News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Anna West
(801) 456-1907 desk, (801) 554-1614 mobile
awest@crowelladv.com

National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome Invites the Public to Pledge to Help End Infant Abuse for Child Abuse Prevention Month in April
Take the easy, online pledge and promise to talk to anyone who cares for a baby about the Period of Purple Crying

SALT LAKE CITY — April 6, 2010 —The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS) is asking the public to take an easy, online pledge, promising to talk to anyone who cares for a baby about the Period of PURPLE Crying, a stage in the first few months of life when even normal, perfectly healthy babies can cry for up to five hours per day. The pledge is available at www.purplecrying.info. The pledge drive is being conducted to help end infant abuse in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.

“Frustration with a baby’s crying is the number one trigger for shaking,” says Ryan Steinbeigle, director of development for the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. “By letting others know that this period of increased crying is normal, you can help stop infant abuse.”

The Period of PURPLE Crying is a normal developmental phase that all healthy babies experience between two weeks and four months, characterized by long periods of crying. The letters in PURPLE stand for:

• Peak of Crying – The baby may cry more each week, peaking at two months, and then less at three to five months.
• Unexpected – The crying can come and go, with no explanation.
• Resists soothing – The baby might not stop crying no matter what you try.
  
• Pain-like face – It may look like the baby is in pain, even when they are not.
• Long Lasting – The baby might cry 5 hours per day or more.
• Evening – The baby might cry more in the late afternoon or evening, just when parents are getting home from work and tired from a long day.

“The pledge campaign is a great way to reach everyone who cares for a baby, like grandparents, friends and baby sitters, to help stop infant abuse,” says Steinbeigle. “We want to get people talking about it, and letting each other know that this period of increased crying is normal.”

“My son is six now and he was a challenging baby because he cried all the time in the first few months,” says Kim Raap, mother of a PURPLE baby. “When I found out about the Period of PURPLE Crying, I thought, wow, my son was perfectly normal. I wish I had known about it when he was a baby, I think I would have felt more comfortable leaving him in a safe place and taking a short break when I needed it.”

The Period of PURPLE Crying is funded by the George and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Intermountain Healthcare Foundation, Stephen & Susan Denkers Family Foundation, Willard L. Eccles Foundation, Humana Inc., Rite Aid Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation. Humana will invite all of their partners to take the pledge this month. For more information about the Period of PURPLE Crying or to take the pledge, visit www.purplecrying.info.

# # #

Distributed by Crowell Advertising, Marketing & PR. For more information visit www.crowelladv.com.