Learning how to walk and talk are probably the biggest milestones babies achieve in their first couple of years of life. When it comes to developing motor skills and a connection between the brain and the legs is a beautiful process. In this article, we’re taking a look at the best baby walkers that can help you babies brain and legs develop into quite the mover!
What’s Here
We get it, there’s a lot of options out there. It can be stressful when shopping for baby gear because of market over-saturation. Are they safe? What’s worth the money? What is the best baby walker for my baby? While we can’t give you total peace of mind, we can at least take the stress out of choosing the best baby walkers.
We’ve got a buyers guide to help you narrow down your options. Up first are our reviews of the best walkers for babies on the market.
The 10 Best Baby Walkers
In this list are the best rated baby walkers on the market. We’ve featured a variety of types, styles, price points and more in our product summaries. We feel confident that by the end of this blog post you’ll be able to make a decision about which baby walker is best for your little one.
1. Tiny Love Meadow Days Here I Grow Baby Walker
Best Walker for Baby at All Stages
The Tiny Love 4-in-1 walker and mobile activity center has the power of versatility. It can alternate between an activity center, a pusher, a walker, or a jumper, depending on your child’s age. The wheels of the walker have a quick, easy lock mechanism if you need to briefly leave the room.
Tiny Love puts an emphasis on imaginative play and development, specifically the Seven Developmental Wonders. This focuses on:
- Cognition
- Language
- Fine motor skills
- The 5 senses
- Gross motor skills
- Creativity
- Emotional intelligence
All this makes for an incredibly engaging experience. The toys on the activity center are moveable and they’re a nice, big size. The whole thing folds down for storage.
2. Combi Baby Walker
Best Walker for Babies with Style
The Combi Activity Walker is baby’s first car. They grow up so fast! The car-themed activity center can be a walker or locked jumper, with 3 height positions to grow with your child. With a shiny chrome grill and a variety of available colors and designs, including a race car and a police car, the Combi definitely wins points for style. The hood is removable to provide a surface for snacks.
It might not be good for sibling relations, though, as older kids will also want a turn to climb in and honk the horn.
3. Disney Music and Lights Walker
Best Baby Walker 2017
If you’re a Disney family, this is the walker for you. The two Disney themed activity trays swing open to reveal a snack tray and have different toys depending on the style you buy. The princess style has a castle and a star wand rattle, while the Minnie walker has a Minnie spin ball and the iconic Mickey ears. There’s also a Winnie the Pooh version.
This pop-up style walker has sturdy grip wheels to reduce speed and a wide base to prevent tipping. The seat sits somewhat high and won’t be suitable for younger babies. This has gotten so many great reviews over the years and is the best baby walker 2017!
4. Joovy Spoon Walker
Best Baby Walkers for Minimalists
Joovy’s walker was designed to be a high-chair on wheels. It comes with a sizable, dishwasher-safe tray that removes for cleaning. The mostly white design is minimalist and sleek with no toys in sight.
The Spoon Walker pays particular attention to the quality of materials: luggage grade seat fabric, steel reinforcement, and oversized wheels. Its extra-wide base provides extra strength and stability. Tool-impaired parents will appreciate that little assembly is required.
5. Hape Wonder Walker Push Walker
Best Baby Push Walker
Hape wins the award for sustainability and safety. Really! The Wonder Walker won a 2011 Parent’s Choice Approved Award. Finished with non-toxic paints and sturdy wood construction, this push toy is certifiably child-safe.
Kids love to spread their things around the house. A basket in the front of the walker is perfect for carting around baby dolls and blocks (and sometimes siblings!). The movable gears and beads offer immediate tactile feedback.
6. Fisher-Price Learn with Me Zebra Walker
Best Baby Walker for Carpet
For a push walker that does double duty, consider Fisher-Price’s Learn with Me Walker. Designed to be fun whether sitting or standing, it’s packed full of educational songs and phrases, including ABCs and 123s.
This small walker is the most affordable. Its four large plastic wheels spin freely, making it the best baby walker for carpet.
7. Bright Starts 3-in-1 Around We Go Activity Center
Best Walker for Baby Learning to Walk
Bright Starts’ Around We Go Activity Center is a unique walker that encourages your child to run around in circles. A detachable walker rotates around a stationary play table base. Babies get the freedom of mobility without any of the associated risks, which makes this the best walker for a baby learning to walk.
