Could he be scrambling his brain?

[MyZoeJane]

My 4 month old likes to bounce. Strike that. He LOVES to bounce. The mere thought of it, I think, brings him great joy.

So I acquired a Fisher Price Jump and Go bouncer. When I put him in it, it is pure jumping glee. We're talking wild abandon.

Other than being downright adorable to watch, as his smile grows as wide as a mile... could it be possible that he is doing harm to his brain?

Everyone knows it's insane to shake a baby, because of the possibility of brain damage... Is it possible for my baby to cause brain damage to HIMSELF?

I limit him to 10-15 minutes, though he looks at me as though I just shot his best friend when I remove him from his source of happiness.

[odoole]

I'm inclined to think that if he can hold his own head up, he's not shaking his brain. I think it's the back-and-forth whiplash that's really bad in shaken baby syndrome -- more relevant for little babies with weak neck muscles.

[MeepyCat]

I don't think it's possible for a baby to cause himself brain damage, even with the assistance of a bouncer. In Shaken Baby Syndrome, the damage is caused by back and forth movement, not by up and down.

Especially if he can hold his head up and is having fun, let him bounce. Those things saved my sanity when my son was small - he was happy and I could read a book, or cook something, or pet my cat with both hands.

[ErinYay]

According to The Happiest Baby on the Block, which advocates "shaking*" a baby to calm him/her, it's actually very difficult to injure a baby's brain, and as odoole said, it requires a snapping of the neck back and forth.

Your little guy is fine, and, from the sound of it, is more than fine! (You need to be YouTube-ing this adorable business, asap!)



*more of a violent jiggle, and it WORKS!

[emmaegbert]

lol!

Sounds like you are doing a very conservative limit on it, which is probably a good thing, and I doubt your little guy will hurt himself in 10-15m of bouncing a day!

[JordanKX]

I certainly hope not! I don't know where we'd be without the bouncer - my lo is absolutely insane about it! Full body smiles and laughs and giggles and more smiles. He bounces to music, he bounces to me playing guitar. It's absolutely awesome! I certainly hope he's not hurting himself in there :-)

[MusicianDad]

There is much more force with an adult shaking a baby hard enough to cause brain damage than with a baby bouncing in a bouncer. There is also a big difference in what is actually happening to a baby's head, as a PP mentioned shaking causes a back and forth whiplash type movement that has a sudden stop in both directions, not the same as bouncing up and down.

[nwatt]

I am glad that you asked this. Sometimes when DD is fussy, the only thing that makes her happy is being put in her Fisher Price jumper. I always have to take her out before she is ready because I think she would stay in there for hours is if I let her.

[prothyraia]

I imagine that if the babe was somehow bouncing hard enough that their brain was being injured, it would hurt and they would stop.

[Pavlovs]

Originally Posted by MyZoeJane

My 4 month old likes to bounce. Strike that. He LOVES to bounce. The mere thought of it, I think, brings him great joy.

So I acquired a Fisher Price Jump and Go bouncer. When I put him in it, it is pure jumping glee. We're talking wild abandon.

Other than being downright adorable to watch, as his smile grows as wide as a mile... could it be possible that he is doing harm to his brain?

Everyone knows it's insane to shake a baby, because of the possibility of brain damage... Is it possible for my baby to cause brain damage to HIMSELF?

I limit him to 10-15 minutes, though he looks at me as though I just shot his best friend when I remove him from his source of happiness.

OMG please video that and post a link to it! That's gotta be super-adorable!

[lalemma]

That sounds hilarious/awesome!

Apropos of nothing, there's a great section in "What's Going On In There" about why babies love things like jumpers: it has to do with vestibular motion- babies are working on their own balance and proprioception. (Just in case you're curious. I found it fascinating.)

[tracymom1]

Originally Posted by prothyraia

I imagine that if the babe was somehow bouncing hard enough that their brain was being injured, it would hurt and they would stop.

DS loved to bounce too - it was the ONLY thing that he enjoyed his first year!