So nervous! How can I tell if infant has shaken baby syndrom

freshair

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 2:30 am

I put my 6 week old to sleep and she has her cry hour which is hard to deal with because it can last up to 2-1/2 hours so my husband and I take turns when she is screaming. So push her in the carriage around the house and when she gets really upset I try to hold her to calm her down then put her back in. I noticed the last 2 nights that when I shake the carriage vigorously for a second she calms down. Sometimes she starts to cry again but other times she calms down. When I did it tonight my husband was watching me and he tells me "what are you doing??? You can cause shaken baby syndrome!!!" I looked it up online and I freaked out. I did it 2x tonight and once last night!! I'm freaked out! I feel like a horrible mother when I was really trying to help her!!! What should I do? Well she seems ok but how do I know if I caused any damage to my sweet 6 week old???

tigerwife

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 2:38 am

Shaken baby syndrome is serious brain damage. You sound like a caring mother and I can't imagine you shook your baby that violently. Have you noticed any difference in your child? Does she make eye contact? Any bruising?

Super Mom

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 5:48 am

The advice I was given was to feed and get the baby to sleep with a paci half an hour before the colicky time of day. If that fails, wear the baby in the sling and walk around.
About the shaken baby syndrome, how hard were to you shaking? I agree this is not a thing you should be doing. Is she making eye contact? Tracking objects? If you are worried, go into the well-baby clinic for a check up. Don't say why, obviously. If there is a problem, they should pick it up.

jewish613

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 6:46 am

I think I was told by the pediatrician when I was in a similar situation that anything a parent is doing to lovingly sooth/play with their child is very unlikely to cause shaken baby syndrome. If in doubt, can you share your concern with the pediatrician and have the baby checked out? When I brought up the concern, the pediatrician totally normalized it for me and did not start jumping to conclusions about my parenting skills or intentionally trying to harm my baby ch"v. He was very reassuring.

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 7:23 am

Please note I am not a pediatrics expert of any kind, but my understanding is that shaken baby syndrome is caused by vigorously shaking the baby causing the head to go back and forth. Think along the lines of whiplash.

Jostling the carriage vigorously to soothe the baby is a common and normal thing to do.

Caring for a fussy infant can be frustrating, and if you or another caregiver ever feels the urge to shake the baby - not the carriage - to try to stop her crying, just put her down and call for help.

If you have any concerns about your baby's health, ask the doctor. I'm sure she's fine, and with some luck will outgrow this crying phase.

Ahuva

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 7:24 am

I am no expert, but one of the only ways to calm colic dd was to bounce her in the baby bouncer pretty strongly. I asked my pediatrician about it and this is what I remember being told. Its been a WHILE so ....
As long as long the babys head, neck n shoulders are resting on a supportive thing, in this case the stroller. Then you have shaken her entire tiny body. This, although it might not be good to do, wld not have caused harm. Shaken baby syndrom is caused when the baby's head is shaken back n forth when not supported, like when being held from under the arms with no head support.

tweety1

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 7:30 am

In our cpr class in 12 grade our teacher demonstrated shaken baby syndrome and it's as cm describes above. Or think of putting ingredients into a container and shaking it vigorously to mix it. Holding your baby in your hands and shaking it like in the air with the head flying all over.

gp2.0

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 8:17 am

Movement calms babies because it mimics the environment in the womb. That's why babies fall asleep in cars and there are so many different baby swings, rockers and seats with a variety of different movements. It's like other posters said, as long as the head and neck are supported it's ok. In fact in the happiest baby on the block system by dr karp, he encourages a gentle jiggling motion, described like this: "Life in the womb is very jiggly. Imagine your baby bopping around inside you when you jaunt down the stairs! While slow rocking is fine for keeping quiet babies calm, you need to use fast, tiny motions to soothe a crying infant mid-squawk. My patients call this movement the “Jell-O head Jiggle.” To do it, always support the head/neck, keep your motions small; and move no more than 1 inch back and forth. I really advise watching the DVD to make sure you get it right. (For the safety of your infant, never, ever shake your baby in anger or frustration.)"

The jiggle he describes is like the amount of movement when someone jiggles their foot when they're nervous, you know what I mean? There are YouTube videos that show what he means. Jiggling the carriage with the baby well supported inside is a trick every mother picks up sooner or later.

momX4

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 8:51 am

Alot of babies love movement. If you have a swing try to use that. My babies used to sleep in it for hours. My dr told me its fine. I also used to put them in a car seat and rock it with my feet and let them sleep in it.

letting your baby cry for a bit in another room until you have energy to deal with it is totally fine. You are helping develop the lungs LOL

LittleDucky

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 11:11 am

If she isn't acting typically in any way, get her checked out.

But have you checked out this rocker called the Mamaroo from the 4 Moms? It has different settings for different movements. My kids BH didn't have colic but could get fussy and it was a real help! Only problem is Shabbos... And the newer versions have automatic shutoff because they wanted to stop you from putting the baby to sleep in it.

amother

Ecru

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 12:40 pm

Try swaddling your baby and holding her in a pitch black bathroom with the fan on. Hold her upright and pat her back. When it's a meltdown from overstimulation rocking can make it worse.
Also please realize that after an hour of crying your baby is probably exhausted and hungry. Crying uses a lot of energy!

amother

Burlywood

Wed, Mar 22 2017, 12:46 pm

momX4 wrote:

letting your baby cry for a bit in another room until you have energy to deal with it is totally fine. You are helping develop the lungs LOL

I wouldn't exactly call it "totally fine". Research shows the effects of babies not being tended to immediately. Of course if parent may injure the child, then they should wait and let the baby cry, but doing so is far from ideal.