We were given one and it's barely been used. Can we sell or pass it on?

The AAP's instruction is to throw it out. Passing it on moves the hazard to a household that may know less about it than you now do, and 'barely used' does not change what it does in the second it reaches a staircase.

What about the stationary ones with no wheels?

Those are on the AAP's list of alternatives. The wheels are the thing that turns a seat into a hazard — they add speed and range. Still keep sessions short and keep them in sight, since any container limits how a baby moves.

Our stairs are gated. Is it fine then?

Stairs are the most dramatic hazard but not the only one. Hot drinks, pot handles, radiators, baths, pools and anything stored at waist height all come into reach, and at more than three feet per second. The AAP's position is that walkers are never safe to use even with an adult close by — a gate does not change that.

Will they walk later if we don't use one?

It is the other way round. Walkers can delay walking. What builds it is time on the floor, pulling up, cruising along furniture and falling over — none of which happens in a walker.

Keeping them safe · 3 min read

Baby walkers, and why not

Someone has given you one, or you have seen one second-hand, and the pitch is that it will help them walk sooner and buy you twenty minutes.

Of everything on this site, this is the clearest single answer: do not use it, and the reasons are more specific than general caution.

Last updated August 20, 2026

The position, which is unusually strong

The AAP has called for a ban on the manufacture and sale of baby walkers with wheels. Canada has already banned them under consumer product safety law.

That is a long way beyond the ordinary 'use with care' language attached to most baby products, and it is worth reading it as what it is — a body that rarely asks for outright bans asking for one here.

The AAP notes walkers send thousands of children to hospitals every year.

Why watching them does not fix it

This is the part that changes the decision, because most parents assume the risk is really about unattended children.

The AAP's figure: a child in a walker can move more than three feet in one second. Their conclusion follows directly — walkers are never safe to use, even with an adult close by.

The specific hazards are all about a baby suddenly having speed and height at the same time: rolling down stairs, which often causes broken bones and severe head injuries; reaching hot things that were safely out of range, including tablecloths, pot handles and radiators; pools and bathtubs; and poisons stored at what used to be an adult-only height.

They do not help walking

The central selling point is simply wrong. The AAP is direct: many parents think walkers will help their children learn to walk, but they do not — in fact walkers can actually delay when a child starts to walk.

The mechanism is intuitive once said. A walker holds a child upright and lets them scoot with their toes, which is not how walking is built. Walking comes from floor time, from pulling up on furniture, from falling over and doing it again — the parts a walker removes.

What to use instead

The AAP's alternatives are stationary activity centers with no wheels, a play yard or playpen, and a high chair.

All three do the actual job you wanted — somewhere safe to put the baby for a few minutes — without adding speed.

On one you already own, their advice is unambiguous: throw out your baby walkers. That includes not passing it on, which is the tempting middle option.

Common questions

We were given one and it's barely been used. Can we sell or pass it on?: The AAP's instruction is to throw it out. Passing it on moves the hazard to a household that may know less about it than you now do, and 'barely used' does not change what it does in the second it reaches a staircase.
What about the stationary ones with no wheels?: Those are on the AAP's list of alternatives. The wheels are the thing that turns a seat into a hazard — they add speed and range. Still keep sessions short and keep them in sight, since any container limits how a baby moves.
Our stairs are gated. Is it fine then?: Stairs are the most dramatic hazard but not the only one. Hot drinks, pot handles, radiators, baths, pools and anything stored at waist height all come into reach, and at more than three feet per second. The AAP's position is that walkers are never safe to use even with an adult close by — a gate does not change that.
Will they walk later if we don't use one?: It is the other way round. Walkers can delay walking. What builds it is time on the floor, pulling up, cruising along furniture and falling over — none of which happens in a walker.

If it's this, not that

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Where this comes from

Baby walkers: a dangerous choiceAAP
A pediatric occupational therapist on baby walker safetyEmma Hubbard

Every claim on this page traces to one of these. See every source we use →

Written from the sources named above, and it is not a substitute for your own doctor. If something feels wrong to you, that instinct is a good enough reason to call — you know yourself and this family better than any page does.