Estimula？？o ambiental e uso do andador infantil por lactentes com desenvolvimento normal

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.