Don't Shake the Baby

We've all been inundated with information (in the form of TV commercials, pamphlets, or just being told face-to-face) expressing the fact that shaking a baby is very, very bad. We should never shake a baby for any reason, these sources say. Camille likes being bounced, and I even feel bad about bouncing her, like maybe I'm doing it too hard and am inadvertently giving her Shaken Baby Syndrome (Bounced Baby Syndrome?).

In January, a Jacksonville woman shook her three-month-old baby to death. She explained that he was crying while she was trying to... are you ready for this?... play Farmville. She took a break from Farmville just long enough to shake her baby, smoke a cigarette, and then shake him some more.

W T F

She just recently pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. I think her sentence should involve life imprisonment and sterilization.

Camille has been going through a cranky phase for the past couple of days. I think she might have a cold and an upset tummy. Or maybe it's just PURPLE crying. Whatever the cause, the result is intense crying and screaming no matter what I try to do. Boob? No. Binky? No. Nap? No. Bounce? Yes... but only for a minute. Then right back to crying.

I don't want to shake her, because I don't get mad at her. I feel sorry for her. She's so committed to the cry, so distressed, so distraught, that it breaks my heart. When she finally cries herself to sleep, it's glorious, don't get me wrong. But I still want to know how I can stop her cry. Not because I can't stand her crying, but because I don't want her to have a reason to cry.