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Graco Exersaucer

Kerri-Anne of Brooklyn NY (02/12/08)
I am writing this post to vent about the Graco Exersaucer. I do not know how this product is still legally sold in the United States. My four year old son was just told that he will need to wear leg braces for the next two years because of his toe walking. He is a typically developing boy and thrives in all areas of his life (school, socially etc.) There is no neurological reason for his toe walking and it was diagnosed as being idiopathic.

Well, when I did my own research I found that idiopathic toe walking is not idiopathic at all- it comes from babies being placed in bouncers, bouncing around on the balls of their feet and building up their calf muscles prematurely. My son's problem is that he overuses his calf muscles when walking.(His calf muscles have always been very large and my husband and I would joke that he was going to be a runner someday- we didn't put two and two together). The calf muscle clicks in right away when he takes a step and he ends up walking on the balls of his feet with his calves doing all the work. Basically, he walks like he stood in the exersaucer!

As soon as I read about the link to baby jumpers it made perfect sense. My son absolutely adored his Graco exersaucer- it was probably his favorite toy/pastime. I had no idea that they could hinder the way he learned to walk and now we are paying the consequences. No one should ever buy this product. If you have one throw it away.

I've read that they can also cause hip problems because you are placing a baby in an upright position and he is using muscles accordingly when the baby is not ready to be in an upright position. 5 Month old babies do not stand so why place them in a standing position? Just do a little bit of research and you will find that jumbers cause all sorts of orthopedic problems. How is the box not labeled???!!!

My son gets his leg braces put on next week. He will have to wear them during all waking hours for the next two years. As his mother I am distraught to imagine that children may tease him, he may feel different and just by the fact that he will have to endure wearing these uncomfortable braces for all activities for the next two years.

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