Tan, Jernice

Many studies have found an association between rudimentary motor development delays and the use of baby walkers. However, no literature on the influence of baby walkers and fundamental motor development was found. This study investigated the fundamental locomotor skills of 14 toddlers (M Age = 49 months) who were baby walker users and compared their locomotor performances with the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2, Ulrich, 2000) norm population of the same age group using the TGMD-2 locomotor subtest. Data analysis using one sample t test was carried out with SPSS 14.0~^Ⓡ.

Irrespective of outlier, the results showed significant difference in running and sliding of which the baby walker users in this study fared significantly poorer in running but significantly better in sliding than the TGMD-2 norm population. In addition, there was a significant difference in the overall locomotor performance in terms of age equivalent which indicated that the baby walker users in this study were not exhibiting poorer fundamental locomotor performance than the TGMD-2 norm population. However, the baby walker users in this study did not demonstrate mastery in hopping and leaping.

Based on the findings of this study, delays in motor skills during the rudimentary stage do not continue in the fundamental stage of motor development. This suggests new insights to the opinions of stakeholders in the field of Early Childhood Education as well as the decisions of parents andlor caregivers to use baby walkers in the future. A larger sample size with comparative norm population gathered from the same cultural background which uses both locomotor and object control subtests of the TGMD-2 to obtain a more meaningful interpretation of gross motor development is recommended for future studies.