Supporting Baby and Toddler Development

At Mizzie The Kangaroo, we're dedicated to ensuring that our toys support the healthy development of babies and toddlers. Founder Sandra Ebbott recently had an insightful conversation with Wendy Astbury, a Paediatric Physiotherapist at Junction Road Physiotherapy, about the best ways parents can foster their child's growth and development.

The Impact of Certain Baby Walkers

One topic of discussion was the use of walkers on wheels, where babies sit in a saddle seat and push the walker along. Wendy Astbury highlighted a significant concern: these walkers can actually hinder a baby's development towards walking. "We found that these walkers caused babies to stay on their tippy toes, just pushing around on wheels. This prevented them from developing proper upright postural control," she explained. Due to these issues, such walkers were eventually taken off the market.

The Importance of Expert Consultation in Toy Manufacturing

Sandra and Wendy both emphasised the crucial role of consulting experts in the toy manufacturing process. Wendy stated, "Toy manufacturers should definitely be speaking more often to experts to find out what is actually needed in the market. This ensures that toys are not only fun but also beneficial for a baby's development."

Transcript

One of the toys that was not well made were the walkers on wheels where you would put the baby in the saddle seat and then the baby would push the walker along.

And that actually we found had a detrimental impact on baby's development towards walking. They were on their tippy toes just pushing around on these wheels and it didn't allow them to develop their upright postural control at all. Had to be actually taken off the market.

So you think that toy manufacturers should definitely be speaking more sometimes to experts to find out what is actually needed in the market?

Absolutely. To make sure it's a well purposed toy that will help a baby's development, definitely.