PURPLE Onions Make Appearance at Fireworks Show
Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC Kicks off Awareness Campaign at
Celebration of Light

Vancouver, BC, - July 29, 2010 – Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC, an agency of BC Children’s Hospital, will launch a unique campaign that will go directly to the crowds at the Celebration of Light starting July 21. It is designed to raise awareness of the Period of PURPLE Crying in B.C. The Period of PURPLE Crying program, PURPLEcrying.info, is a British Columbia wide initiative to help parents understand normal infant crying and to prevent shaken baby syndrome.

“The crowds at the fireworks include many young families with young children and babies who are the people we want to reach with our message”, said Marilyn Barr, Director of the program. “We are giving out purple onions with our message on them to help parents and others learn more about normal infant crying and the dangers of shaking an infant.”

The Period of PURPLE Crying is a term used to describe a normal phase or period of development for infants when they cry more than any other time. This crying phase usually begins at 2 weeks of age and continues until about 3-4 months. All healthy babies go through this period to varying degrees. Some babies cry for hours, others far less. During the Period of PURPLE Crying parents may believe that there is something wrong with their baby, when in fact their baby is likely perfectly healthy. The inability to soothe a child and stop their crying can be discouraging, even frustrating for any parent or caregiver, so the information is critical.

“My son cried a lot for the first 4 months of his life. I was really discouraged and did not know what to do. He was healthy but he cried for hours every day,” said Joe Knelsen, a young Vancouver father. If there had been a program like the Period of PURPLE Cryingat that time, it would have helped me so much. I would have known it was a phase and it would come to an end. Thank goodness this program is there for parents of BC now”, he added.

All British Columbia parents get the Period of PURPLE Crying program from the maternity nurse in the hospital after the birth of their baby. It includes an 11-page booklet and a 10-minute DVD. The program was developed by Dr. Ronald Barr and Marilyn Barr. Dr. Barr is a world expert on infant crying and Ms. Barr is the Founder and Director of the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome in the U.S and Director of the British Columbia program. Currently, 637 hospitals and organizations in North America have implemented the PURPLE program.

For more information about the Period of PURPLE Crying go to PURPLEcrying.info