FARMINGTON — When newborn Isabelle Zale goes home to Dixfield, she’ll be given a purple baby cap, and her parents will get an educational video on infant crying.
The Franklin County Children’s Task Force donated 410 hand-knit and crocheted baby caps to Franklin Memorial Hospital on Tuesday as part of a national program, Click for Babies.
The program was started by the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, which partners with invited organizations such as the Children’s Task Force in an effort to educate caregivers about the period of purple crying, a time of normal infant crying that can sometimes lead to abusive actions.
“All babies go through a period of increased crying, which typically begins around two weeks of age, peaks in the second month and comes to an end around the third or fourth month of life,” according to program literature.
The parent doesn’t always understand that and can be frustrated when nothing they do helps make the baby stop crying, said Stephanie Harmon, from the Children’s Task Force.
Frustrations can result in someone shaking and injuring an infant through abuse known as Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma.
“Parenting doesn’t come with a manual,” Renee Blanchet, executive director of the FCCTF said.
Education holds the key, she said, for the decline in shaken baby statistics in Maine and the benefits of the video given to parents of newborns.
Three months ago, the Children’s Task Force sought knitters to “click” their needles together to create a variety of colorful, soft baby caps all in shades of purple. The response was bags of caps for the hospital, made by people from across the state.
Local shops, Pins & Needles and Emelda’s, gave knitters discounts on purple yarn for the caps, Harmon said.
Approximately 350 babies are born each year at FMH. Some caps were already on hand, a donation from Treat Memorial Library in Livermore Falls, said MaryAnne Goodwin, FMH Maternal and Child Health director.
The key to ending domestic violence is education, state Sen. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton, said. He and state Rep. Russell Black, R-Wilton, are supporting the work done by the Children’s Task Force.
The end of domestic violence starts with children ages 1 to 5, Saviello said.
“This is where a difference can be made. It’s one program I fight for,” he said of any potential for cuts to the local child advocacy program.
Many who participate in parenting programs at the Children’s Task Force are from single-parent households and they don’t realize their potential, Blanchet said. A total of 94 percent who start parenting programs without a high school education receive one as they also learn to parent, she said.
Encouraged with the response by cap makers, Blanchet said it will continue next year.
“We received so much support,” she said.
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