Shaking baby: an irreparable gesture

All parents have already known this: a baby who cries constantly (sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes for hours), for no apparent reason, and whom nothing seems to calm. Parents' nerves and patience are put to the test.

In the majority of cases, everything ends well, for the baby as for the parents. For a minority of children, it is different: the adult who takes care of the baby does not know how to calm him, gets angry, and shakes him violently to silence him. This is called "shaken baby syndrome" (SBS), also known as "shaking impact syndrome".

More pernicious than other domestic violence, this mistreatment which does not say its name can be very disabling for the child. Mental disorders, motor disorders, or even death: SBS is not to be taken lightly …

Shaken Baby Syndrome: what is it?

As the baby, during his first months of existence, has a very flexible neck, he is very sensitive to sudden movements back and forth. When it is violently shaken, its brain can therefore move and strike its skull. Haemorrhages, lesions of the blood vessels,… The damage caused in a few seconds is very often irreversible.

Shaken Baby Syndrome Figures

As with all acts of mistreatment, it is very difficult to obtain precise figures concerning the number of children victims of shaken baby syndrome: the diagnosis is often hidden, or even denied by the family or even the caregivers. He is often surrounded by shame and guilt, and remains largely unknown and underestimated. However, the figures available are thrilling: for France alone, there are around 180 to 200 babies each year affected by the shaken baby syndrome.

Risk profiles of shaken baby syndrome

Unlike other mistreatments, there is not really a "typical" sociological profile, but some major trends stand out: the author of a shaken baby syndrome is more like a man (75% of babies shaken would be by men), father, (between a third and a half of the authors), young and inexperienced (most of the authors are under 25). It also happens that it is the parents-in-law who crack, or the nurses who are exasperated: 10 to 20% of the victims of the shaken baby syndrome are it by people who keep the baby occasionally.

Shaken baby syndrome does not affect everyone: statistically, it occurs more in young babies (less than one year old), older siblings, male.

Testimony: My son Timothy died of shaken baby syndrome


Video by Juliette Le Peillet

The aftermath and consequences of Shaken Baby Syndrome

In the majority of cases, shaken baby syndrome causes irreparable damage: only less than one in four children suffer from no sequelae following SBS. For the remaining four-fifths, the prognosis is more pessimistic: 10% of the children shaken die from it, and 90% have sequelae.

Among these, a quarter suffer from hemiplegia, major mental retardation, blindness, or epilepsy, and almost half will suffer from punctual paralysis, moderate mental retardation, mental disorders, loss of sight, …

Preventing shaken baby syndrome

If, in front of your baby's crying, you feel that you are very upset, on the verge of cracking, that your patience is running out, never shake your baby! Instead, do not hesitate to have him babysit and rest: you can rest your baby in his bed and go out for a few moments, ask someone else to replace you, or rest your baby in bed, and go outside for a few minutes. In any case, leave the room. If you are worried about harming your baby, don't hesitate to ask for help.

You can take advantage of this break to exteriorize your feelings, emotions and thoughts to talk about them with loved ones. Surround yourself!

Of course, the caregiver must also have all your confidence and be unlikely to have violent, impulsive, or sudden reactions with your child.

If, despite everything, the baby's crying continues, do not hesitate to consult a doctor: repeated crying can have a medical cause, which is fairly easy to resolve, but which you have not necessarily been diagnosed, such as colic, by example.

Be very careful when handling the baby: keep it upright all the time, against you. Likewise, do not attempt to play with it by moving it with rotational movements, such as "flying".

Diagnosing and treating shaken baby syndrome

After a shaken baby syndrome, there are no external traces of beating or trauma. So it's not easy to tell if your baby has been shaken or not. However, watch out for your child's vomiting, falling asleep, convulsions or feeling unwell. Do not hesitate to react quickly and do not wait before consulting a doctor, if these disorders appear.
Rehabilitation will be done in coordination with many specialists: speech therapists, physiotherapists or psychomotricians will be involved.

For further :
– syndromedubebesecoue.com
: the reference site for all information on Shaken Baby Syndrome
– the explanations of the'Health Insurance
– the recommendations of the High Authority of Health

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