Category Archives: Shaken Baby Syndrome

Child Abuse, Death, Good Parenting, Physical Abuse, Shaken Baby Syndrome, StopChildAbuse

NEVER, NEVER SHAKE A BABY

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SBS/AHT is the leading cause of physical Child Abuse in the U. S.

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma (SBS/AHT) is a term used to describe the constellation of signs and symptoms resulting from violent shaking or shaking and impacting of the head of an infant or small child.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) describes SBS as a subset of AHT with injuries having the potential to result in death or permanent neurologic disability.

The #1 trigger for Shaken Baby Syndrome is frustration with a baby’s crying.

SBS/AHT is the leading cause of physical Child Abuse in the U. S.

Approximately 25% of victims of SBS/AHT die.

FAQ

Can Tossing My Baby in the Air or Rough Play Cause SBS?

SBS is a form of child abuse that happens when an infant or small child is violently shaken.  Shaken injuries are not caused by:

  • Bouncing a baby on your knee.
  • Tossing a baby in the air.
  • Jogging or bicycling with your baby.
  • Falls off a couch or other furniture.
  • Sudden stops in a car or driving over bumps.

Although the activities listed above can be dangerous and are not recommended, they will likely not cause SBS injuries.

Why is Shaking a Baby Dangerous?

Violent shaking for just a few seconds has the potential to cause severe injuries.  While shaking may cause injury to children of any age, children are most susceptible to being injured during their first year of life.  Factors that contribute to a baby’s vulnerability include:

  • Babies heads are heavy and large in proportion to their body size.
  • Babies have weak neck muscles.
  • Babies have fragile, undeveloped brains.
  • There is a large size and strength difference between the victim and the perpetrator.

Facts

SBS/AHT is well researched with over 700 publications in more than 100 peer-reviewed high impact medical journals.

Upwards of 80% of surviving victims of SBS/AHT suffer lifelong disabilities.

Approximately 25% of victims of SBS/AHT die.

SBS/AHT is the leading cause of physical child abuse deaths in the U.S.

SBS/AHT occurs most often in babies less than 6 months old.

There are approximately 1,300 reported cases of SBS/AHT in the U.S. each year.

Possible Signs and Symptoms of SBS/AHT
  • Lethargy / decreased muscle tone
  • Extreme irritability
  • Decreased appetite, poor feeding or vomiting for no apparent reason
  • Grab-type bruises on arms or chest
  • No smiling or vocalization
  • Poor sucking or swallowing
  • Rigidity or posturing
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Decreased level of consciousness
  • Seizures
  • Head or forehead appears larger than usual
  • Soft spot on head appears to be bulging
  • Inability to lift head
  • Inability of eyes to focus or track movement
  • Unequal size of pupils
Consequences of SBS/AHT
  • Learning disabilities
  • Physical disabilities
  • Visual disabilities or blindness
  • Hearing impairment
  • Speech disabilities
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Seizures
  • Behavior disorders
  • Cognitive impairment
  • Death

Information on this page is not intended to replace advice by a health care professional.  If you suspect a child has been shaken, seek immediate medical attention.

Resource:  National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome
https://dontshake.org

Child Abuse, Child Innocence, Good Parenting, Neglect, Shaken Baby Syndrome, StopChildAbuse

Your Child Needs You – Pt 1

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How you raise your Child could mean the difference in Life or Death

Why Quality Time Needs to Be a Priority

I am going to attempt to reach out to all Parents with this, although we want to draw young couples and young parents-to-be to Our Sites, where they can better prepare to be the Parents their Child needs.

No matter what kind of Parent you are, there is one thing you will never teach your Child.

The first, and most important thing a Child should “FEEL” is LOVE.  I believe that when a Child is born, it is possible to be ahead.  But let’s start from the beginning, and just so everyone knows, it is possible to, up to a point, to look at your wife and Child and say “I am so very sorry , PLEASE, I love you both, but I have wronged you both”. ( If this is the wife, just change the words to read accordingly).

You should love your significant other as much as you love yourself, and you should be an honest person already, if not how can you even think of doing your significant other and family-to-be like this????

The same goes for violence toward your significant other and a family????

IT IS WRONG TO IMPLANT INDIFFERENCE IN A CHILD’S HEART

While we are here, you and this young Lady( even if you are joining in on this as seasoned Parents) are forming a TEAM, and contrary to what anyone says, there is no master or slave.

Learn to open up and talk, but be totally honest, and at this point you never, never, never, ever betray the trust in which you told each other your deepest…  and dreams.

But now is the time to train yourselves to talk softly, and you both might as well get rid of the dirty habits: chewing tobacco… OK, what is it?  No, No, not you just the Mother-to-be, since it is her job to deal with your young football player 24 hours a day for 11 years….  OF Course I MEAN YOU TOO, new Mothers have depression, and it is the Father’s responsibility to deal with their Child as much as possible.

The other member of your Team will need a time just to herself, and this is not just her naptime, that does not count.

Now back to stopping things an innocent Child should not know: tobacco, cussing, arguing, fighting, alcohol, drugs(all 3 kinds, illicit, over-the-counter, and prescription, and that goes for the fake over-the-counter synthetic drugs), pornography, loud music, and junk television.

Next the Team will need to start early and get you a child-proofing-the-house list going, along with Emergency plans for various possibilities.

OK, when your Teammate conceives, it will be time to start talking softly to this bundle of joy while lightly rubbing and touching this “bump” as your Child grows.  You can sing softly, and read to this soon-to-be addition to the Team.

