Shaken Baby Syndrome
Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a form of brain-damage caused by unintended child abuse. It can be caused by direct blows to the head, dropping or throwing the child, or shaking the child violently. Head trauma is main reason of death in child abuse cases in USA.
The cause of SBS
The cause of Shaken Baby Syndrome is nearly always related to inconsolably crying. The perpetrators in Shaken Baby Syndrome cases are nearly always the parents. They are so stressed out that they loose control and try to shake the baby to peace.
The vast majority of Shaken Baby Syndrome victims are babies who have not yet celebrated their 1 year birthday. The average age of SBS victims is between 3 and 8 months.
Effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome
The infantsī neck muscles are not developed much, and provides very little support for their heads and thereby their brains are pitched back and forth within the skull. When the brain hits the inside of the skull the result can be bruising and bleeding to the brain, damaging nerves and blood vessels. Needless to say, the damage is even greater in those cases where the head is hit by a hand, a wall, a mattress or wharever it might be. Bleeding and swelling within the head causes pressure within skull, making the injury even worse. The effect of SBS will often be irreversible brain-damage. Sometimes even death.
Children who survive may have:
* partial or total blindness
* hearing loss
* seizures
* developmental delays
* impaired intellect
* speech and learning difficulties
* problems with memory and attention
* severe mental retardation
* paralysis (some particularly traumatic episodes leave children in a coma)
In some cases the baby appears normal after the shaking, but eventually develop one or more of these problems later on. Sometimes signs of the syndrome doesnīt appear until the child enters the school system and then shows signs of behavioral problems and/ or learning difficulties.
Signs and Symptoms
Common signs to look for includes:
* lethargy
* irritability
* vomiting
* poor sucking or swallowing
* decreased appetite
* lack of smiling or vocalizing
* rigidity
* seizures
* difficulty breathing
* altered consciousness
* unequal pupil size
* an inability to lift the head
* an inability to focus the eyes or track movement
Diagnosis
Babies who donīt have severe symptoms, may not be brought to a doctor. And when they are brought to a doctor they will most often not provide the full true story as they are naturally aware of the seriousness of their actions. Therefore, the doctor donīt know to look for physical signs, leading to misdiagnosis. This carries a risk of the child being shaken again, worsening the brain damage.
If shaken baby syndrome is suspected, doctors may look for:
* hemorrhages in the retinas of the eyes (which are extremely rare in any accidental injuries, such as falls)
* skull fractures
* swelling of the brain
* subdural hematomas (blood collections pressing on the surface of the brain)
* rib and long bone (bones in the arms and legs) fractures
* bruises around the head, neck, or chest
The lasting effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome
As the infantīs brain has very little stored information, it will have much harder troubles to regain normal functioning than an adult with concussion/ brain damage. An impaired vision disables the childs ability to learn through observation and thereby decreases the child overall ability to learn. The same goes for infants with hearing loss. The child will have severe problems developing language, vision, balance, motor coordination, keep focus and attention. The child will need professional help from therapists to learn skills that would otherwise develop themselfes. If left untreated the condition may last throughout the personīs life
If you are anxious that your baby has Shaken Baby Syndrome, it is of utter importance that you contact your doctor and tell the whole truth. The faster the intervene, the greater the chance for your child to achieve a normal life.
To prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome, parents and caregivers of infants need help to deal with their own stress. It's important to talk to anyone caring for your baby about the dangers of shaking and how it can be prevented.
There are many ways to calm a baby down. Shaking should never be one of them. Even if it starts out with gently shaking, it can easily escalate. Learn about soothing measures of infant colic instead, even if the child do not have the diagnosis of infant colic.
