***Shaken Baby Syndrome***

SBS

Shaken Baby Syndrome Action Plan

• When an infant is shaken, the most serious effect is on the brain, but there are other physical signs that might accompany shaking.

• The most common ones are fractures to the rib, fractures to the long bones of the arms or legs, and external wounds or bruises to the head. External head wounds will not be evident with most incidence of shaking. It is critical that you watch for and act on the less obvious signs of internal trauma to the brain.

• Some of the early symptoms of shaking are irritability, lethargy or sleepiness, feeding problems, vomiting, dilated pupils, poor muscle tone, pale or bluish skin, seizures, not breathing, or loss of consciousness.

• If you know or suspect that an infant or young child has been shaken, it’s critical that you seek medical help immediately. As with any emergency, contact the parents as soon as you can, but the first call must be to 911

• If the child stops breathing before emergency help arrives, begin CPR

• If the child is vomiting and you do not suspect spinal injury, turn his head to the side to prevent chilling and aspiration.

• If you suspect a spinal injury, carefully roll the whole body to the side as one unit (logrolling) while protecting the neck to prevent choking and aspiration.

DO NOT PICK UP AND SHAKE THE CHILD!

Shaking is more likely to injure a baby than an older child or adult because a baby's neck muscles are still weak. Its head is still relatively large and heavy compared to its body size, and the baby's breain tissue and blood vessels are still quite fragile.

Sonshine Family Child Care will train all staff members, substitutes, and volunteers on these procedures before they begin working with children.