These Comfi Baby Infant Walkers are the subject of a March recall by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The products violate the federal safety regulations for infant walkers because they can fit through a standard doorway, are not designed to stop at the edge of a step, and have leg openings that allow the child to slip down until the child’s head can become entrapped. CPSC issued a Notice of Violation to the seller, All Merchandise, of Charlotte, N.C., but the firm is no longer in business to offer a remedy to consumers. Consumers who purchased the product will receive this notice directly. The infant walkers were sold online at Amazon.com from October 2022 through March 2023 for about $100.

The state Assembly wants the state to follow Canada’s lead and ban the use if infant walkers.

The Canadian ban is now 20 years old and includes both sales by stores but also second-hand sales. The ban doesn’t stop Canada from issuing consumer product safety alerts for walkers; an internet search shows several such recalls over the past few years.

New York’s ban (A.325) passed its first legislative test earlier this week by a 122-26 vote with Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, voting against the ban and Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, voting in favor. Companion legislation (S.5643) has not yet advanced out of committee.

“There’s a lot of dangerous things that kids do, starting with playing with toys, playground equipment, slides, swimming pools. dogs. Pets,” Goodell said. “We in the legislature don’t need to micromanage all parents. We ought to respect the role of the parents and allow them to use their discretion in ensuring their children make it to adult age. Thankfully my kids did, even though I took them camping, exposed them to open flames, roasted things, picked up hot dogs after they fell on the ground and ate them anyway. It’s up to the parents to raise their kids. It’s not up to the state Legislature and we should let parents exercise their discretion.”

Advocates of bans on walkers say walkers can roll down stairs, which leads to broken bones and head injuries; get burned by reaching hot things in high places the walker helps a child reach; drown by falling into a pool or bathrup while in a walker; or be poisoned by reaching objects that would typically be outside the child’s reach.

Calls for bans aren’t new. The American Association of Pediatrics called for a ban in 2018 and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends people not use walkers. There is no national ban, though the state of Washington banned infant walkers’ use in child care centers in 1993.

In addition to a ban on the sales of walkers, New York’s legislation also states that no childcare facility or place of public accommodation may use or have on its premises any infant walker unless a medical professional has determined that the use of one is medically necessary for a particular child. In addition, a requirement is placed upon the Office of Children and Family Services to notify child care facilities of the ban on infant walker use. The Office of Children and Family Services shall also establish rules and regulations to comply with the ban on infant walkers in child care facilities. Violations could result in a $500 fine for each violation.

“I always relate things back to when my daughter was born and we weren’t even required to put a child in a car seat when you drive them on a street or a highway,” said Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo and Assembly majority leader. “In fact we weren’t even required to wear seat belts. I think at some point when you can look at the data that shows you that children are literally being injured from being in this type of walker and maybe have this type of walker is more safe for them it would make sense that you would want to say to parents and whoever else, put your kid in a walker that is going to be safe for them. I understand, I get a little concerned with government managing people’s lives as well. It wouldn’t seem to be as big a concern, for some of us, government managing the lives of women and their doctors when they make decisions about whether or not they’re even going to have a child. I think you can’t have it both ways. Either you want government to protect you sometimes or you want government to protect you all the time. I don’t think government needs to protect you from a decision you make with your doctor, but I do think government needs to protect our children from products that are made in a faulty way that could hurt them.”