About project

Project mission: protect children from abuse and develop informed parenthood in Ukraine.

Project goal: prevention of shaken baby syndrome in Ukraine.

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Project Objectives:

• to train specialists in the social sphere and the sphere of health care to carry out preventive work with parents regarding the shaken child syndrome;
• to raise the level of parents’ awareness about the phenomenon of shaken baby syndrome, its causes and consequences.

What is Shaken Baby Syndrome?

The American Academy of Pediatrics describes Shaken Baby Syndrome as: a term often used by physicians and the public to describe abusive head trauma inflicted on infants and young children. Although shaking an infant has the potential to cause neurologic injury, blunt impact or a combination of shaking and blunt impact cause injury as well.

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Consequences of SBS/AHT

• Behavior disorders
• Cognitive impairment
• Death

About period of purple crying as the main cause of shaking the baby

The Period of PURPLE Crying is a new way to help parents understand this time in their baby’s life, which is a normal part of every infant’s development.

It is confusing and concerning to be told your baby “has colic” because it sounds like it is an illness or a condition that is abnormal. When the baby is given medication to treat symptoms of colic, it reinforces the idea that there is something wrong with the baby, when in fact, the baby is going through a very normal developmental phase.

That is why we prefer to refer to this time as the Period of PURPLE Crying. This is not because the baby turns purple while crying. The acronym is a meaningful and memorable way to describe what parents and their babies are going through.

The Period of PURPLE Crying begins at about 2 weeks of age and continues until about 3-4 months of age.

*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.

Information For Parents

Parents are used to figuring things out and reading a manual and then they seem to be able to successfully fix the situation. It doesn’t work with babies. Understanding your baby’s normal developmental stages is the first real step in making progress.

Have you ever come home from work to a screaming infant and wondered why they are always crying when you come home?

Have you ever thought that your baby was crying because he/she just didn’t like you? Have you ever felt inadequate as a parent because you couldn’t get your baby to stop crying?

The important thing to know, is that your baby’s crying has nothing to do with you as a parent.. Some babies cry a lot and some not very much but they all go through this stage in the first few months of life.

This increased crying, which is normal, can be particularly stressful for new parents. In addition to each of many other responsibilities,  adding caring for and providing for your infant. If you get the impression that your baby doesn’t want you or isn’t happy to see you, this can add to the stress and frustration you may already be feeling from other things in your life.

What you need to know though is that this increased crying your baby is going through isn’t triggered by you. It is a normal developmental stage that research has shown, amongst other things, is most likely to occur in the late afternoon and evenings, very likely around the same time you might be returning home from work.

While a crying baby may be one of the most frustrating things you are dealing with, it is probably not the only thing.