OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the quantity and quality of environmental stimuli available to infants with normal development who use a baby walkers prior to learning to walk by themselves. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was carried out with 24 infants distributed into two groups of twelve: one group of children who had used a baby walkers (BW) and 12 who had not (C), with the children in both groups being of equivalent ages, sex, and socio-economic background. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) test provided a documentary Record of the stimuli provided by the environment. Student's t-test for independent samples was used to compare the mean scores on the HOME test of both groups, considering the level of significance to be α=0.05. RESULTS: differences in the HOME scores, with the BW group obtaining higher scores than the control group (p=0.014), with a low magnitude effect (d=0.24). CONCLUSIONS: the use of a children's baby walkers in the period before learning to walk by infants with normal development may be associated with more stimulating home environments.
Environment; Child development; Child
