Statewide: Over 50,000 handmade purple colored baby caps have been sent to organizers in 10 U.S. states and 3 Canadian Provinces from thousands of knitters and crocheters across North America to raise awareness about normal infant crying and the dangers of shaking an infant.

The national campaign titled, CLICK for Babies, is organized by the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS) in partnership with hospitals, public health and child abuse prevention groups across the country. The campaign, now in its second year, is the largest coordinated effort to create awareness about normal infant crying and prevent shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma (SBS/AHT).

New Hampshire was invited to participate in this campaign by NCSBS and New Hampshire Children's Trust based in Concord coordinated the effort. "New Hampshire has shown a commitment to the prevention of infant abuse and has made great strides in providing education to parents and caregivers," says Ryan Steinbeigle, Director of Development for the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. "We hope their participation will help raise awareness of the work being done around the state with the Period of PURPLE Crying infant abuse prevention program."

Knitters and crocheters started in April and to date over 4,000 caps have been donated to New Hampshire's new infants. "It has been stunning to see how many knitters and crocheters have donated caps to the CLICK for Babies campaign in an effort to help spread awareness of the Period of PURPLE Crying," says Maria Doyle, Training and Evaluation Director with the New Hampshire Children's Trust and Prevent Child Abuse Hew Hampshire. "Our goal is to create a cultural change in how everyone understands normal infant crying and CLICK for Babies has been an important mechanism for allowing us to do that."

13,000 infants are born in NH each year

Twelve of New Hampshire's twenty birthing units currently share Period of PURPLE Crying information with parents and will be giving out a baby cap starting in November with the Period of PURPLE Crying program materials that each parent is given to bring home. "Caps have come in from Florida, Massachusetts, and from yarn shops, knitting groups, women's clubs, family resource centers and health centers in every corner of New Hampshire. Some folks have made one cap others have made 300. The generosity has been truly amazing." Doyle said.

The twelve hospitals participating are: Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin, Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia, Memorial Hospital in North Conway, Concord Hospital, Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, Exeter Hospital, Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Alice Peck Day Hospital in Lebanon, Catholic Medical Center and New Hampshire's Hospital for Children at Elliot in Manchester, St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, and Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough. New Hampshire Children's Trust is coordinating the effort to have every parent who gives birth in the state receive this information.

"Many parents have no idea what to expect when they bring their new baby home from the hospital," says Doyle. "The goal of the Period of PURPLE Crying program is to give parents reasonable expectations and let them know that all healthy infants cry more in the first few weeks and months of life. The crying will come to end and it is okay to put the infant down in a safe place and take a break when feeling frustrated."

The Period of PURPLE Crying is a new way for parents to understand their baby's crying. The word PURPLE is an acronym, which reminds parents in an easy to remember way all of the characteristics of normal infant crying. The letters in PURPLE stand for:

Some of the 4000 purple caps sent in by knitters and crocheters

For more information about the CLICK for Babies campaign visit CLICKforbabies.org.  More information about the Period of PURPLE Crying program is available at PURPLEcrying.info and dontshake.org. More information about NH Children's Trust is available at www.nhchildrenstrust.org

Editor's Note: For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Maria Doyle at NH Children's Trust 603-224-1279 or mdoyle@nhchildrenstrust.org