PENSACOLA, FL - Newborn parenting can be super stressful.

Throw in the holidays and tough economic times and moms and dads can be especially vulnerable right now to "snapping" and shaking a crying baby uncontrollably.

Shaken Baby Syndrome causes irreversible damage.

Statistics show one in four youngsters die as a result.

Most of them between the ages of three and eight months.

But as Channel Three's Kathryn Daniel reports children up to four years old can be affected.

Registered Nurse Karen Shelton teaches childcare classes and helps new moms.
She loves it but there is one really hard part of her job.

Karen Shelton/Sacred Heart Hospital; "Absolutely, everytime I do it I have to take a deep breath and say, it's gonna be okay, I can get through it."

It's demonstrating the newborn simulator that shows the effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

With a few short shakes and three seconds the damaged parts light up...

The first injured area is the back of the brain which controls vision. When shaking persists the memory and emotional centers are affected and if the shaking is prolonged the middle part of the brain is destroyed causing paralysis or death.

Dr. Robert Patterson/Pediatric Intensivist; "Unfortunately, we see quite a bit of Shaken Baby Syndrome in this hospital."

Pediatric intensivist doctor Robert Patterson says he sees five to ten cases a year.

Dr. Robert Patterson; "I don't have any medicine or surgery or anything I can offer that can fix this damage, the body will heal or not."

Shelton says while the damage is permanent it's also with the proper education -- it totally avoidable.

Karen Shelton; "When you have something that 100 percent preventable, how many things are 100 percent preventable? Not many."

Swaddling and swaying can soothe knowing what's normal for a newborn helps too.
Shelton says crying jags can go on for up to six hours.

Knowing when to put the screaming baby safely in a crib and leaving the room is key.

Karen Shelton; "Check on the baby every five to ten minutes, close the door and just walk out."Shaken Baby Simulator