(NBC News) — Shaken Baby Syndrome is the most common cause for inflicted brain injury in the first two years of life.
Shaken Baby Syndrome is a severe form of child abuse that results from parents or caregivers violently shaking a baby.
This whiplash motion causes a child’s brain to repeatedly hit the front and back of the skull, leading to potentially fatal consequences.
“Most of the time, there’s no actual criminal history or drugs or alcohol history of the perpetrators. It’s just regular parents losing their control,” Elizabeth Oestreich, Child Injury Prevention Coordinator says.
If you’ve shaken a child, there are ways to tell if serious damage was caused.
“Some things to look for are lethargy, vomiting, the inability to cry because once they get shaken, sometimes they lose that control and they don’t even know how to cry anymore,” Oestreich says.
While babies cry for often unknown reasons, if you still can’t comfort the child after a while, Oestrich says calming yourself could help avoid a bad situation.
Oestrich recommends parents take the appropriate classes and also educate anyone who’s going to be caring for your child.
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