Sunday, August 10, 2008

Unfortunately, the new Revolution Health website provides some good examples of lost opportunities to prevent shaking and other inflicted injuries....

Searching the website finds numerous pages on colic, which make no mention of the frustation and anger that a caregiver can experience when dealing with a colicky child, or how parents can help prepare a coping plan.

The overview page on colic suggests indirectly that colic could be upsetting, but offers only this advice on managing that upset:
Do what you can to comfort your baby, but accept that sometimes nothing works. If you feel stressed or worn out, ask a friend or family member to give you a
break. Take good care of yourself, and remember that colic will go away soon.
What to expect from colic is another page that fails to mention that frustration and anger can be a normal response, or that it is even more necessary to talk with the other caregivers of your child and discuss coping behaviors, so these less experienced caregivers have an opportunity to prepare for colic.

On the other hand, a page on crying under age 3 does discuss SBS. It could be improved by redirecting the focus from "you shouldn't shake your baby" and not claiming that throwing a child in the air will cause SBS
Never shake or harm your child. Shaking a child in anger or playing rough, such as throwing him or her into the air, can injure the brain.

While the Revolution site does have several pages on SBS, it's only the last page that talks about prevention.

On a health oriented website, that seems to be putting a cart before the horse.

No comments: