Day 5

When I first started here at PSP, I had to do an orientation as you can see when/if you read Day 1. While they were training us on the Early Childhood Development portion, the SBS and SIDS training video did not work. So this past Monday I finally got to watch those informational videos. The training for these situations took a while, but I found it worth the interruption in my time hanging with the babies. If you are a parent or caretaker of an infant, you have to be so careful about shaking them. SBS, or Shaken Baby Syndrome, occurs when a baby is violently shaken back and forth. I know what you are thinking: "I would never 'violently shake' a baby." Unfortunately, it happens more than you think. If you are a parent, you may understand where I am coming from when I say this, but babies can sometimes cry a lot. Sometimes you have tried everything, but nothing seems to comfort the poor child. The video then talked about how some caretakers or parents will become so aggravated that they will shake the baby back and forth to try and silence them. It sounds horrible, but it is reality. The damage done to the neck and brain is usually irreparable. However, the video was helpful because it told us ways to prevent these things from happening. If the crying is too much, make sure the child's basic needs are met and place them in a safe place (like a crib) and feel free to walk away for a little while. The lady in the video said, "It's okay for the child to cry."
Another common fatality among infants is SIDS, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This happens usually when the child is sleeping and the doctors do not really know the cause of it. It's more common among babies that are under 2 years of age. The challenge for this is because it is unpredictable and unpreventable. Learning about these two common situations that happen with infants I found to be very helpful. Not only as a volunteer, but as a future parent. 
While I was doing my usual routine and working with the babies, I noticed that there were two new kids in the group. I don't think we've had the same group of kids twice yet. The littlest one is always there, and one of the little boys keeps coming back, but there are always new kids coming and going. What made me most sad was when I learned the little twin boys were not at the shelter anymore. Families coming and going primarily happens due to the fact that the families that stay at PSP are moving on to something else. Maybe they could not get their application renewed with the county or maybe they are moving on to bigger and better things because they finally got their feet on the ground again. I asked one of the instructors if she also finds it sad when one of the babies leaves the shelter, and instead of hearing a more hopeful statement, she says, "Well not really, because through my experiences here, I have noticed that they usually come back anyways." As a volunteer, I do not get the pleasure of knowing the families more, but I noticed that the full-time instructors really know what's going on around this place. I found what she said fascinating and at the same time heartbreaking. It's too bad that these families get stuck in the same cycle over and over again.