Northern Health is bringing back its Click for Babies program. Starting Jan. 1 and running until Feb. 28, this program will be giving new each new baby born in the Northern Health region a handmade purple knitted or crocheted cap.
The program is aimed to bring awareness to "purple crying," a period of consistent crying that many infants experience from two weeks to two months old.
"We’re excited to reboot Click in NH,” said Randi Leanne Parsons, NH regional nursing lead for maternal infant health and project co-lead. “It’s a warmhearted way to talk about a very difficult topic with families, families need support from their communities. Click will help us to start conversations in the wider Northern BC community about soothing infant crying and keeping them safe from harm.”
The program was paused due to the restrictions placed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC has donated more than 1,250 caps this year to restart this program.
In addition, Northern Health plans to expand the campaign to invite northern BC knitters to make everything from baby caps to booties.
Along with the purple caps, health-care workers will provide standard education and resources about preventing traumatic head injury due to child maltreatment to families in maternity units. This is thanks to The Period of Purple Crying Program (Purple) being launched alongside Click for Babies.
Purple has been in BC for more than 12 years. It is provided by health and community practitioners to parents and caregivers of infants. The program has been helping more than 44,000 new families a year deal with the pressures of parenting.
Since the Purple program began, Northern Health maternity staff have provided education on dealing with the frustrations and coping with the negative feelings associated with this period of constant crying. They provide tips for soothing infants and talking points for additional caregivers and relatives.
“Inconsolable infant crying is the most common trigger for shaking a baby and other forms of infant abuse,” said Dr. Ian Pike, director of Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC at BC Children’s Hospital.
”Purple is an important public health injury prevention program and is associated with a significant reduction in traumatic head injury due to child maltreatment.”
Learn more by visiting dontshake.ca.
