Shaken baby syndrome advocacy and campaigns
Shaking is a leading cause of injury death in children under twelve months of age.
Injuries caused by shaking don’t happen accidentally during normal play. Shaking your baby can result in blindness, deafness, seizures and brain damage – all of which can lead to learning and behavioural difficulties, or death.
It seems from clinical experience and the stories families have told, that the major reason that babies are shaken is because a parent or carer becomes frustrated or stressed by a crying baby. Other causes of stress in families lives can make it hard to manage the emotional effects of a baby’s crying. It is unclear how much force or amount of shaking can cause damage to a baby or child. Therefore, any amount of shaking is seen as dangerous and should be avoided. So remember, no matter how upset you feel... Shaking your baby is just not the deal!
The shaken baby prevention project has produced a number of resources, including a video clip, posters, brochures and postcards, to provide information to parents, carers and professionals about responding to a crying baby. These were developed to support families in dealing with the challenges of managing a crying baby and provide safe strategies for responding to a crying infant. The project's goal is to ensure that all those involved with babies understand the importance of not shaking a baby, ever. Please click here to order hard copies of the poster and postcards.
This 3.5 minute animated video clip provides suggestions and strategies for responding to a crying baby. It is suitable for use by parent educators, in schools, in hospitals, doctor's surgeries, in child care centres and for personal use by parents and carers wanting to educate babysitters, family friends and young people.
This video is also available in a range of languages, listed below.
