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Report: Hundreds of thousands of children injured by baby walkers over past 25 years

Baby walkers are very popular with parents, but they can be dangerous.

There is potential for trouble with those wheeled frames and suspended seats that let babies move around using their feet.

A shocking number of babies are injured each year by baby walkers, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

Over the past 25 years, an estimated 230,676 children were injured in baby walker accidents.

Most children were injured by falling down stairs in a baby walker, and 90 percent of the injuries were to the head and neck.

Nearly 38 percent of the children that went to the hospital, suffered a skull fracture.

The good news is that the overall number of baby walker injuries has decreased since 1990.

Gary Smith, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio spoke with WSB Radio about the risk.

“Baby walkers by their nature give children mobility before they're able to handle it,” explains, adding, “I tell parents that the best parent in the world can’t move quickly enough to stop their child from going down the stairs, is say a young sibling leaves the door open to the basement stairs – even for a moment.”

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