10:18 AM PDT on Wednesday, June 22, 2005

By BERNARD CHOI / KING 5 News

SEATTLE -- A fall down stairs with a baby walker has sent a Seattle baby to the hospital with a head injury.

Since the early 1999’s, many agencies have warned parents to avoid baby walkers, and some doctors have even called on the government to ban them.

But anyone can easily buy one for as little as $15 in local shops, and on the Internet many big-name baby stores still sell them. Experts worry that not all parents know of the hidden dangers.

For generations, millions of infants got their first taste of independence on baby walkers. The rolling contraptions were believed to help tots gain the strength to walk, but experts warn of a major weakness – the danger of falling down stairs.

Melissa Doll's 11-month-old granddaughter Alexa is recovering at Harborview Medical Center. She was in a baby walker at home, by the stairs when the adults turned their back for just a second.

Alexa fell and her head hit the side of the stairs. She suffered a concussion and a lacerated spleen.

KING

Falling down stairs is the most common injury with baby walkers.

According to government estimates in 2004, an estimated 5,000 children were treated in emergency rooms for injuries associated with baby walkers. That's down from more than 8,000 in 1999 and more than 30,000 in 1991.

“Kids break bones, head injuries, hit their head on their way down and then abdominal injuries like Alexa,” said Dr. Heather Mefford at Harborview Medical Center.

It's not that the walkers themselves are dangerous, but they give kids mobility and that can cause problems, especially in a house that's not childproofed.

“Infants in infant walkers can move three feet a second so they can be across the room before a parent has the time to react, parents don't realize that,” Mefford said.

Almost 90 percent of the injuries are from falling down stairs. Experts say if you still insist on using the walkers, put a gate at the top of the stairs and keep children away from hot surfaces and containers. But best of all, take the wheels off.

According to new industry standards, a walker should either be too wide to fit through a standard doorway, or must have a mechanism to stop the walker at the edge of a step.