What can mimic shaken baby syndrome?

1 Recently, an unusual presentation of a neurometabolic disorder, glutaric aciduria type I (GAI), was recognised to mimic shaken baby syndrome.

What can be mistaken for shaken baby syndrome?

Collagen disorders such as Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and others are recognized to make patients susceptible to bone fragility fractures, subdural hemorrhage, retinal hemorrhage and bruising. Child abuse experts often dismiss collagen disorders, or never even test for or consider them.

Can mild shaking cause shaken baby syndrome?

Playful interaction with an infant, such as bouncing the baby on the lap or tossing the baby up in the air, won’t cause the injuries associated with shaken baby syndrome. Instead, these injuries often happen when someone shakes the baby out of frustration or anger. You should never shake a baby under any circumstances.

Is shaken baby syndrome obvious?

How is it diagnosed? Shaken baby syndrome can be hard to detect because often there aren’t clear signs of abuse. Instead, a baby may have vague symptoms, such as vomiting or a poor appetite. At first these symptoms may seem related to an infection, such as influenza (flu) or a kidney infection.

How long after a baby is shaken do symptoms show up?

Some symptoms show up right away, but others may not appear until later. Some children may have attention and behavior problems later in life from being shaken when they were infants. Babies and children who are shaken face serious medical problems as they grow older, including: Brain damage.

Could I accidentally cause shaken baby syndrome?

Can shaken baby syndrome accidentally happen? Shaken baby syndrome is frightening, but the good news is that you can’t accidentally do it to your baby. It might seem easy to accidentally jostle your baby when pulling him or her out of a car seat or during play, but such motions will not cause the syndrome alone.

What happens if I accidentally shook my baby?

Shaken baby syndrome is a form of child abuse. When a baby is shaken hard by the shoulders, arms, or legs, it can cause learning disabilities, behavior disorders, vision problems or blindness, hearing and speech issues, seizures, cerebral palsy, serious brain injury, and permanent disability.

How do I know if I shook my baby?

Shaken baby syndrome symptoms and signs include: Extreme fussiness or irritability. Difficulty staying awake.

Can rocking a baby cause shaken baby syndrome?

Shaken baby syndrome does not result from gentle bouncing, playful swinging or tossing the child in the air, or jogging with the child. It also is very unlikely to occur from accidents such as falling off chairs or down stairs, or accidentally being dropped from a caregiver’s arms.

How do I know if baby is OK after hitting head?

Changes to watch for include inconsolable crying or fussiness, vomiting more than once, balancing difficulties when sitting or walking, and being unresponsive. If your child is exhibiting any of these symptoms, or has any significant swelling over the site of the injury, you should take them to the doctor right away.

Can shaken baby go unnoticed?

In many cases, parents who shake their children are unaware of how deadly it can be. It’s hard to judge how common shaken baby syndrome is because many infants escape with minor injuries that go unnoticed.

Can shaken baby syndrome be missed?

Mild symptoms associated with SBS may be so subtle that they go unnoticed or their non-specificity cause them to be overlooked. Infants who have been violently shaken will appear clinically ill immediately following the trauma to even the most untrained eye.

How do I know if I bounced my baby too hard?

Signs of SBIS include tiredness, irritability, and breathing problems (although there may not be any obvious symptoms right away). In very serious cases loss of consciousness, blindness, motor deficits, learning disabilities, and other serious consequences including death may follow. How does it happen?

How do I know if my baby has brain damage?

Immediate Infant Brain Damage Symptoms

1. Small head or skull.
2. Large forehead.
3. Malformed spine.
4. Stiffness in the neck.
5. Unusual or distorted facial features.
6. Abnormal eye movement.
7. Seizures.
8. Excessive crying.

What is purple crying?

PURPLE crying is a phase that many newborns go through where they cry uncontrollably. While it may seem that your baby is crying too much or is inconsolable, this is a normal thing for newborns to go through. This is a developmental stage that your baby will eventually grow out of.

What causes baby tremors?

In newborns, the pathways that carry the signals from the brain to the parts of the body aren’t yet fully developed, causing jerky and twitchy movements. As the baby’s nervous system matures, these movements will become more fluid.

Who is most likely to shake a baby?

Canadian research has shown that the babies who are shaken are most often male and under six months of age. The research also identified biological fathers, stepfathers and male partners of biological mothers as more likely to shake an infant. Female babysitters and biological mothers are also known to shake babies.

Is it OK to bounce a newborn?

Activities involving an infant or a child such as tossing in the air, bouncing on the knee, placing a child in an infant swing or jogging with them in a back pack, do not cause the brain, bone, and eye injuries characteristic of shaken baby syndrome.

How do eyes look when you have a concussion?

One simple concussion assessment test is to shine a low-beam flashlight from the outer edge of each eye inward. Pupils should quickly get smaller (constrict) in response to the light. A slow pupil response to light may be a sign of brain injury (increased intracranial pressure or ICP).

How long after hitting head can concussion symptoms start?

“For some people, the symptoms after a concussion may not become apparent until later in the day,” says Beth Kolar, advanced clinician at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, part of Main Line Health, who explains that delayed concussion symptoms may present 24 to 48 hours after and injury.

How do you know if your baby has a neck injury?

Stiff Neck

1. A stiff neck means your child can’t touch the chin to the chest. To test for a stiff neck, lay your child down. Then lift his head until the chin touches the chest. If he fights you, place a toy or coin on the belly.
2. Note: Without fever, a stiff neck is often from sore neck muscles.

Can SBS be misdiagnosed?

(KMSP) – A growing number of medical experts believe the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome is being misdiagnosed in too many cases that often end up breaking up innocent families.

