Jolly Jumpers

While jumpers can be entertaining, there are some important considerations to keep in mind:

Hip Development:
There is concern that suspended jumpers may place undue stress on a baby’s hips. The position that babies are placed in when using these devices may not be ideal for hip development, particularly if they are used excessively. Babies’ hips are still developing, particularly in the first 6 months of life, and the International Hip Dysplasia Institute recommends for any slings or carriers to support a baby's hips in an "M” shape, with wide, flexed hips rather than the long, straight and legs close together position that a suspended jumper would adopt. Clearer evidence is needed around dosage and early risk factors impacting hip development to know for certain.

https://hipdysplasia.org/baby-carriers-other-equipment/

Overuse Risks:
Babies can get very excited when using a jumper, which can lead to excessive bouncing. This might not only tire them out too quickly, leading to less control of head and body position, but could also increase the risk of accidents if the device isn’t properly secured.

Delay in Motor Development:
While jumpers encourage leg movement, they don’t promote other important motor skills, like crawling, rolling, pulling to stand, or cruising along furniture. Some experts believe that excessive time in jumpers may delay the natural progression of these milestones. Research certainly shows that baby equipment (such as jumpers and walkers) do NOT aid in motor development (that is, using these types of equipment won't ‘accelerate’ or ‘improve’ skill development) and some research has even shown the opposite – with a delay in gross motor development associated with equipment use.

False Claims:
Some companies use marketing claims such as “improved balance” and "develops coordination and strong muscles” without proper, high level evidence to support these claims. Suspended jumpers do not allow for the variety and variation of movement and tasks to fully develop the repertoire and expansiveness of coordination and balance across a range of positions and movements. They also may well support development of strong muscles – but only a select group of muscles - it's a similar idea to gym buffs spending all their time on bicep curls and neglecting any other muscle groups.

Repetitive Patterns:
Another reason the suspended jumpers receive a lot of critical thought from health professionals is their promotion of overly repetitive patterns of movement (bouncing, mostly on toes, only really using the leg extensor muscles) in a season where babies are developing, expanding and refining their movement repertoire and making brand new neural connections and pathways everyday. We want to promote variety and variation with movement and exploration as much as possible, which is something the suspended jumper does not allow for. There are queries as to whether the repetitive pattern of bouncing may contribute to increased risk of muscle tightening in infant calf muscles and potentially an association with toe walking. Research in this area is difficult to complete ethically, so it's difficult to say for sure, however we can certainly understand that the movement pattern of bouncing, predominantly on toes, without needing to engage the trunk for postural control is not related to the muscle work and activity required for rolling, crawling, moving in and out of positions, standing on flat feet and walking flat footed.