et out your camera! Your baby seems to be on the verge of taking her first few steps. Like many parents, you may be inclined to put her in a baby walker to encourage her.

You will be making a mistake. Baby walkers can put your child at danger. The National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have developed a fact sheet to inform parents about the dangers of baby walkers.

Most parents are not aware that baby walkers can be very dangerous. Since 1973, 34 children have died because of injuries sustained in walkers. Baby walker accidents send more than 25,000 children to the emergency room each year.

Children in baby walkers can:

	Roll down stairs. (This is the most common way children get hurt.)
	Get burned. (The child may be able to reach a hot item on the table or stove.)
	Drown. (The child can roll into a pool, or fall into a bathtub or toilet.)
	Be poisoned. (A child in a walker may be able to reach poisonous items that you thought were out of reach.)
	Be harmed in other ways. (Walkers can delay crawling, sitting and walking in some children.)
	Trick you. (A child in a walker can move more than three feet in a second, making him or her able to go faster than you can when trying to prevent an accident.)

So what should you do? NACHRI and AAP suggest that you replace your baby walker with a play table that has a seat, a playpen, an infant swing or a high chair.

Your child's safety is your number-one concern. Don't let a baby walker be the cause of an accident to your precious child.