Worried about shaken baby syndrome

[DreamOn86]

Please I would really appreciate some help.
we have a 5 months old baby girl and got her thr babybjorn bouncer. She has recently learnt how to bounce herself so hard by pushing with he feet against the bouncer then lifting her neck put and release. It was quiet scary to me to see her doing this so I didn’t want to use it anymore. My husband then started putting her in it again while supervising her BUT he did something very wrong i think and now im really worried she has got shaken baby syndrome.
so as an attempt to not let her do this, he was holding the bouncer so she wouldn't be able to bounce herself but she carried on doing the same movement and trying to bounce herself which resulted in her head taking more shock then it would if the bouncer was moving because it was now hitting the surface of the bouncer that is not moving. So its more like hitting her head repeatedly.
he did that for around 10 min and i didn’t realise until the end that omg this is actually worse than letting her bounce because she was technically hitting her head forcefully to the bouncer and without the bouncer absorbing the shock if that makes sense.
im so worried cant stop thinking that she might have shaken baby syndrome.
i read about shaken baby and i know mainly the head has to bounce back and forth violently which didn’t happen in my case but still she was hitting her head repeatedly
been crying since yesterday and it’s not the first time i worry about such a thing its just that this tome i feel that we might have really hurt her and i m not being able to calm myself down and say that nothing really happened

With kindness, I think you are ovetthinking this. The bouncer is soft material isn't it? She's not banging her had repeatedly against a solid plastic thing? That is not how shaken baby syndrome happens.
Might be worth mentioning your anxiety to the health visitor /GP when you next see them.

Yes its soft fabric but she s technically shaking her head i would have thought?!

i m currently awaiting for therapy to start. Im having very bad anxiety over her. It’s unbelievable. Cant stop it

I suggest watching a video of how hard a baby actually needs to be shaken to get shaken baby syndrome. I had no idea how violent it would have to be. It's shockingly forceful and almost certainly can not be done accidentally.
I assure you your baby is fine and will not have suffered at all from this.
I feel for you though, anxiety is horrific.

Are you the same poster who was worried about shaken baby syndrome because she ran too fast up the stairs? I know you said you’re waiting for therapy for anxiety, I was just wondering if this is a repeating worry for you.

Anyway she will be absolutely fine. Stuff about shaken baby syndrome is scary I know but babies are not THAT fragile. Hitting her own head against a soft surface (so gently it presumably doesn’t hurt or bother her or she would have stopped doing it!!) is not going to harm her

“Shaking injuries are not caused by casual or accidental handling of children. Shaking injuries require massive, violent force.” From the national centre on shaken baby syndrome

Im sure she's fine OP.
Shaken baby syndrome is an awful violent act inflicted on a baby. Bouncing her head on a padded surface is just her starting to explore what her body can do. Let her bounce on it properly as intended so she can enjoy the movement. It good for development.

A baby cannot give herself shaken baby syndrome.
Bouncers are designed to be bounced in, so you can safely let her use it as intended.

This. The injuries sustained with SBS are akin to a car accident.

I am indeed!! And yes it is a repeated issue with me. But most of the times i know im not making any sense. But this incident and for some reason seem rationed in my head. She wasnt being gentle on herself she was trying hard to bounce herself and we were stopping her because we thought its best not to let her do that. That was foolish honestly!!
im really upset as sometimes i get worried about something and when i try to find a solution I actually do something worse

Short of rolling herself off a high surface or down the stairs, she's not going to hurt herself. My nephew used to do the same and he's absolutely fine at 5yo!

Shaken baby syndrome requires violent and quite sustained force.

What she's doing is a good thing, she's figured out a way to entertain herself, she's developing the muscles in her legs, back and neck.

Hopefully you'll be able to access support for your anxiety soon, have you checked any work employee assistance programmes you or your DH have to see if they have access to any services?

Listen, this is your anxiety taking control. From the situation you describe, there really is nothing to worry about. These fabric bouncers are safe and she won't have hurt herself.

Look I'm sorry but you need to get help. I've intubated babies with shaken baby syndrome and none of them got it by being jiggled upstairs or bouncing in a bouncer.

It's the kind of injury you'd get if you drove into a wall at 50 mph with no seatbelt on. It cannot be done by a baby and it cannot be done in a bouncer.

Nothing she could do (even with your husband holding the bouncer) would be strong enough to self inflict shaken baby syndrome.
It is the kind of force that is needed for whiplash, it doesn't happen accidentally not even really by things like falling or being dropped or by like jogging with a baby

Its good that your getting some support for this, your baby is going to be totally fine.

Shaken baby syndrome is when an adult forcefully and violently shakes a baby so their head flops about repeatedly.
Not a baby shaking their own head in a bouncer chair.

A baby couldn't shake their own head violently enough to get shaken baby syndrome. I know its easy to get a bit obsessively worried about things like this when you are a new parent. I used to worry the vibration function on out baby bouncer would damage DSs brain. I promise she is absolutely fine.

Please get some help for your anxiety. It must be awful worrying about everyday stuff normal movement in a bouncy chair or rushing up the stairs.

Bouncers are meant to be bounced in. Your baby was just enjoying herself and not coming to any harm.

You are totally overthinking this and you must get help to stop.

Ah I thought so, I’m really sorry to hear you’re still struggling. I promise you, in both scenarios there’s no way she could cause herself shaken baby syndrome.

I suffered a lot from intrusive thoughts when my DD was very small- one of the things that helped a bit was to really label them as such when they popped up. “This is my anxiety talking, my brain is making up these scenarios for me. It’s ok to have these thoughts but it doesn’t mean baby is in any danger” etc etc.