The question that triggers in most parents’ mind is, can swings cause shaken baby syndrome? The shaken baby syndrome is a kind of brain injury that causes due to forcefully shaking of the baby. This can be a serious injury for a baby. There are many other names given to this condition which are shaken impact syndrome, and whiplash shake syndrome.
It is a condition in which the brain cells destroy and prevent the brain from getting enough oxygen. The normal ways of the baby swing and bouncing are not responsible for any kind of shaken baby syndrome. For example, if the parents shake their babies on legs, swing, or bouncer, you don’t need to worry about the shaken baby swing. This is not responsible for any kind of shaken baby syndrome.
When we talk about the age, it is usually in the babies with the age 1 year are above. Normally when the babies crying too much, parents try to calm them by shaking them vigorously. Please don’t shake your baby vigorously in any condition, this can cause the permanent kind of brain damage. When the baby is younger, needs special care. Let’s discuss some more causes, symptoms, and preventions to know more about the shaken baby syndrome.
Causes of Shaken baby syndrome
The babies have weak muscles especially the neck muscles which support their head. Due to these weak muscles if you vigorously shake your baby this can cause the brain damages. Sometimes parents swing their babies in any kind of frustration or anger which can lead them towards shaken baby syndrome.
When talking about the swings, many baby swings come with a lot of functions including the side to side swing and bouncing. Moreover, these swings and bouncing options have different speed variations depending upon your baby age. Although these swings are perfectly designed to make sure to prevent your baby from any kind of shaken baby syndrome.
Don’t’ use the too much high-speed option of baby swing for your younger baby. Too much high speed is not suitable for younger babies, it can cause shaken baby syndrome.
The timing of the baby swing is also very important. Sometimes people use their electric swings for the maximum time of the day. This is not good for any age group of babies. Make sure to don’t overuse the swings. Sometimes some irresponsible parents put their babies in the swing and don’t see the whole day. This can cause the shaken baby syndrome which is due to parent’s irresponsibility not due to swing.
Symptoms of shaken baby syndrome
The main symptoms of shaken baby syndrome are extreme fussiness, vomiting, and breathing problems. There can be many other minor symptoms like poor eating, pale, seizures, paralysis, and coma. But you can’t see any kind of outer damage to judge the shaken baby syndrome.
Sometimes due to over shaken baby syndrome, it starts bleeding in the brain and eyes, fractures of the ribs, skull, and legs. In many cases, the babies are completely normal without showing any signs. All the described scenarios are for serious damages with vigorously shaking.
Preventions
Whenever your baby cries too much tries to calm him gently without any kind of anger. Make sure to take care of the swing timings of your baby. Don’t use the swing too much.
Adjust the speed limit of baby swing according to the age of your baby. If your baby is few months old then set the low speed setting. Always start with the lowest speed settings, then adjust it according to the comfort level of your baby. Never use the highest speed option.
Use harness point safety of a baby swing, as it not only keep your baby safe but also keep him in a proper position, which reduces the chances of shaken baby syndrome.
Conclusion
From all the above discussion we can conclude that the baby swings don’t cause shaken baby syndrome if they are used with proper guidelines and care. However if baby swings are used without proper care, then they can cause shaken baby syndrome. So it mainly depends upon the behavior or parents. Parents need to use the swing with proper timings, and suitable speed depending upon the baby’s mood and behavior.
