Mom Realizes Baby Is Not Breathing, Shakes Baby but Baby Dies Later. What Happened
Shaken Babe Syndrome
Shaking a baby tin can result in serious injury or expiry. Caregivers can try giving the child a toy, or providing dissonance like music or vacuum cleaners, to soothe the infant.
Overview
What is shaken infant syndrome (SBS)?
Shaken baby syndrome (SBS) is a type of brain injury that occurs when a baby or a toddler is shaken violently. This causes swelling, bruising and bleeding in the brain. The child may exist further injured if he or she is thrown down onto a surface, which is known as shaken bear on syndrome.
Infants' heads are very large and heavy in proportion to the residuum of their bodies. When a child is shaken, his or her brain bounces dorsum and forth against the sides of the skull. Shaking can cause bleeding in the brain (subdural hemorrhages, or hematomas) or in the retinas (retinal hemorrhages).
Why do people shake babies?
Parents or caregivers may milk shake a baby because information technology is crying for a long time, and they may think that shaking the babe volition make him or her stop crying. Some parents or caregivers may be nether stress for various reasons, and may become frustrated and unable to cope with the responsibilities of caring for a child. Other caregivers may but not know that shaking a baby can be so dangerous.
Who shakes babies?
People who are about likely to shake a baby have a direct connection to the babe (father or mother) or an indirect connexion (babysitter, secondary family members), and are both male and female person. Shaken babe syndrome can happen among families of whatever ethnicity, any income range and with any blazon of family limerick.
Symptoms and Causes
What are the symptoms of shaken infant syndrome (SBS)?
A kid or baby who has been shaken and has had an injury to the brain may accept symptoms such as:
- Extreme irritability.
- Vomiting.
- Poor ambition or feeding problems.
- Breathing difficulties.
- Convulsions (seizures).
- Lethargy (extreme tiredness, lack of movement, disability to stay awake).
- Pale- or blue-colored pare.
- Bruises on the arms or chest.
- A big head or brow.
- A soft spot on top of the caput that is bulging.
- Inability to lift his or her caput.
- Dilated (widened) pupils.
- Tremors (the shakes).
- Inability to focus or follow move with his or her eyes.
- Coma (unconsciousness).
Some symptoms show up right away, merely others may not appear until afterward. Some children may accept attention and behavior problems subsequently in life from existence shaken when they were infants.
Babies and children who are shaken face serious medical problems as they abound older, including:
- Brain damage.
- Incomprehension.
- Hearing loss.
- Cognitive palsy.
- Speech communication and learning disorders.
- Seizures.
- Neck and spinal cord damage, which can atomic number 82 to issues with movement ranging from clumsiness to paralysis.
- Death.
Who is near at take chances for shaken infant syndrome (SBS)?
SBS happens most often in infants up to 1 year, with infants aged two to 4 months being nearly at risk. SBS does not usually happen after historic period 2, but children as old as five or 6 can be damaged in this manner if the shaking is extremely violent.
Diagnosis and Tests
How is shaken baby syndrome (SBS) diagnosed?
Diagnosing shaken baby syndrome (SBS) may be difficult for several reasons:
- Healthcare providers exercise non always get the truth nigh whether or non shaking was involved in an babe's injury.
- Babies and very small children cannot tell doctors or nurses what happened or what hurts.
- Many symptoms of shaken baby syndrome (such equally irritability, vomiting or lethargy) are also common in other conditions, such as viral infections.
Healthcare providers may utilize certain tests when a encephalon injury appears possible, including:
- Ten-rays to see if the skull is fractured.
- Computed tomography (CT) scans of the caput and belly.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Eye examination to look for show of retinal bleeding (bleeding at the back of the optics).
Direction and Handling
How is shaken babe syndrome (SBS) treated?
Shaken baby syndrome should be treated immediately. Parents or caregivers need to take the child for emergency medical attention every bit shortly as they are aware that the baby has been shaken. The adults should also tell the healthcare provider that the baby has been shaken. Caregivers who are not telling the truth may say that the child has fallen.
Depending on how severe the symptoms are and the kid'south condition, the child may demand respiratory (breathing) support or surgery to terminate bleeding in the encephalon.
Prevention
How can shaken baby syndrome (SBS) be prevented?
Parents or caregivers who milk shake babies normally say that the shaking occurred when the baby was crying inconsolably.
Babies cry from one to three hours per day. Hither are some things yous tin do to avoid condign angry and shaking the baby:
- First, make sure that zip obvious is wrong with the child. You should check to see if diapers are clean and if the babe is hungry or cold. Make certain there is no sign of disease, such as fever or swelling, and that nil is causing hurting.
- If the babe's needs are met, try using noise. You tin put on a radio, or sing and talk to the baby. Sometimes babies like noises like vacuum cleaners, clothes dryers, hair dryers or fans.
- Offering the baby a toy or pacifier.
- Have the baby or child for a ride in the auto (appropriately secured in his or her car seat).
- Take your baby for a ride on an outdoor swing.
- Ask someone else (a friend, a coworker, a neighbor or a family unit member) to accept over for you for a period of time so you tin can have a interruption. It is very reasonable to ask for aid. (Be sure to check references if y'all plan to place your kid in daycare.)
- If no one else is available to take over for you, put the baby safely in the crib and get out the room for a few minutes while yous calm downward. Call back, crying won't injure babies, but shaking will.
Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/13779-shaken-baby-syndrome