We have an info campaign going where all parents are to be given a short DVD about shaken baby syndrome. I was very sceptical when I heard about it because it sounded like it could be a license to ignore crying.  After seeing the Norwegian DVD several times, I think it's OK.  Nowhere does it say you should ignore a baby.  It says babies cry, and we don't always succeed in comforting them by holding, rocking, cuddling or feeding them (all of which it recommends), and it acknowledges that it can be so trying that a parent may in frustration shake the baby.  The campaign is based on a US campaign, I was told.  A pediatrician or forensic pathologist, not sure which, who had been an expert witness at a number of trials in which adults were charged with killing or permanently injuring babies by shaking them, was struck by how many of them professed ignorance of the risk involved in shaking a baby.  The aim of the DVD is to inform parents that shaking is dangerous, and to offer them a safe strategy to follow if they find themselves so frustrated.  It also cautions parents not to leave a baby in the care of someone who is easily angered, can't remember exactly how that is formulated but when I saw it for the third time I decided it was not a bad idea.  They also say repeatedly, 'No one gets up in the morning and says "I think I'll shake a baby today".'  They really emphasized that this is something that happens by impulse when people are at the end of their rope and that it's ok to get to the end of your rope.  They use crash test dummies to illustrate the forces at work when an infant is shaken.  It's not ok to shake the baby, and as Nina said, it's better to put the baby on a safe surface and call someone if you have someone to call, to come be with you, or just count to fifty or take a deep breath or whatever.  Still grim, but the baby will survive that without cerebral hemorrhage.
I didn't remember the explanation for the purple part, but I remember reacting negatively to the associations it calls up in me.  
I have much more trouble with a recent book on infant and child care by a professor of pediatrics where it says it is normal for a baby to scream (scream, not cry) for about three hours in every 24, from the age of 3 weeks to 3 months.  After that it is normal for the baby to scream somewhat less.  A parent whose child doesn't scream for 180 minutes daily may think the child is abnormal and wonder what they are doing wrong, and I've been in the game long enough to know that any message can be misconstrued, particularly one that is so unclear to begin with.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome