Assume the following:
1. first child.
2. standard spread of non-child-related stressors (money, job, relationship, illness, family).
3. standard spread of impulse control across the population
4. sleep deprivation
5. social contact deprivation (very common with parents of first-children in the first few months).
6. colicy baby
It's basically a statistical certainty that there will be cases of shaken baby when these things collide. While the warm glowing fuzzy feelings of parenthood are lauded in the media, dealing with a baby who hasn't stopped screaming for hours and who _just won't tell you what's wrong_ is crazying for anyone, let alone those at the mental margins.
Because gentle jiggling/rocking tends to calm babies. Mine, anyway. Sometimes, gentle jiggling doesn't work, so you do it a bit more. Nothing much, just kinda a joggle with the knees, but the increased frequency/amplitude works better sometimes. Add the factors explained above, and sometimes you end up shaking that kid for all he's worth.
I kind of wonder, though—if there is an impulse built into humans to take out their anger on their children, killing the children in the process, should not we have evolved as a species to either have a stronger maternal instinct to prevent this behavior, tougher children, or children less prone to being annoying?
Assume the following: 1. first child. 2. standard spread of non-child-related stressors (money, job, relationship, illness, family). 3. standard spread of impulse control across the population 4. sleep deprivation 5. social contact deprivation (very common with parents of first-children in the first few months). 6. colicy baby
It's basically a statistical certainty that there will be cases of shaken baby when these things collide. While the warm glowing fuzzy feelings of parenthood are lauded in the media, dealing with a baby who hasn't stopped screaming for hours and who _just won't tell you what's wrong_ is crazying for anyone, let alone those at the mental margins.