Shaking a baby very hard can cause irreversible damage

Severely shaking a baby can cause immediate harmful effects such as loss of consciousness or fits. Permanent effects of shaking a baby very hard can include:

• death
  
  
• brain damage or bleeding inside the head and eyes
  
  
• spasticity in muscles affecting movement
  
  
• blindness and
  
  
• epilepsy.

Many childhood injuries heal, but a head injury could leave your child with a disability for life. By talking to your babysitters, child care workers, and friends or relatives who care for your child, you can make sure they are aware of the dangers of severely shaking a baby. Because we do not know exactly how hard a baby must be shaken to cause these effects, you should never shake a baby.