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What is the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome?

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS) is a nonprofit organization focused on preventing shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma (SBS/AHT) and on improving infant care more broadly. It describes its work as supporting and educating families, caregivers and professionals through programs, policy and research. Its stated vision is to prevent SBS/AHT and improve overall infant care, with a founding belief that all babies can be safe from harm.

Its main audiences are parents and caregivers, plus professionals such as pediatricians, social workers, home visitors and hospital or public health staff. The site brings together several practical strands: the Period of PURPLE Crying prevention program, training and a store, family resources, research updates, conferences, and a donation pathway. There is also a Period of PURPLE Crying app with articles and videos on infant crying, sleeping and soothing, plus a tracker for crying, feeding, sleeping and growth.

What you can do on the site

• Read current research on SBS/AHT
• Explore the Period of PURPLE Crying program and app
• Find training and educational materials
• Access family resources
• Register for or view details of the 2026 Nashville conference, which the site says is approved for social work continuing education and for nursing and legal continuing education
• Volunteer or donate

If you are a parent in a difficult moment with a crying infant, start with the family resources or the app rather than the research pages. If you are a professional looking for continuing education, the conference and training sections are the more relevant starting points. National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome

What is the Period of PURPLE Crying program and how does it help prevent shaken baby syndrome?

The Period of PURPLE Crying is the flagship prevention education program from the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS). It teaches parents and caregivers that early infant crying is normal, that it peaks and then declines, and that no amount of soothing will stop some crying bouts. The goal is to reduce the frustration and loss of control that can lead a caregiver to shake a baby.

National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome - PURPLE Crying

What the program teaches

The "PURPLE" acronym describes common features of early infant crying:

• Peak pattern — crying increases over the first two months, peaks, then decreases.
• Unexpected — crying can start and stop without an obvious cause.
• Resists soothing — some crying continues no matter what a caregiver tries.
• Pain-like face — babies may look like they are in pain even when they are not.
• Long-lasting — crying bouts can last a long time.
• Evening — crying often clusters in the late afternoon and evening.

The practical message is simple: when you have tried feeding, changing, holding and settling, and the baby is still crying, it is acceptable to put the baby safely in the cot and step away for a few minutes to calm down. Never shake a baby.

How it helps prevent shaken baby syndrome

Shaken baby syndrome, also called abusive head trauma, usually happens when a caregiver loses control during a crying episode. The program targets that moment in three ways:

1. It reframes crying as normal. Caregivers who understand that peak crying is a developmental stage are less likely to feel personally rejected or to believe something is wrong with the baby or with their caregiving.
2. It gives permission to pause. Teaching caregivers to place the baby down safely and take a break reduces the chance of a frustrated, exhausted reaction.
3. It reaches people before the crisis. The materials are delivered by nurses, pediatricians, home visitors and hospital staff, so families receive the message during pregnancy or shortly after birth rather than after an injury.

Who it is for

The program serves parents and other caregivers, but it is also designed for professionals who support families: hospital and public health staff, pediatricians, social workers, home visitors and child protection workers. The NCSBS provides training and materials, and the organisation also runs conferences on shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma.

Where to start

If you are a parent or caregiver, ask your maternity hospital, pediatrician or home visiting service whether they use the Period of PURPLE Crying materials, and look at the family resources section of the NCSBS site. If you are a professional, the training and store sections explain how to deliver the program in your setting. The NCSBS app adds a library of articles and videos on infant crying, sleeping and soothing, plus a tracker for crying, feeding, sleeping and growth, which can help caregivers spot patterns and feel more in control.

What training and continuing education opportunities does NCSBS offer for professionals like social workers and nurses?

NCSBS offers professional training and continuing education through its Period of PURPLE Crying program and its annual International Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma. The conference is the clearest continuing-education route: the site notes that the Nashville conference has been approved for social work continuing education hours (through the National Association of Social Workers), as well as nursing and legal continuing education.

For social workers, nurses and home visitors, the practical offer is a combination of:

• Period of PURPLE Crying training — a prevention-education program aimed at helping professionals teach parents and caregivers about early infant crying and how to cope with it safely.
• Annual conference — multi-day sessions covering research, prevention and practice, with continuing-education approval for several professions.
• Store and resources — training materials, family resources and a research page for keeping current with SBS/AHT evidence.

A next step: if you need credit hours, check the conference program for the sessions approved for your discipline before registering, since approvals are listed by profession (social work, nursing, legal) rather than as a blanket credit. If you mainly want to deliver prevention education in your own setting, start with the Period of PURPLE Crying training rather than the conference.

For related professional guidance, you can also compare with CDC on abusive head trauma prevention and American Academy of Pediatrics for pediatric professional education.

How can parents and caregivers use the PURPLE Crying app to track infant crying, feeding, and sleeping?

The PURPLE Crying app, from the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, is designed as a support tool for the period when infant crying peaks, typically in the first few months. Its tracking features let you log crying, feeding, sleeping and growth, so you can look back at patterns instead of relying on memory during exhausting days and nights.

