Volunteer – CLICK for Babies

My GIVE and TELL contribution to CLICK for Babies. 7 is a lucky number and purple is a soothing color.

Volunteer projects like CLICK for Babies are really wonderful creating a chance for me to give back and contribute. As soon as I heard about this program that works to educate parents about infant’s PURPLE crying, I felt this is an important topic and deserves more attention because babies are our future. Purple happens to be my favorite color so I set to work excitedly to make 7 crochet caps and then shipped them to Oklahoma. This is my first time to participate in a project like that and it was somewhat experimental. I will keep an eye out from now on to learn more about programs like that to take part in and hopefully grow my contribution amount, although I know that every effort is greatly appreciated. I was happy to get a beautiful Thank-you-note from CLICK for Babies organizers some time later. This was a heartwarming experience and worth every second of my time.

CLICK for Babies is a grassroots public education campaign organized by the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS) in partnership with hospitals, public health and child abuse prevention groups to create awareness of the leading trigger for infant abuse, frustration with infant crying.

During the campaign, communities all across North America donate handmade caps stitched in all shades of purple. Along with these caps, new parents receive a video, booklet, and bedside information describing the Period of PURPLE Crying (a period of time when infant crying increases; beginning when babies are about two weeks old, peaking in the second month and ending around the third to fifth month).

The collaboration and coordination it takes to make the caps, distribute them to hospitals, and deliver them to parents provides a fantastic opportunity to bring the whole community together in an effort to raise awareness about this important issue.

The name comes from the well known “clicking” sound that knitters and crafters make with their needles as they create their works of art. Also, much of the campaign’s excitement and awareness is generated through social media when people “click” the keys on their computers to gain and share information.

The goal of the CLICK for Babies campaign is to increase awareness and educate others about the Period of PURPLE Crying that all infants go through, how to respond to prolonged crying, and the importance of never shaking your child – all in an effort to prevent the shaking and abuse of infants.