• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop ModernMom
  • Become An Insider

ModernMom

The premiere destination for moms

  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Kids
    • Tweens and Teens
    • ModernMom Monday Videos
  • Cooking
  • Living Healthy
    • Breast Cancer
    • Health & Fitness
    • Body after Baby
    • Beauty
    • Relationships
    • Love
  • Lifestyle
    • Crafts
    • At Home
    • Education
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Decorate
    • Money
    • Brooke Burke
  • Celebrate
    • Holidays
      • Easter
      • Valentine’s Day
      • New Year’s
      • Christmas
      • Hanukah
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
    • Birthdays
    • Parties
  • Must Have
  • Contests
  • Entertainment

About Shaken Baby Syndrome

December 10, 2010 by ds_48763 Leave a Comment

The baby is crying incessantly. Nothing you do stops the ongoing noise. The stress, anger and frustration become so great that you pick up the baby and shake him. You didn’t mean to harm him, but you just made a terrible mistake and committed child abuse. No one should ever shake a baby; this act has grave consequences, including irreversible brain damage and even death.

Causes

Playing with your baby in a normal bouncing-on-the-knee sort of way does not cause shaken baby syndrome, also called abusive head trauma, shaken impact syndrome, infant whiplash syndrome or inflicted head injury. What does cause shaken baby syndrome is a deliberate and violent act in which the parent or caregiver shakes the baby back and forth, causing damage.

Victims and Abusers

Most victims of shaken baby syndrome are between 3 and 8 months old, and 60 percent of victims are male. Between 65 and 95 percent of the time, the abuser is a male in his early twenties, according to the KidsHealth website. He is usually the baby’s father or the mother’s boyfriend. Other risk factors are caregivers who have unrealistic expectations for a baby, a household where there is domestic violence, alcohol or substance abuse, depression or a history of the caregiver being mistreated as a child.

What Happens

When you shake a baby, the baby’s head rotates uncontrollably. A baby’s neck muscles are not yet developed all the way. The baby’s head flies back and forth, causing the brain to hit the skull. This causes bleeding and bruising. If the abuser throws that baby down after the shaking incident, more damage, such as swelling in the brain, can happen. Shaking a baby can result in blindness, hearing loss, seizures, developmental delays, learning difficulties, memory problems, mental retardation and cerebral palsy.

Delayed Damage

If the baby doesn’t display any obvious signs of damage, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Sometimes, no one notices the damage until the child enters school. Behavioral problems or learning difficulties can be because of a shaking incident, but because of the time span, it is difficult to link the two. Symptoms to look for to determine whether someone may have shaken your infant are lethargy, vomiting, irritability, poor sucking, a decreased appetite, rigidity, seizures, unequal pupil size, inability to lift the head and an inability to track movement.

Prevention

Shaken baby syndrome is totally preventable. Caregivers must learn other ways to cope with a crying baby. Nationally renowned pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp offers the “five S’s” solution to calm a crying baby. Shushing is using white noise that mimics womb sounds. Side positioning helps the baby digest and calms the stomach. Sucking by breastfeeding or by using a pacifier often helps. Swaddling, by wrapping the baby tightly in a blanket, helps the baby feel secure. Swinging in a chair or infant swing helps simulate the motion the baby felt in the womb. If nothing you do stops the crying, call your doctor; there may be a medical reason. Never shake your baby.

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Parenting

About ds_48763

Laura Agadoni has been writing professionally since 1983. Her feature stories on area businesses, human interest, and health and fitness appear in her local newspaper. She has also written and edited for a grassroots outreach effort and has been published in "Clean Eating" magazine and in "Dimensions" magazine, a CUNA Mutual publication. Agadoni has a Bachelor of Arts in communications from California State University-Fullerton.

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Tell a friend

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search

ModernMom Boutique

ModernMom TV

Featured

How to Save Your Kid from Drowning

The lifeguard moving quickly past Lindsey’s chair seemed to … [Read More...] about How to Save Your Kid from Drowning

Must Have

ToniBox

Meet Toniebox – A Loveable Storytime Friend For Your Kids

If you are looking for something to occupy your children … [Read More...] about Meet Toniebox – A Loveable Storytime Friend For Your Kids

Did you know?

Fruit Salad Recipes With Fewer Than Five Ingredients

Fruit Salad Recipes With Fewer Than Five Ingredients

Baby Hair Growth

Baby Hair Growth

Bake Frozen and Pre-Breaded Chicken

How to Bake Frozen and Pre-Breaded Chicken

toddler hair growth

Toddler Hair Growth

Cover a Pork Roast

Should You Cover a Pork Roast & Add Liquid When Baking?

Soothe Red and Irritated Skin After a Brazilian Wax

How to Soothe Red and Irritated Skin After a Brazilian Wax

safe to color Your hair while breastfeeding

Is it Safe to Color Your Hair While Breastfeeding?

Footer

  • About Us
  • Contact ModernMom
  • Advertise With Us
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contributors

Copyright © 2021 Modern Mom. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction of any portion of this website only at the express permission of Mom, Inc.

The information provided on ModernMom is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.