What you can track and why it helps

• Crying – Recording when and how long crying episodes happen can reveal that they cluster in the late afternoon or evening, which is common and not a sign that you are doing something wrong. Seeing this pattern over several days can reduce the panic that comes with a long, unexplained crying spell.
• Feeding – Logging feeds helps you and your baby's clinician see whether feeding is going as expected, and it gives you a factual record to bring to appointments if there are concerns about intake or weight.
• Sleeping – Tracking sleep, including naps, shows how sleep is distributed across the day and night. This is useful when you are trying to decide whether a change in routine is helping or whether you are simply in a harder developmental stretch.
• Growth – Growth entries give a longer-term view alongside the day-to-day logs, which can be reassuring when daily fluctuations feel significant.

How to use it in practice

Start by logging only what you can manage. A few entries a day are enough to show a pattern; trying to capture everything perfectly often backfires when you are already tired. Review the log every few days rather than continuously, and look for trends rather than judging individual entries. If you are sharing care with a partner, grandparent or childminder, agree on who logs what so the record stays consistent. Bring the log to well-baby visits or to a clinician if crying feels unmanageable, as concrete times and durations are more useful than a general impression.

The app also includes a library of articles and videos on infant crying, sleeping and soothing, which can be read or watched during a settling attempt. The organisation behind it frames the content around the idea that all babies can be safe from harm, and its wider work covers prevention of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma.

A decision criterion

Use the app if you want a single place to record crying, feeding, sleeping and growth, and if having written evidence of a pattern would help you feel calmer or communicate better with a clinician. If you only need general reassurance about infant crying, the reading and video material may be enough on its own.

For more context on the programme and its family resources, see National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome - PURPLE Crying.

What are the latest research findings on shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma?

The site does not present specific research findings on shaken baby syndrome (SBS) and abusive head trauma (AHT). It points to a dedicated research page, "Latest Research on Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma," but the supplied page evidence contains no study results, statistics, or conclusions. So the honest answer to "what are the latest findings?" is: this page does not say. It functions as a hub for prevention, training, family resources, and conferences, not as a research digest.

What the site actually offers on this topic

• A research section labelled "Latest Research on Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma," reachable from the main navigation.
• The Period of PURPLE Crying programme, an infant-crying education approach aimed at reducing the frustration that can precede shaking.
• A conference on SBS/AHT (Nashville, September 22–24, 2026) with continuing-education approval for social work, nursing and legal professionals.
• A mobile app with articles and videos on infant crying, sleeping and soothing, plus a tracker for crying, feeding, sleeping and growth.
• Training and store sections, aimed at professionals and caregivers rather than the general public.

How to use this if you need research findings

Treat the site as a starting point for prevention and education, and go to the research page itself rather than expecting findings summarised on the homepage. If you are a clinician, social worker or home visitor, the conference programme and continuing-education approvals are the most directly useful parts. If you are a parent or caregiver, the app and PURPLE Crying materials address the practical trigger — prolonged, unexplained infant crying — rather than research literature.

For independent research, compare with sources such as CDC, NIH, American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization, which publish surveillance data and clinical guidance. Note that terminology has shifted toward "abusive head trauma" because it covers injuries beyond shaking alone; this site uses both terms.

A concrete next step

If your goal is evidence rather than prevention materials, open the site's research page and check whether it links to peer-reviewed studies or only to internal summaries. If it is the latter, use it for caregiver education and take your research questions to the CDC, NIH or AAP instead.

How can I register for the 2026 Nashville Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome and what CE credits are available?

Registration for the 2026 International Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma (SBS/AHT) runs through the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome's own site, which lists the event for September 22–24, 2026 in Nashville alongside a full conference program you can view before committing.

How to register

• Start at National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome - PURPLE Crying and open the conference section, where the 2026 Nashville program is posted.
• Review the program first: session topics, daily schedule and speaker lineup usually determine whether the conference fits your role.
• Register through the conference pages on that site. If you need an invoice, purchase order or group rate for a team, contact the organization directly rather than assuming the online form covers it.

Continuing education credits

According to the site, the Nashville conference has been approved for:

• Social work continuing education hours, approved by the National Association of Social Workers.
• Nursing continuing education.
• Legal continuing education.

The exact number of credit hours, the approving bodies for nursing and legal credit, and any state-specific conditions are stated in the approval notices on the conference pages. Read those notices carefully if you practise outside Tennessee, since some licensure boards require pre-approval or accept another state's credits only with documentation.

Practical next step

If you are a pediatrician, nurse, social worker, home visitor or attorney, check your licence renewal deadline before registering. Conferences often report credits weeks after the event, so if your renewal falls soon after September 2026, confirm the reporting timeline with the organizers first. Attending the full three days is usually necessary to claim the maximum hours, and partial attendance may reduce what you can claim.