VTech First Steps Baby Walker

Product Information

It’s a joyful little walker, guaranteed to put a smile on your baby’s face. But don’t blame us if the cheery tunes start to grate on you after a while. Encourage baby’s first steps with the VTech First Steps Baby Walker. This 2-in-1 baby walker and activity centre is designed to help tots find their balance, with a playful activity panel for fun along the way.

We know how overwhelming it can be to research baby equipment online. With so much choice available, it can be difficult to know where to start. This is the reason we test every baby walker in this roundup to ensure we provide the most honest and hands-on review of a product. Mindful of the problems that encouraging ‘toe walking’ can bring, the manufacturer recommends this sit-in walker is only used by children who can put their feet flat on the floor. This walker adjusts to three different heights, meaning it can grow with your child. Safety features include no-tip safety pads and speed-restricting wheels to give parents peace of mind. Finally, we cross-referenced all of the above information to make a longlist of the best baby walkers currently on the market. Seated walker: these take up the most space and often double up as play stations, with buttons, lights and noises to entertain your baby.When choosing a baby entertainer or baby activity walker, look out for features that can spark your little one’s curiosity. Playful music, flashing lights, mirrors and bright colours stimulate baby’s senses, while entertainers with animal toys or baby walkers with steering wheels can help encourage imaginative play. Bat-at toys, teethers and bead chasers are great for your child’s developing hand-eye coordination and other fine motor skills. Some baby entertainers, like the Fisher-Price jumperoo, feature seats that spin 360˚ so baby has even more to explore. Another highlight is the detachability of the activity panel so your baby can play with it anywhere – even when laid on their best play mat if they're not quite up to walking yet. Push-along walkers are a great way for your baby to strengthen their leg muscles and work on their coordination skills in preparation for walking unaided. Do baby walkers help with development? Push-along baby walkers don’t generate the same concerns as seated baby walkers. Your baby is required to concentrate on keeping upright by themselves, rather than being held in place, and their hands are always occupied holding onto the handle bar.

When it’s not in use, it also folds down. Chances are that many parents end up buying a seated walker and a push-along one, which cost more than buying this all-in-one model. Don’t leave them in the baby walker too long. It’s a fun way to encourage your baby to walk, but it won’t actually help the process. They’ll have to do that by themselves, using furniture to help. So make sure they spend most of their time on the floor in a hazard-free zone – preferably barefoot – and keep baby walker time as an occasional 20-minute treat. Trailer: this simple, classic design is useful beyond the transition into walking because it can double up as a toy carrier for when your two-year-old becomes obsessed with transportation.

Physiotherapists have also warned the use of baby walkers could actually hinder a child's ability to learn to walk and the NHS recommends they are only used for up to 20 minutes at a time. However, in a seated baby walker, babies lose opportunities to learn important movement and perception skills such as distance and depth, and key concepts such as in or out and on or under. Paediatric research has shown that sit-in baby walkers may have an impact on baby’s development and impact on gait and posture. Can baby walkers delay walking? Additionally, as with all baby gear, it’s your responsibility to make sure the walkers are being used safely, and babies shouldn’t be left alone. From this list, we chose a shortlist of the 10 best baby walkers that we felt offered a range of design, functions and price points, to ensure there was something for everyone. About the author