Can i accidentally shake my baby

Most cases of abusive head trauma also called shaken baby syndrome happen to babies and toddlers younger than 2 years old. Rarely, it can happen in children up to 5 years old. It can happen to boys or girls in any family. At special risk for abuse are children who have a lot of special needs or health problems that make them cry a lot, like colic and GER.

Things like gently bouncing a baby on a knee or riding in a bumpy car won't cause the problems seen in abusive head trauma. In the most severe cases, babies and children may come to the ER, hospital, or doctor's office not awake, having seizures, or in shock. Parents or caregivers often won't say that the child was shaken or hit, so doctors may not know to check for head injury.

Many signs of abusive head trauma, like fussiness and throwing up, are common in routine childhood illnesses. So it can be hard for doctors to figure out that a baby was harmed. If a child's problems are mild, they might not be noticed until the child starts school and has problems with learning, focus, or behavior.

After abusive head trauma,a child may need long-term care from a team of health experts, such as:. They also need a pediatrician who can manage their ongoing complex care.

They also might need support from therapists, such as:. Before age 3, a child can receive free speech therapy or physical therapy through state-run programs. After age 3, the child's school district's provides any needed special educational services. They are usually average people who in the heat of their frustration and anger lose control and shake their child. Children are most susceptible to being injured during the first year of life because their neck muscles and brains have not developed enough to withstand the violence of being shaken.

When shaken an infant's head moves back and forth with their chin coming in contact with their chest and the back of their head touching the upper back.

As an infant is shaken their brain bounces around inside the skull causing severe bleeding and swelling. Their is also sheering and tearing of the retina inside the eye causing more bleeding and eventually leading to blindness in most cases of SBS. Many people ask what types of activities other than shaking can cause SBS.

Shaken Baby syndrome is caused by a violent and forceful shaking of a child. It is something that most anyone would recognize as extremely dangerous and potentially life threatening. Playful activities like bouncing a baby on a knee or whisking them through the air, while not recommended, are not going to cause SBS.

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Shaken Baby Syndrome also known as Shaken Impact Syndrome is a serious form of abuse inflicted upon a child. It usually occurs when a parent or other caregiver shakes a baby out of anger or frustration, often because the baby will not stop crying. Babies have very weak neck muscles that cannot fully support their proportionately large heads.

Shaking, with or without the sudden deceleration of the head when it impacts a surface, can cause the following:. The average victim is between three and eight months old. However, children up to age four have been victims of this abuse. The perpetrator of the abuse is most often the father, boyfriend of the mother, female babysitter or the mother. Parents experiencing stress because of environmental, social, biological or financial situations may be more prone to impulsive and violent behavior.

Because there is currently no reliable method of collecting these statistics, the true incidence is unknown. This syndrome is the most common cause of death and long-term disability in infants and young children who are victims of child abuse.

There is often no obvious external evidence of injury or physical sign of violence, resulting in under diagnosis of this syndrome.