toy he will use for several months to help tote his toys around.

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

I have called a "walker" both what he runs around in sitting and eating cheerios ...and I guess what others call a "push toy" (probably in error). So I might have had my terminology wrong, but I meant the "push toy" (little wagon) by RF that I think is adorable, I just don't have the extra funds to get that AND a wagon which is why I was hoping I didn't really need both. He's getting a wagon but I don't see it as a walking aid so was just trying to clarify if I should buy the walking aid and not the wagon...


Neve
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[lukkykatt]

I agree that the push toy by RF is adorable. I had looked at that one too. But if you only want one, I would get the regular wagon. My older son got a wagon for his first birthday and he walked with it all the time (he did not walk on his own til he was 16 months). He just walked along side of it back and forth across the room.

I think probably having both would be redundant.

[cchavez]

Thanks for the clarification. Diego will be getting the push toy for Christmas and I have already told my parents that the wagon would make great a great first birthday present. If not we might get it for him then but I was already planning on getting him a Kettler trike and since Right Start is going out of business I might be able to get a great price on one and save it for his first b-day!!!

I agree that you dont' need both and I would go for the wagon. But if Tristan were a bit younger I might say he needs the push toy but this is all based on what I have read on posts regarding the push toy not on experience!

[vikivoly]

Obviously you don't need a walker to learn to walk. There are plenty of good suggestions listed here. But, if you do decide to purchase one, get something that will be used for more than just a walker. Like the Parents Around the Block Wagon. DD enjoys sitting and playing with the blocks inside the wagon and opening and closing the lids.