The peak incidence of Shaken Baby Syndrome occurs between 2 weeks and 6 months of age, the period of maximum intensity of infant crying and the age when the baby does not yet have head control and the bone structure is unfortunately very fragile.

The violent shaking, even if only for a few seconds, has the potential to cause very serious injury, especially for children under one year of age. It is difficult to determine exactly how violent or protracted the shaking would have to be to cause harm; however, from the cases already established, it is clear that generally the child victim of SBS is shaken vigorously about 3-4 times per second for 4-20 seconds.
Habitual games or clumsy parenting behaviors do not cause shaking injuries, nor do jumping your child on your lap (piggyback play), jogging or riding a bike with your child, hard braking in a car or falling off the couch or another piece of furniture.

Diagnosing Shaken Baby Syndrome is not easy., it is important not to underestimate any of these signs from the baby, which are important alarm bells for a correct diagnosis, which, however, remains very complex to make.

Shaken Baby Syndrome can manifest itself through a variety of signs and symptoms that require immediate medical attention:

• Persistent vomiting
• Excessive irritability.
• Lethargy or difficulty waking up
• Convulsions
• Respiratory difficulties
• Paralysis or inability to move body parts
• Unexplained bruising

Baby crying, in the first months of life, seems really inconsolable. In fact, crying, is the only tool the infant has to communicate: he may be hungry, sleepy, hot, cold, the need to be changed or simply for cuddles or physical contact to be reassured. Whatever the reason, you should never shake him to calm him down. Because although it may seem like a trivial gesture, the damage on the child can be very serious.

There are, however, many other solutions that can be put in place to try to soothe an infant’s crying: cradling him in the baby carriage, giving him a ride in the car, a soothing bath, or swaddling him with a sheet by bending his limbs so that he returns to the fetal position, or making him hear a rustling or continuous noise (such as a hair dryer or washing machine or vacuum cleaner).

But if the crying does not stop and becomes really exasperating, the best thing to do, if you can no longer handle and tolerate it, is to leave the baby in a safe place and move away until you have regained some balance. Or alternatively, ask for help from other family members/friends and, in the most important cases, let a doctor visit the child if there is any doubt about the child’s health condition.