Monday, October 26, 2009

Shaken Baby Syndrome

So what is Shaken baby syndrome? The origin of this term stems from shaking babies to cause certain effects. It could be a gentle rocking so that a crying baby stops doing so and feel relaxed. Most of the time, it works. The shaking could be side to side or up and down in the arms and there is a soothing effect on babies. Some of the parents prefer to use vigorous rocking motion but that can be very dangerous. There have been cases of babies dying from dangerous shaking or getting seriously injured.

The problem starts when parents feel frustrated with constant crying of the babies. Sleeping becomes a thing of the past and patience soon starts to wear off. So what do parents do? Simple shake the baby in most vigorous way and let out the frustration. But then, that’s where you are perhaps making a huge mistake.

According to statistics, 50% of babies who are shaken up to the point of serious injury, are so shaken by their natural parents and the rest 50% is caused by baby sitters, siblings and stepparents etc. the data also says that shaking is responsible for no less than 15% of baby deaths and males contribute 80% to it. Those are some real eye opening facts! So if you want to calm down your baby, gentle rocking will be sufficient and is also the safest way possible. Try to be patient with your baby and you will have more reasons to be proud of your status as a parent.