MONTREAL -- Baby walkers with wheels are unsafe for children and should be banned, officials at the Montreal Children's Hospital said yesterday. The hospital joined a Toronto child-safety group in calling on Health Canada to outlaw the sale of walkers with wheels.

The hospital and Safe Kids Canada warned that walkers make it easier for children to roll down stairs or tip over hazardous objects.

Dr. Ken Shaw, director of pediatric surgery at the Montreal Children's Hospital, told a news conference that dozens of children are rushed to his unit every year with serious walker-related injuries.

"We have kids with serious skull fractures, upper extremity fractures," said Shaw.

"As a father of two children, it breaks my heart to tell parents their child will never be the same, or worse still, that they'll never be coming home again."

Safe Kids Canada says about 1,000 children are injured every year in Canada while using wheeled walkers. Fatality statistics were not provided.

Canadians who own these walkers were urged to destroy the items before disposing of them, so they can't be reused.

Shaw recommended parents place their children in approved playpens or other areas where their mobility can be better supervised and controlled.