What does baby head bobbing mean?

Spasmus nutans is a disorder affecting infants and young children. It involves rapid, uncontrolled eye movements, head bobbing, and sometimes, holding the neck in an abnormal position.

How do I know if my baby has a swollen brain?

They can include:

1. Fever.
2. Headache.
3. Bulging of the soft spots on a baby’s head (fontanelles)
4. Sensitivity to light.
5. Neck stiffness.
6. Sleepiness.
7. Lack of energy (lethargy)
8. Increased irritability.

What is neuro crying?

Like many newborns who suffer profound brain injuries from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, my daughter was diagnosed with “neuro-crying” or “neuro-irritability.” These terms can be defined as crying, agitation, or irritability in children with known neurological issues.

What does cerebral palsy look like in infants?

poor muscle tone in a baby’s limbs, resulting in heavy or floppy arms and legs. stiffness in a baby’s joints or muscles, or uncontrolled movement in a baby’s arms or legs. difficulty coordinating body movements, including grasping and clapping. a delay in meeting milestones, such as rolling over, crawling, and walking.

What is the witching hour babies?

When your baby was first born, they slept almost constantly. Just a few weeks later, they might be screaming for hours at a time. This fussy period is often called the witching hour, even though it can last for up to 3 hours. Crying is normal for all babies.

How long does the witching hour last?

The witching hour is a time when an otherwise content baby is extremely fussy. It typically occurs daily between 5:00 pm and 11:00 pm. It can last a few minutes to a couple of hours. For most babies, the witching hour starts to occur around 2-3 weeks and peaks at 6 weeks.

What is Sandifer syndrome?

Sandifer syndrome (SS) is a type of movement disorder that constitutes paroxysmal spasms of head, neck, and back arching but spares the limbs. SS is often associated with gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) in children.

How can you tell the difference between a jittery and a seizure?

-Jitteriness is distinguished clinically from clonic seizures by (1) no associated ocular movements or autonomic phenomena, (2) stimulus sensitivity, (3) tremor that is suppressed by flexing the limb.

What does infant shudder Syndrome look like?

Shuddering attacks usually happen in babies and young children. They’ll suddenly bend their necks or trunks, and have a shiver-like movement—almost as if they’re having a chill. The body may briefly stiffen.

Can babies be traumatized after falling?

Babies can experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) just as older children and adults can, reports Aletha Solter, a former student of Jean Piaget.

Can bouncing a baby on your knee cause shaken baby syndrome?

Shaken Baby syndrome is caused by a violent and forceful shaking of a child. It is something that most anyone would recognize as extremely dangerous and potentially life threatening. Playful activities like bouncing a baby on a knee or whisking them through the air, while not recommended, are not going to cause SBS.

What is the concussion finger test?

It works like a doctor does when a patient is asked to follow, or track, the doctor’s finger. In that test, the doctor watches the patient’s eyes to see if they are following the movement smoothly. However, Neuro Vision’s measurement is more precise in gauging how well — or how poorly — the patient’s eyes are tracking.

What are the 4 categories of concussion symptoms?

The signs and symptoms of concussion reported within 1 to 7 days post injury (see Table 3-3) typically fall into four categories—physical (somatic), cognitive, emotional (affective), and sleep—and patients will experience one or more symptoms from one or more categories.

How do you test for a concussion fast?

Have them follow your finger with just their eyes. Move your fingers up and down and make an “X.” Both eyes should be able to track the movement of your fingers. Ask they dizzy, nauseous, or do they have a headache?

How can you test for a concussion at home?

Look for:

1. Changes in day-to-day functioning.
2. Eye pain and/or eye fatigue.
3. Headache.
4. Changes in sleep patterns.
5. Neck pain or stiffness.
6. Imbalance, dropping things, bumping into things.
7. Impaired depth perception (having difficulty seeing the distance between two items)
8. Difficulty remembering things.

What are the symptoms of a slow brain bleed?

Symptoms

• Headache that gets worse.
• Vomiting.
• Drowsiness and progressive loss of consciousness.
• Dizziness.
• Confusion.
• Unequal pupil size.
• Slurred speech.
• Loss of movement (paralysis) on the opposite side of the body from the head injury.

How do I know if my child’s head injury is serious?

Also seek emergency attention if your child exhibits the following signs or symptoms after a head injury, which could signal a concussion:

1. Persistent or worsening headache.
2. Imbalance.
3. Vomiting.
4. Blood or clear fluid coming from the nose or ears.
5. Memory loss or confusion.
6. Mood changes, such as irritability.

How long does it take for symptoms of shaken baby syndrome to appear?

Symptoms and Signs

Symptoms vary and are caused by generalized brain swelling secondary to trauma. They may appear immediately after the shaking and usually reach a peak within 4-6 hours.

How do I know if my baby hurts after a fall?

It can be hard to tell whether infants have sustained an injury or are in pain, but there are a few key signs to look for.
Those signs include:

1. Loss of consciousness.
2. Vomiting.
3. Discharge or blood coming out of the nose or ears.
4. Swelling of the soft spot.
5. Bruising or swelling along the head, or obvious skull fracture.

How fragile is baby’s neck?

Your baby’s neck muscles are fairly weak when they’re born. If you pull them up gently by their hands into a sitting position their head will flop back because their neck muscles can’t support it . For the first few months, they’ll rely on you using your hands to support their head and neck when you hold them.

How is SBS diagnosed?

Computerized tomography (CT) scan.

A CT scan uses X-ray images to provide cross-sectional images of the body. A CT scan of the brain can help detect injuries that need urgent treatment. A CT scan of the abdomen may also be done to determine if there are additional injuries.