Shaken Baby Syndrome is one of the leading forms of fatal child abuse. This usually occurs to young babies younger than six months old but can occur to children up to the age three. Shaken Baby Syndrome is the shaking of a baby from either its arms, legs, chest/shoulders violently causing the head to move back and forth. This voilent shaking, which does not have to last more than a few seconds, can cause irreplaceable damage to the brain. When a baby is shook, it makes the brian bounce of its skull and there is increased pressure on the brain, causing swelling, bruising, and bleeding in the brian. This shaking can cause permanent brian damage,learning disabilities, paralysis, seizures, hearing loss, and even death. This is usually the result of non-accidental trauma or child abuse. There are internal and external symptoms. The symptoms may include loss of consciousness, pale or light blue skin, vomiting, convulsions, and change in behavior. Since there is usually bleeding around the brian and eyes(broken blood vessles in the retina) can also cause blindness. There also could be broken/injured bones, and injuries to the spine and neck. A baby's head is much larger than the rest of the body, causing the neck muscles to be very vulnerable because they are not fully developed. The blood vessles and brain are very fargile and can be damaged extremely easily, especially with whiplash motions, such as shaking, jerking, and jolting.
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How is Shaken Baby Syndrome Diagnosed... |
It is somewhat hard to determine Shaken Baby Syndrome since there is usually more damage done, then the eye can see. Usually children that do in fact of this syndrome, do not come to the hospital because of it. Parents usually bring children because they are vomitng, or having seziurs, which are signs of Shaken Baby Syndrome. When a doctor is examining a child for Shaken Baby Syndrome they usually look for bleeding in the retina of the eyes, and blood in the brian. Often the child's head will be increased with size due to the excessice fluid from the tissues in the brain. Sometimes MRI's are used (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to help show injuried to the brian. Because most of the external effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome like poor feeding, vomiting, and symptoms like the flu, can misdirect parents. These means that the baby could be in more danger because it is actually a lot sicker then the "flu". |
* When a young child is shaken out of anger or frustration, the force is multiplied five or ten times more than if the child would have simply tripped and fallen.
* One in four shaken babies die.
* 15% of children's deaths are due to battering or shaking.
* Adult males, in the US in their early 20's, whom usually are either the father, or mother's friend are usually the shaker. (65-90% shaken baby syndrome cases are due to men). |
***1***American Academy of Pediatrics: Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect (1993). Shaken Baby Syndrome: Inflicted Cerebral Trauma. Pediatrics, 92 (6), 872-875.
***2**Poissaint, A. & Linn, S. (1997). Fragile: Handle with Care. Newsweek, Special Edition, Spring/Summer, 33.
**3**Showers, J. (1997). Executive Summary: The National Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome. Alexandria, VA: National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions.
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When babies are shaken, they are usually shaken more than once, suggesting the parent/guardian has less self-control than others. In a study of twenty-four childen, 12 of then had been a victim of shaking with evidence of direct external trauma. Seventeen of the twenty-four children had evidence of child abuse and/or neglect. Eight had "multiple intracranial hemorrhages". Shaking a baby is abuse. If a child is a victim of shaking then it is most likely that there is different type of abuse going on, other than shaking. Alexander R, Crabbe L, Sato Y, Smith W, Bennett T: Serial abuse in children who are shaken, AJDC, 144:58-60, January 1990.
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Twins are at much a higher risk to suffer from Shaken Baby Syndrome, then a only child or children spread out in age. "This form of physical abuse is independent of socioeconomic factos. "Most of the parents admitted that the shaking was finally triggered by a situation where they could not meet their children's needs, evidenced mostly by inconsonlable crying."" When parents/guardians are shaking their child, they are not intending to cause long term damage, or kill their child, but that is what usually happens. Becker JC, Liersch R, Tautz C, Schlueter B, Andler W: Shaken baby syndrome: report on four pairs of twins. Child Abuse & Neglect 22(9):931-937, September 1998. |
In Billmire ME, Myers PA, reviewed children's computed tomography scans for two years, that were admitted to the hospital due to head injuries. The results were devastating. Sixty-four percent of the head injuries were the result of shaken baby syndrome (child abuse). Ninety-five percent were serious intracranial injuries. Billmire ME, Myers PA: Serious head injury in infants: accident or abuse? Pediatrics 75(2):340-342, February 1985.
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