Abstract

Objective: This study was made to determine reactions of mothers to excessive crying of their babies, their condolence methods and their information level about shaken baby syndrome that may be caused by shaking.

Methods: The population of this descriptive and sectionally planned study sample consisted of 279 mothers having a baby of 0-2 years applied to Pediatrics Policlinic of a hospital for physical examination between dates of April / August 2015. Data were collected with face-to-face interview method with a questionnaire form developed by researchers.

Results: %72 stated that their baby would not cry if there was no problem and 65,9% stated that crying had no harm for the baby. It was determined that 56,3% of mothers felt desperate when their babies cried and 54,5% of them used rocking the cradle to calm the baby down. It was determined that 7,9% of mothers shake their babies and 82,1% had not heard of shaken baby syndrome yet. No statistical significance was detected between genders of babies and daily average crying durations (p>0,05). Statistical significance was detected between genders of babies and shaking situation of babies by their mothers, and it was detected that male babies were shaken more (p<0,05)

Conclusion: It was determined that mothers had limited knowledge about excessive crying and shaken baby syndrome in their babies. Educations should be provided for parent in an early period, particularly after birth, thereby increasing their awareness.