Review
My husband rarely cares about reviews, but he read the review with me when there was only one review for this (5-star at the time) and was sold on buying it. At first, I have to admit that I was disappointed when I unpacked it. It is very lightweight; it’s all pretty thin plastic – on the whole toy. The picture made it seem like the part with the ‘toys’ on it was heavy enough to weigh the whole thing down. It’s pretty much just a shell, with a few gadgets attached.
When we bought it our child was about 7 months old, and loved crawling. When we tried the walker, our son really needed to put his weight on whatever was holding him up when he wanted to practice walking. So, when we first tried the walker with him, it would have toppled right over (with him) if both us hadn’t either been holding our son or the toy. It’s definitely not made to be heavily leaned upon by someone with wobbly legs.
We helped our son practice using the walker practically all the time, even though I thought the toy was far too light to ever be a support. It actually became useful in stages. At first, our son was increasingly able to hold his own weight, standing, which is what made the walker increasingly usable. The walker was a little more useful when he could stand well, but the ‘toys’ on it were totally uninteresting. (At least it’s a quiet toy that doesn’t need batteries.) Then, he could pretty much take one or two steps with the walker, on his own. Finally, one evening he just crawled to the walker and ran down the hall with it. It was quite a shock because when he pulled himself up, I thought he was going to fall over with the toy. (We’d always held the toy steady for him, up to that point.) I was only a few feet away watching him before I realized he wanted to stand up, but by the time I got up and took two steps to go help him, he’d already started running down the hall with it. (After I recovered my jaw, I woke my husband to see the surprise.)
I’d say if you’re interested in just getting something to help your child transition to walking on his/her own, this toy serves its purpose. Your child should probably be steady on his/her feet, meaning pretty much able to stand steadily. Early on, when he’d adjusted to using it, my husband and I still spent a lot of time holding the toy with him because his leaning on it made it roll quite quickly (the wheels are just as thin and lightweight as the rest of the toy.)
If you’re like I was, and are looking for a walker that can double as a toy for a baby to play with while sitting, get something else. (I didn’t invest much time looking into walkers because we have no stairs to worry about and have mostly carpet floors; so I can’t make a specific, alternative suggestion.) It works very well on carpet, by the way. Regular floors, keep an eye on the little one driving.
Personally, I’d hoped it would be a multi-purpose toy (based on the picture), having little things on top of it to play with, but the widgets just flip like pages or spin. In the end, though, our son didn’t really need us to invest a lot in a walker because the transition was about a month or two, then he wanted to take steps on his own and didn’t want the toy to help him anymore. He pretty much stopped using it after he started practicing on his own.
We bought this when it was about , I think. (I’d spent so much on other toys I didn’t have much left to invest in a walker at the time.) In hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t spend a lot on this kind of toy. Really, it’s not necessary to spend more than on a push walker anyway. I definitely wouldn’t buy this particular walker for more than or . By the time children get the hang of walking with the help of a toy, they will probably just want to try walking on their own, one step at a time.
By the way, I rated this toy 5 stars because my husband specifically asked me to write a review for this (of all the toys I bought on Amazon) and to rate it 5 stars. I love him, he thought the toy was great, and my son’s a champion at walking now, so, here’s 5 stars. Cheers.
Feature
- Encourages Developing Motor Skills
- Stimulates the Senses
- Ehances Learning Through Discovery
- Folds Flat with Busy Activities/ Large Easy Grasp Handle
- Spinning Center Ball,Big Beads Spin,Fun Gears to turn
Overview
Brand New and Factory Sealed. Contains a Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Activity Walker. Large Easy Grasp Handle to Push for Steady First Steps. Folds Flat for interesting activities to enjoy. Fun Gears to turn. Spinning Center Ball. Big Beads to slide & Spin. Spinning Flaps to Bat & Twirl. Flip for Color Fun.
Specifications
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jan 27, 2010 13:22:11
Junior Ready Bed
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