They must also be educated about the normal patterns of infant crying and taught how to respond appropriately to an infant’s unsoothable crying. Studies show it’s not enough to just teach parents or caregivers what Shaken Baby Syndrome is and why it’s dangerous. These are just two examples of the damage done to infants by shaking them. The baby’s father said the infant wouldn’t stop crying and he “lost his temper,” shaking the baby multiple times during the night before finally picking her up out of the crib and throwing her on the bed. In March 2018, a two-month old baby girl was airlifted to Parkview Regional Medical Center, where she died due to injuries caused by being violently shaken. Now 15 months old, the baby can breathe on his own but he is still unable to hold his head up, he has diminished eyesight, and he must be fed through a feeding tube. He was in a coma for five days and lost an estimated 90% of his brain tissue. His father denies any wrong-doing but the baby’s brain had been slammed so hard against his skull that doctors had to remove bone tissue to accommodate the extensive swelling. When she returned home 20 minutes later, the baby was unresponsive. His frazzled mom ran out for a pizza, leaving him with his equally frazzled father. In July 2016, a six-month-old baby boy was fussy and recovering from a respiratory infection. This increases the likelihood that they may react in frustration and anger to the crying by shaking or other abuse.īabies being injured or killed by being shaken in frustration is, unfortunately, not uncommon in the greater Fort Wayne Area. Parents often believe there is something wrong with their baby or with themselves as caregivers when they are unable to soothe and calm their crying infant. These crying bouts begin at about two weeks of age, peak in the second month, and generally end by about three or four months. Adding to the parents’/caregivers’ level of frustration is the fact that they have never been told that all babies experience prolonged bouts of unsoothable crying in the first few months of life. Multiple studies have proven that the number one reason an infant is shaken is frustration a parent or caregiver becomes so frazzled by a baby's persistent, prolonged crying that they lose control and just shake the baby in an effort to make it stop. As noted above, it is caused by an infant being deliberately and forcefully shaken so hard that its head moves in a rapid, back-and-forth whiplash motion that causes the baby’s fragile, undeveloped brain to repeatedly hit the inside of the skull. It is highly unlikely to happen as a result of a baby rolling off a bed or being accidentally dropped. It does not happen by playfully tossing a baby into the air or driving over bumpy roads with a baby in an infant car seat or on the back of a bicycle. It is not a result of bouncing a baby in your arms or on your knee. It is important to note that Shaken Baby Syndrome does not happen by accident. Because of this fragility of very young infants, shaking can cause subdural hematoma (tiny veins between the surface of the brain and its outer covering stretch and tear, allowing blood to collect), shearing off or breakage of nerve cells, oxygen deprivation to the brain, retinal hemorrhages, and skull fractures. This is because babies’ neck muscles are weak, their heads are heavy in proportion to their body size, and their brains are fragile and undeveloped. Īlthough shaking may cause injury to children of any age, infants under the age of one year are the most susceptible to being injured or dying as a result of being shaken. It results in death 25-35% of the time, with 70-80% of survivors suffering life-long physical and developmental problems such as permanent brain damage, speech disabilities, blindness, hearing loss, seizures, behavioral disorders, cerebral palsy, and paralysis. Traumatic brain injury as a result of shaking a baby-aka Shaken Baby Syndrome-is both the most common and most serious form of abuse in children under one year of age. Studies show that teaching parents and caregivers about the dangers of shaking a baby and how to respond appropriately to an infant’s crying is the most effective way to reduce Shaken Baby Syndrome. The number one reason an infant is shaken is frustration with the baby’s crying. Shaken Baby Syndrome is both the most common and most serious form of abuse in children under one year of age. Saving Babies Lives by Preventing Shaken Baby Syndromeīy Candace Schuler Parkview Health System
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