Rocking baby - shaken baby syndrome

[Sawa75]

Hi there. Apologies if this seems crazy, I'm an anxious FTM.
My baby is almost 11 weeks. He was crying last night (overtired) and so I held him close and rocketed him and he stopped crying and wemt to sleep. I rocked for about 10 mins. After I stopped I started to worry was I rocking him too fast and did it constitute shaking. I was holding him lying horizontal on my arms with hand under bum/legs and shoulders/head/neck. It was about a one second tempo but my arms didn't move very far, a short range. He seems ok today, he slept very well overnight (I read being sleepy is a sign of sbs but how would you even know.) Im so scared I hurt him. I wpuld appreciate advice as I cant separate rational from irrational worry.

Apologies for typos. Rocketed = rocked obviously

Ah op, absolutely no chance, my lovely! It sounds like you did a good job of helping your little one get to sleep

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure I've read that shaken baby syndrome happens when their head is jolted back and forth from the neck. I'm sure you had the babies head supported well and you just helped them fall asleep nicely

You have not in any way hurt your baby. Shaken baby syndrome is caused by extreme, very violent shaking, nothing like a gentle rocking like you were doing. Don't worry.

No way

Shaken baby syndrome happens when the head is whipped back and forth rapidly on the neck

It sounds like you were fully supporting him. He will not have been harmed.

Being a new mum is so scary, isn’t it ?

Shaken baby is a very violent act - honestly love you haven't done this x

This brings back so many memories of early day worries.

Nope. Your baby will be fine. Maybe have a chat to your HV about this? It’s a question that comes up all the time. They will be able to reassure you that gently rocking a baby while supporting baby’s head and neck correctly is very different to shaking them.

you are fine xx

Oh lovely, you haven’t hurt him. When my DS was newborn I worried about shaken baby syndrome on bumpy pavements in the pram! Keep an eye on your anxiety, from personal experience it can be overwhelming and there is lots that can be done to help - reach out if thoughts like this keep cropping up. Xx

This is irrational worry. You would have to be rocking him quite violently to do any harm. He went to sleep because the rocking was soothing.
Having a newborn is the most terrified I've ever felt, but it gets better!

I'm absolutely positive that you haven't done any damage, please try to worry less - easier said then done, I know

Babies live being rocked because it's the first sensations they knew in the womb - when you were walking etc and it mimics that. And bum patting - it reminds them of the (your) heartbeat they felt in the womb

Please don’t worry, you can’t accidentally “shake” a baby in this way; one of the signs of being shaken in a baby is blood in the eyes (can’t remember the actual word) and that’s from the eyes literally being jolted back and forth in the skull and if you think about the force that would be needed for that then you’re nowhere near doing that

Thanks so much for the reassurance i really appreciate it! It is scary being a first time mother and learning how to look after a newborn. But its amazing, I love him more and more each day 🥰🥰.
I dont know how anyone could purposely violently shake a baby

I used to worry about similar - running for a bus with baby in a sling or spinning around holding them when we were dancing or whatever. I remember googling and being reassured that it was the most horrid, head lolling sort of shaking that was a problem. Bless you, you’re doing great x

I don’t think anyone does violently shake their baby on purpose really (or at least it’s vanishingly rare) what usually happens is the parent or caretaker can’t deal with the crying and they snap and lash out. That’s why we are all advised that it’s ok to leave your newborn baby crying in their cot or pram or the floor and go into another room for a few minutes when it all gets too much.

You won't have hurt him. My eldest used to get very screamy and overtired and it took quite energetic jiggling to settle him. Gentle rocking didn't cut it at all!

The key is supporting the neck so the head isn’t wobbling all over the place as they haven’t got the muscles to hold their head steady.

I also had this worry once!!

As mums we do get anxious, I was anxious about loads of things and I remember my HV telling me it's normal, he worried about exhaust fumes and her baby in the pram at that level would the baby be poisoned ... no, it's just the joys of being a mum and a bit hormonal - but it's because you love them so much as you can't bear they may be harmed

I remember my DH telling me to go to bed one day because I was shattered abd woke tomfind him mowing the lawn with our baby in a sling - I was horrified ... she was fine 😉
Congratulations and enjoy your baby

Nope, take it from someone who worked in A&E for decades, this is not even close and a baseless worry.

Just thinking about the way a baby would need to be moved to cause that kind of damage made me go all shivery, and I am the least maternal person going, so I can say you 100% did not.

Jiggling a baby in your arms, while supporting their head and neck, is entirely normal and wont cause shaken baby syndrome!

I remember my DH deciding that we should carry our first baby's pram over a cobbled courtyard in a castle we'd done to visit as he was scared that the motion would cause brain damage. People must have thought we were crazy! But when you're new parents - anxious, inexperienced and probably sleep deprived - these worries are very real.
Don't worry OP, you were just doing what mothers have done for thousands of years to calm their babies and I'm sure you haven't caused any harm.