Click for Babies is a knitting movement aimed toward raising awareness of Shaken Baby Syndrome and they need our help!
Much too often, newborn babies are shaken and abused because their parents or others taking care of them get frustrated with their crying. And not to scare any potential future mamas out there, but the crying can be pretty tough. All you want is for your baby to be happy, but when he is still screaming his head off after you've tried everything in your power to soothe him, it's more than a little frustrating. Add to that the impaired judgment that comes with sleep deprivation, and you can almost see why people start doing awful things that wouldn't usually be in their nature. Daniel has been pretty good in this department so far, mostly crying due to things we've been able to fix, but he has certainly had his moments, especially in the evening. And what has helped me through these moments is knowing that 1. it is completely normal, 2. it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me as a parent, and 3. it's a PHASE.
The folks at the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome have coined the phrase "Period of Purple Crying" to describe this difficult time. Check it out below (and click to embiggen)...
So here's where we come in: Click for Babies is trying to get the word out to all new parents in North America in the month of November about the Period of Purple Crying and is calling knitters to donate hand-knit (or hand-crocheted, if you swing that way) purple hats that will be donated, along with info and handouts, to those parents and their babes. You can read more details and find out where to send your purple hats here. They're hoping to get as many hats as possible by mid-October -- let's get clicking!
6 comments:
just posted this in the HPKCHC Snake Pit on Ravelry!!!
My daughter, now a wonderful 7 year old, cried for 1-2 hours non-stop every evening when she was 3-5 months. I was so close to shaking her. There are days when I would just put her in her cot to cry and have a time-out for myself just to prevent me from doing something stupid. Those were trying days,. And I am expecting another baby in days, yes, days! Gearing up for more long crying sessions.
I love my babies but ooooo they take some much out of you!
Thanks for getting the word out. I'm such a slow knitter so not sure how many I can get done in that short a time but I'm going to give it my best shot!
I used to walk all night with my crying 6-week-old, watching a PBS serial re-run at 1 a.m.to help me through. By morning I got pretty tired so lay down on the sofa with her still screaming in my ear. I always fell asleep content that I had done my 'good mommy' job, and eventually she did too. One day, paging through one of many baby books that I had bought as a result of that trying time, I found one that said I did not have to pace with her. She was about 12 weeks old then, and I showed her the book. She looked at me, probably pretty puzzled, but she never cried again. True story. Somehow I think babies just "know."
Chloe
Wow, intense. Good on you for spreading the word. Wish I had some purple yarn...
That is like, the ONE color I just do not have. Or brown.
This is such an important issue, I'm glad there's a program to raise awareness. I remember when my sister's first baby was born, she got a booklet from the hospital about soothing babies and one thing that it said that always stuck with me is, "Crying is not failure," that is, sometimes babies cry and you can't soothe them and that doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.
Hopefully, John and I won't have to deal with it too much when our baby comes, though!
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