The table itself offers 15 activities, including a piano, a pump spinner, rattles, and a mirror. All of these activities are fully accessible from the walker attachment. When your baby gets bored with one activity, he can walk (or race) over to the next.
8. VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker
Best Interactive Baby Walker
VTech has developed a reputation for providing high-quality toys focused on interactive educational play. The Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker falls right in line.
A detachable play panel makes use of more than 70 songs to teach letters, numbers, animals, and shapes. It also has a piano, a push cow with a door to open and close, and the all-important phone for pretending chats with baby friends. Because the panel is removable, this toy is useful long before and long after your baby learns to walk.
While the rear wheels have a tension control dial to make it harder to push while your little one is developing control, it can sometimes slide quickly on hardwood floors.
9. Melissa & Doug Deluxe Baby Walker
Best Baby Walkers Made of Wood
For a single use walker, Melissa & Doug’s Chomp and Clack Alligator Push Toy offers simple pleasures. The alligators make a soft clacking noise as they move up and down. Your child will delight at watching them bob their heads as she walks.
The sturdy base provides stability. The quaint swamp design is charming. It’s a throwback toy that will make you smile.
10. Kolcraft Tiny Steps 2-in-1 Activity Walker
Best Baby Walker for the Money
Kolcraft has designed a flat-folding convertible walker for less than $50. Converting the Tiny Steps Activity Walker from a seated walker to a push walker is as easy as unsnapping the fabric seat.
The activity tray makes use of crinkle toys and different textures to encourage motor skills. A high seat back provides extra support and comfort and is adjustable to your baby’s height.
Benefits of The Best Baby Walkers
Baby walkers are a fun addition to your baby gear collection. Like pack and plays, they help contain your baby safely, while you’re close by cooking dinner or folding laundry.
- The bright colors are engaging. Babies are born with a limited ability to see subtle differences in color. High contrast and saturation help develop a baby’s vision.
- The music can be calming or invigorating. Listening to music helps babies stimulate neural pathways. This stimulation can increase creativity, memory, and language skills.
- The attached toys help teach the baby cause and effect. Rattles and textures help with sensory processing, and beads and spinning toys improve hand-eye coordination.
If used properly, a walker can provide your almost cruising baby with an amusing diversion and a safe place to play. This is especially helpful when your baby wants to be close but you need a break from holding her or wearing her in a carrier.
Types of Baby Walkers
Baby walkers are nothing new. An illustration of a rudimentary walker (called a go-cart) in the manuscript Hours of Catherine of Cleves dates them at least as far back as the 1400s. There was also the baby-runner, a padded ring suspended from a pole in the ceiling that would contain the baby while giving him a limited range of motion.
Now there are two basic types of walkers: seated walkers and push walkers.
Seated Baby Walker
A seated walker has a seat with holes for the baby’s legs, which attaches to either a plastic or metal frame. That structure rests on a base with wheels. Much like Fred Flintstone, the baby’s legs propel the vehicle forward. Actually, Fred’s footmobile would make a great baby walker.
Baby Push Walker
A push walker is a four-wheeled toy with a handle. The baby walks behind the toy, simultaneously pushing it and using it for stability.
Things to Consider Before Buying the Best Baby Walkers
Baby walkers have come under scrutiny with reports of related injuries. As with any toy or playset you use for your baby, there are certain risks. Babies can fall out of high chairs if they aren’t secured. A stacking ring can bruise your child if it gets hurled across the room. Play tents can collapse due to rowdy older sibling behavior.
Minimize the risks to your child by taking the following safety precautions.
- Never leave your baby in a baby walker unsupervised.
- Always use a baby gate or remove access to stairs, bathrooms, dangerous materials, and heat sources.
- Limit the time your baby spends in the walker. Babies need downtime to strengthen muscles and cultivate creativity. Infants who spend most of their day confined to walkers, jumpers or car seats suffer from developmental delays.
- Make sure to pay attention to weight and height restrictions of whatever walker you buy. If your baby doesn’t meet the weight minimum (usually 15 pounds), don’t force it.
- Your baby’s toes should be able to touch the ground. Extended periods of time spent dangling with legs in a straight position can lead to hip dysplasia.