Protect and Comfort Infants (PACI)

SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME
Shaken Baby Syndrome is a form of injury caused by violently shaking an infant or child. 25% of babies shaken will die soon after suffering the horrible abuse. The violent shaking may result in severe injuries including permanent brain damage AND then death. Children are vulnerable up to 5 years old. Those who survive may be left with a life of blindness, unable to hear, unable to talk, or unable to walk. Many eventually die before they are four years old.

Shaking a baby even for a few seconds can injure the baby for life.  -  Shaking a baby is child abuse.

The number one reason given for shaking a baby is to stop him/her from crying. Inconsolable crying can be difficult for the best parents, but it is a frustrated, even enraged adult who has lost all self control that resorts to abuse. The consequences of this abusive behavior are devastating for the baby, the rest of the family, and the perpetrator.

Child abuse rose during recession, research says (Read story at WCPO)

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS OF SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME?

• Unable to turn head
• Body pulls to one side
• Seizures
• Lethargic, hard to rouse
• Dilated or pinpoint pupils Blind
• Bruises on chest, back, ribs
• Blood pooling in eyes
• Can’t Hear
• Vomiting without diarrhea
• Eyes don’t respond to light
• Can’t Talk
• Difficulty Breathing
• Unconscious
• Can’t Walk
• Dead

IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME

• SBS is the most common cause of death and accounts for the most long-term disability in infants and young children who have been physically abused.
• One out of four of the babies that are shaken do not survive.
• Children who do survive often have long-term medical disabilities.
• Incessant crying is often the trigger for shaking.
• The average age a baby is shaken is between 2 and 4 months.
• Baby boys are shaken more frequently than baby girls.
• Approximately 70% of the perpetrators are male, usually the biological father or boyfriend; often young and caring for the infant for the first time.
• Approximately 12%-17% of the perpetrators are caregivers.
• Only a small percent of mothers shake their babies.
• Older children can also sustain injuries if shaken with enough force, but infants are more susceptible to injury because of their heavy heads and weak neck muscles.
• With SBS, three significant symptoms occur at the same time.  It is rare that these three symptoms would occur together as a result of anything else.
  • Subdural hematomas – collection of blood – intracranial bleeding
  • Retinal hemorrhages – massive bleeding behind the eyes
  • Cerebral edema – swelling of the brain causing further damage 

Download our Tips to Soothe and Comfort an Infant flyer here
 
Free Presentations on prevention of Shaken Baby Syndrome and education on ways to soothe and comfort an infant are available to parent groups, corporations, organizations, church groups and high schools.  Contact Dorothea Becker, Education Prevention Specialist at 859-525-3200, ext. 220 or Dorothea.Becker@familynurture.org.    

Special thank you to Coventry Cares of Kentucky for their generous corporate support of partial printing costs for our PACI informational packets which are given to the mother of every new baby born in Northern Kentucky.