It will be a really good time to prepare yourselves, so read-up on facts like bonding to Mom and Dad, Newborns get scared very easily, and most particularly uncontrollable crying, which is Purple Face or Blue Face(it was called when my oldest taught me the hard way what this thing is that far too many end up hurting their Child for life by Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Last but not least, the things you DO NOT DO AT ALL, EVEN ONE(1) TIME!!!!

You never discipline a Child when you are angry.  You NEVER talk MEAN to them, NEVER criticize them, if they are having trouble with homework, you help them, and if you can’t do the problems just imagine what this dear Child feels like in front of his peers.

OH, now it is time for you and your Teammate to start practicing Quality Time.

You can NOT teach your Child LOVE, it is a feeling, a felt thing.  But you will begin as a smiling, long-suffering Parent, teaching your Child the basic qualities necessary to be a Good Family Member, Good Friend, Good Pupil, Good Citizen, Good Employee, Good Soldier, Good Boss, and a Good Civil Servant, by teaching Truth, Honor, Respect while being Respected, Duty, and Responsibility(which, by 18-years-of-age, will be Responsibility For One’s Own Actions).

This Child must be protected by you and your teammate for 18 years.

Child Abuse, Good Parenting, Good People, Law Enforcement, Physical Abuse, Shaken Baby Syndrome

MD State Attorney Has Eye For Detail

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Rocking horses outside the home of daycare provider Gail Dobson in Trappe, Md., who was convicted in the death of 9-month-old Trevor Ulrich.

Montgomery leads the way on prosecuting
Child Abuse

Montgomery County, MD  –  Cases involving the deaths of very young children are not easy to prosecute.  There usually are no witnesses, the medical information is often complicated, emotions are fraught, and it is always hard to believe that anyone — least of all those whose care the child has been placed in — would want to cause harm.  So a trio of convictions in child deaths won by Montgomery County prosecutors over the past year is noteworthy, underscoring State’s Attorney John McCarthy’s priority in combating crimes against society’s most helpless.

“Trevor would have been 8 years old, he would have been in second grade.  He would have had a joyful life.  But now there are only tears and sadness and a void that his death left behind,” Assistant State’s Attorney Debbie Feinstein told the jury that this month found day-care provider Gail Dobson guilty of second-degree murder in the Sept. 3, 2009, death of 9-month-old Trevor Ulrich.  It was the second time the Eastern Shore woman had been found guilty; an earlier conviction was overturned on the grounds of ineffective counsel, and the case became ensnared in an ongoing debate over the validity of Shaken Baby Syndrome and abusive head trauma.

Montgomery prosecutors, who took over the case because of conflicts by Talbot County officials, used Ms. Dobson’s conviction — along with the convictions in Montgomery last year of Moussa Sissoko (sentenced to life in prison with all but 50 years suspended for killing his infant son for $750,000 in insurance) and Adou Louis Kouadio (sentenced to 40 years in the murder of his 2-month-old son) — to make critical points:  that dynamic head movement and impact can do great damage to young brains and those who might suggest otherwise do a great disservice.

“Junk science” was Mr. McCarthy’s characterization as he pointed out that the experts who “supposedly should have been called” in Ms. Dobson’s first trial were not allowed to testify in the second trial because they failed to meet the legal standard.

The possibility always exists that a person could be wrongly accused in a child’s death because of sloppy work by investigators or medical personnel.  But testimony in Ms. Dobson’s case detailed the painstaking process — including the work of experts at Children’s National Medical Center — used to determine the cause of death and how investigators looked for other causes and tried to rule out abuse.  The resources that Mr. McCarthy’s office has devoted to investigation of child abuse and deaths — including Ms. Feinstein’s development into a national expert — set a model that other jurisdictions should follow.

Better Laws, Child Abuse, Good Parenting, Physical Abuse, Shaken Baby Syndrome, StopChildAbuse

WI Toddler Showing Signs Of Being Shaken

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Toddler Showing Signs Of Being Shaken

Oshkosh Man Arrested for Child Abuse after 2-month-old taken to hospital

OSHKOSH, WI  –  A 31-year-old Oshkosh man was arrested Tuesday for child abuse.

The suspect’s 2-month-old daughter was taken to Mercy Hospital where an exam showed for injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.  The infant was transported to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee.

The condition of the infant is unknown at this time.

“Detectives did travel down there maybe about an hour ago,” says Crime Prevention Officer Joseph Nichols just before 3 PM Wednesday, “but I haven’t received an update in regards to the child’s condition.”

Nichols says cases of alleged child abuse are relatively rare for Oshkosh, and taken very seriously.

Charges are expected to be filed against the suspect soon.  His identity is being withheld until then.

Child Abuse, Child Innocence, Good Parenting, Law Enforcement, Shaken Baby Syndrome, StopChildAbuse

ND Man Admits Shaking Baby

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Reese Andrew Young

Man charged with Child Abuse after admitting to shaking baby

FARGO, ND  –  A man is charged in Cass County Court after court documents say he admitted to shaking an infant.

Reese Andrew Young is charged with one count of child abuse and one count of aggravated assault/domestic violence.  Court documents say the charges stem from Young grabbing a two-month-old by the ribs and shaking him, causing a brain bleed and extreme pain.

Police were called to Essentia Health on November 3 for a child abuse report.  A two-month-old baby had swelling on the soft spot of his head.  A scan was done that found injuries consistent with a shaken baby.

The officer who responded to the emergency room asked to speak with Young.  Court documents say Young immediately broke down and cried saying “I’m sorry” multiple times and also said “I didn’t mean to.”

According to the court documents, Young said he was stressed and admitted to shaking the baby in his crib around 3:00 a.m.

Reese Young was taken to the Cass County Jail, but has since been released.  A no contact order was put into place on Monday, November 7.