Baby Bouncer

Hi there

I have a son who is 16 weeks. Fot at least 6 weeks he has shown great interest (and strength) in supported standing. ie on the floor, or someone's knees. I walked myself at 7 weeks- apparently I wasn't interested in crawling/sitting..just getting on my feet!!

we have purchased a 'Lindam' baby bouncer which I put him in once or twice a day..10 mins max. He loves this- can weight transfer, spin around.

As a physio, I think if he is showing he wants and can do it..then we shouldn't worry it is too early and could be damaging developmentally.

Does anyone have any evdence based research on early walking/standing in babies??

Rachael Rowberry

I do not know of any research about early walking etc but I do think that using a baby bouncer has very little to do with a natural way to stimulate abilities. You have to consider that a human being is not fully developed until 16-17 years of age (the brain is still developing til the age of 7-8). The physical development of a child is, at least in literature, closely related to to its mental/psychological development as so one can observe differences in development of children. One develop faster physically another mentally.
But understand well that a child doesn't need any help in the form of a baby bouncer to develop. In opposite one has to consider if the bones which are at that age not very bony but more or less cartilage like. But nowadays there is a tendency to let children read at an age which they should use for other things. Who cares?

Hi all,

Actully i don't have an evedence for baby care

Mean while i didn't get what really did u mean by " bouncer"...but if u meant a car for babies with 4 wheels to be use at that so earliest age most probably would cause bowing for legs as neuropast said it's more cartilage than boney composition....!


Regards

I never recommend baby bouncers.( paediatric physiotherapist for 30 yrs and a mum)
When a child is able to move from horizontal to vertical itself would be the first time you are probably not doing any harm. I have never read any studies about baby bouncers. The most important people, who really know a lot about developmental neurology, are the ones to "ask". I suggest you start looking up(google of pubmed) prof. mijna hadders-algra´s work. She is a specialist in the development of truck and posture. if you can learn a little more about the natural development you might even throw the whole thing away.

When a child is as young as your child is, it still needs a amount of trunk support when being held vertical. Most children who have started to "standup" at such an early age are "standing on their reflexes". From 3-4 months(corrected) age reflex activity slowly changes into goal related movements.
---
dear junior physiotherapist, if you want ot know what a babybouncer is go to www.youtube.com and type baby bouncers and you will find various films featuring babies in these bouncers.

regards
esther

Originally Posted by estherderu I never recommend baby bouncers.( paediatric physiotherapist for 30 yrs and a mum) When a child is able to move from horizontal to vertical itself would be the first time you are probably not doing any harm. I have never read any studies about baby bouncers. The most important people, who really know a lot about developmental neurology, are the ones to "ask". I suggest you start looking up(google of pubmed) prof. mijna hadders-algra´s work. She is a specialist in the development of truck and posture. if you can learn a little more about the natural development you might even throw the whole thing away. When a child is as young as your child is, it still needs a amount of trunk support when being held vertical. Most children who have started to "standup" at such an early age are "standing on their reflexes". From 3-4 months(corrected) age reflex activity slowly changes into goal related movements. --- dear junior physiotherapist, if you want ot know what a babybouncer is go to www.youtube.com and type baby bouncers and you will find various films featuring babies in these bouncers. regards esther

Thanks...for ur information

Hi rowberryhatton,

I agree with Esther, that at that age standing is done through reflex activity, which I don't think should be encouraged. In relation with the baby bouncer, the epifisis of the bone (cartilage near the joint - sorry if misspelled..) is stimulated to grow on a particular area (medial or lateral) depending of the forces that are applied to it during early weight bearing (in crawling, kneeling, standing...), hence that babies have a physiological valgus first and corrects later. I'm not sure the bouncer is the most recommendable for this joint development. Appart from the irregular force on the bone, the hip joint is held on an abducted position.
Again, if you do it only for short periods mightn't be as bad, and he is gaining other sensory experiences. Still, if I had to give my professional advice I wouldn't recomend it or use it for my baby.
If you would like more information on developmental orthopeadics, pathways web page from Beverly Cusick is a good source of info. Do a search in google and it should come up.
Hope this helps. All the best.

Eva

Hi,

I would agree with all the above.

Walking at 7 weeks? Are you sure?

Perhaps if you are keen to keep the walking up, a safer way would be to have your baby in the bath tub at least waist high to unload the bones.

I would like to see research into whether kids who don't crawl develop certain types of postures etc etc.

Interesting stuff.

In the end, is there an advantage for your child to "walk" earlier - as a parent of 3, i loved the fact that my kids couldn't get away quickly until the average 1 yr old!

Hey alophysio.I totally agree with you .Walking at seven weeks is not possible in all babies except few.I bought a baby bouncer/walker and Mickey sport buggy for my baby.When my baby was 8 months old and still not walking .

Try these articles and reference lists

Infant motor development and equipment use in the home.
Abbott, A.L.; Bartlett, D. J.
Child: Care, Health & Development. 27(3):295-306, May 2001.

Conclusion substract

A study on the effect of baby walker on mean age acquisition of motor skills in infants: PP-370Volume 97 Supplement 459, June 2008, p 219–220
Publication Type: [Abstracts from the 3rd Europaediatrics Congress 14–17 June 2008, Istanbul, Turkey: POSTER Presentation
The findings from this present study do suggest that infants with high equipmentuse tend to score lower on infant motor development.These results could also suggest that infants with low equipment use tend to score higher on infant motor development

A review of the effects of sleep position, play position, and equipment use on motor development in infants.
Pin, Tamis MSc *; Eldridge, Beverley PhD; Galea, Mary P PhD
Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 49(11):858-867, November 2007.

175 babies (58.33%) were male. The mean age of acquisition of all motor skills including rolling, crawling, moving on hands and feet, sitting without and with help, standing and walking dependently and independently was delayed in infants using baby walkers. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001).

I think the intitial poster of this question must have meant 7 months walking. This is the earliest possible time an infant has the ability to pull themselves to a standing position without assistance. At our practice we do not reccomend any forms of walkers, jolly jumpers or standing activity centres for the pure fact that these devices do not teach the child to walk/jump etc. The teach poor movement patterns such as toe walking, high extensor tone and poor pelvic position and control. I note that the instructions of these jumping devices say to let the child's toes touch the floor. Jumping feet leavng the floor is a 2-2 1/2 year old skill. A child younger than this does not have the body control (bones, muscles and co-ordination) to manage a jump action. Jumping in your arms is different and you would support the child far more than the device would. We still do not reccomend alot of weight baring before 6 months. The evidence speaks for itself!
Good luck

I have been wondering since research confirms the obvious; equipment use tends to cause lower scores on motor development. Could the translation of this outcome be; in case a baby has no obvious deficit in motor development the use of devices is contra indicated. The baby doesn't need help but is capable with stimulation which helps normal development e.g. stimulates curiosity to find his own route regarding motor and mental development.