Blue Collar Dad

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome fields numerous calls from anxious parents and care givers each week, wondering if everyday play activities can possibly cause shaken baby syndrome. These parents usually call after a well-meaning relative or friend has cautioned them regarding such activities as using an infant swing, tossing a child in the air or bouncing a baby on the caregiver's knee. These callers are reassured once a staff member from the National Center explains SBS and the violence necessary to cause it.

The National Center and its International Advisory Board issues this position statement on the relationship between ShakenBaby Syndrome and normal affectionate handling or innocent play activities:
Shaken baby syndrome, which may result in severe brain trauma, is caused when a child is violently shaken such that the head is subjected to back and forth motion in one or more directions resulting in rapid repeated severe acceleration and deceleration of the head. The medical literature and ongoing research around the world have characterized shaken baby syndrome as well as other forms of accidental and non accidental injury. 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.


The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome recognizes and supports positions offered by The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) in reference to the mechanisms that cause shaken baby syndrome. The forces required are distinctly different than those sustained by children in the activities described above or in short falls.