Don't Shake Your Baby

[Argranade]

That's so horrible.

Even still I hope the father is ok too, people make mistakes.

Unfortunatly this cost a life.

[*LabLoverKEB*]

How sad...

[sparks19]

I can understand how people who have not had a lot of contact with babies might not understand that shaking can be fatal....
What gets me is HOW COULD ANYONE DO IT to their own child?? There is a certain amount of knowledge that I swear is implanted in your brain when you have a baby. When a baby is put into your arms you KNOW that your goal in life is to protect that baby in every way possible. When I had Tyler it took me several days before I was comfortable enough to GENTLY bounce him in my arms with his head fully supported... An infant is completely relient on you in EVERY way, how could ANYONE betray that trust???


Obviously I feel very strongly about this topic...

I know just what you mean....

there have been times where I have been frustrated because Hannah wouldn't go to sleep... and just knowing that I was frustrated with her for something that isn't really her fault brought me to tears... how could ANYONE think that shaking a baby is ok. Would you shake a puppy to get it to stop whining? Probably not. It breaks my heart that this isn't somethign people would just know is not appropriate. It breaks my heart to even know I get frustrated at times with Hannah... I HATE that.... it's not her fault and I know it. Babies cry for a reason... not just to cry.

[sumbirdy]

This is really such a very important topic. My ex-SIL shook my nephew, Nathan, when he was 3 months old. Luckily he's fine (and away from her) but the thought that he could have been brain damaged or died chills me to the bone. It is very frustrating when you have a baby screaming (Nathan, at 17 months, still has his share of screaming) but I agree with everyone else, put the baby in their bed and walk away. Take deep breaths and calm down. You and your baby will both survive this (that is, if you don't resort to shaking your child) Everyone should be aware of the dangers of this, and frankly I was quite surprised that there were people out there that didn't!

[catnapper]

I always knew not to shake a baby and I too thought it was common knowledge. I myself was NEVER around babies, yet I knew about not shaking them.... so its not necessarily that you have to be around babies to know.

When Cam was really young, I remember posting here about him constantly crying because of colic. YES I was at wit's end, but shaking him would have been the last thing I would ever do! The options for me were : rocking him, taking him for a walk, putting a pacifier in his mouth, checking for a fever, checking his diaper, was he hungry?.... the list goes on and on. Shaking him is nowhere in the list.

The past year and half has taught me a lot, and I now can listen to a baby cry and cry without losing my cool. In fact, if he has a temper tantrum now, I simply let him cry it out, much to hubby's annoyance because he believes a baby shouldn't cry for 2 seconds (such a pushover.)