“A fantastic baby toy” – real parents review the VTech First Steps Baby Walker

The VTech First Steps Baby Walker is great to help with your little one's physical development, balance, and learning to walk. This bright and colourful walker will keep your child entertained with a range of activities to play introducing them to numbers, shapes and animals. The activity panel is removable meaning it can be played with on the floor as well as when attached to the walker, so it has more longevity as a baby toy than other walkers on the market.

The textured wheels and easy-grip handle mean your tot can learn to walk with confidence, while the colourful design, music and sounds engage them and entice them to interact. It is easy to store away when you're not using it, as well as being easy to clean.

Awards

The VTech First Steps Baby Walker won Gold in the Mother&Baby Awards 2025 for Best Baby Toy.

Testing the VTech First Steps Baby Walker

This product was reviewed by four parents for the Mother&Baby awards 2025, read on to find out what our testers, and their little ones, thought of the VTech First Steps Baby Walker.

Many of our testers first thoughts of the VTech First Steps Baby Walker included that it was bright and colourful and seemed to be made from sturdy materials. The ease of assembly was mentioned by all of our parents with comments such as “easy to put together out of the box” and “very easy to assemble and use”. One tester said, “My overall impression of the product was that it was quick and easy to put together. Being someone who is not good at building things I found this so easy to do and it
only took a few minutes.” Another review mentioned that they did struggle a little with attaching the legs, but that their partner then managed it easily, so they put it down to user error.

Our mini-testers ranged in age from 7 months to 16 months old – VTech recommends this product for 6-30 month olds. The longevity of this baby walker was appreciated by our testers, with many of them commenting on the durability of the design. “We first started using the walker as a sit and play toy from 9 months and he started using it to learn to walk at 12 months. It seems as though it’s built to last, especially if you’re going to have more children or pass the toy on to another family. The batteries seem to last for ages too.”

Another tester with an older child said, “My child is 16 months old and loves the walker; it was very helpful when he started learning to walk. Even though he is now super confident at walking he loves pushing it about and playing with the buttons/shapes/toys on the front of the walker.” The height of the walker was praised as being ideal for a range of ages, so that when your baby begins to learn to walk the First Steps Walker can assist them.

Parents with younger children praised the removable activity panel, which allows for the walker to be enjoyed as a toy well before your child starts trying to learn to walk. This allows for your baby to become familiar with the walker and actually want to interact with it. A tester said, “I liked the fact you could use it for pre-walkers as well as babies who could stand. My little boy was too young to use it standing but we definitely got a lot of use out of it flat on the floor which provided great entertainment for him!” Another parent added, “My son is 11 months old and has been using the walker for a couple of months now. We tend to take the activity panel off for him to play with and he loves the bright lights and the songs it plays. He isn’t yet walking properly so hasn’t used it as a walker too frequently as he needs support to walk without it running away from him – the wheels are pretty speedy! Having a detachable activity panel is really useful because he gets to play with the shape sorter and other buttons even though he can’t stand unsupported yet.” Testers commended how well-built the activity panel is, even when played with quite enthusiastically! The music and multiple interactive elements to the toy means it was a clear winner with the babies.

There are so many activities and ways to play offered with this walker, its bright and engaging colour schemeis visually appealing, capturing the interest of babies and encouraging them to interact with the walker. One parent said, “We loved this product and seeing how adaptable it is as my girl grows. It offers many features, appealing to sight, sound and touch to challenge motor skills in different ways! Another remarked, “This walker is packed with buttons, shapes, and sounds. The interactive buttons light up and play music, introducing babies to shapes and colours.”

The musical components are particularly engaging, providing a fun way for children to develop auditory and cognitive skills, although the volume of the toy was suggested as a potential con as noisy isn’t always a win for parents! The phone was a favourite feature which our parent testers highlighted, with one mum adding, “it is the first toy my daughter goes up to and plays with independently, she loves the little mobile phone on it.”

The walker boasts a sturdy, durable construction, ensuring that it can withstand the rough and tumble ofearly toddlerhood. It can be used sitting or standing, and testers mentioned their child continued to play with it even after successfully learning to walk.

The textured wheels and easy-grip-handle of the design aim to help babies learning to walk be safe and secure whether on hard floors or carpets. One of our parent testers commented, “The wheels provide good stability on various surfaces, from carpets to hardwood floors, making it a versatile choice for different home environments.” Another mum added, “I found it good on carpet however on hard floors it does go a bit quick and extra support for little ones is needed if being used on hard floors,” so it could be worth keeping an eye on your tot on wooden or tiled floors. A couple of our testers suggested a potential improvement could be adding some sort of rubber grips on the wheels. If you have particularly thick pile carpet your little one may also struggle to push the walker along. One of the testers found the base of the walker was too low and dragged on their thick pile carpet, making the walker easier to tip over.

The easy-grip handle is at an ideal height for little ones, promoting proper posture and walking mechanics. It also means that little ones can grip onto the handle to help pull themselves up, and get used to the standing position before scooting along with the walker, “Since using the walker, my almost 1 year old daughter has learned to pull herself up with the aid of the walker and take a couple of steps holding onto it.” One suggestion from a tester was to add a brake mechanism to the walker, so that in this standing phase children were able to interact with the walker’s activity panel when standing without it moving away from them, however this feature does also help to encourage the child to follow the walker.

When it comes to keeping the walker clean, the ease of cleaning was mentioned as a definite positive feature, “The material of the build is good because you can wipe it down to keep it clean without it getting damaged. We also like that the removable pieces are still attached by straps so they don’t get lost.” Another review mentioned, “It’s easy to clean for the most part with wipes - there are a few nooks and crannies but it’s not the sort of toy that would get too grubby anyway.”

With regards to ease of storage/transportation some testers mentioned that they removed the back legs so it could be easily transported. Others praised the fold away legs, saying “it folds down relatively easily so takes up less space than other walkers that we’ve had.”– so there was some confusion over this feature. Some testers did suggest making the product foldable as an improvement, so perhaps this feature could have been made clearer. Another tester added, “It is very light and easy to manoeuvre. It’s not too bulky so doesn’t get the way a lot.”

When asked about value for money the “superior activity centre” and the sturdy build of the walker compared to other models was highlighted as key factors making our testers “feel the price is very reasonable”

Overall the VTech First Steps Baby Walker was praised as “a fantastic baby toy" – bright, colourful and interactive with lots of lights and sounds. "The push along walker encourages help with taking steps and the activity panel features lots for the baby to do with buttons to press with lights and sounds.” All of our testers agreed they would recommend it to other parents, with one suggesting it would make a great gift.

The durability and amount of entertainment this walker offers were favourite features, keeping children engaged with the toy whether playing on the ground or pushing it around, “The bright colours and lights were very engaging for my son, and there are plenty of different songs so it doesn’t get stuck in your head as quickly as some other toys that he has. It’s also very robust – my son frequently uses the activity panel as a climbing frame and it continues to sing without missing a beat.”

One tester summarised, “I would honestly rate this product 10 out of 10 in every category because it is absolutely helping my son gain confidence walking on his own.”