Local knitters are being encouraged to put their "clicking" to good use.
The Click for Babies campaign, which is running throughout North America and is being organized here in B.C. by B.C. Children's Hospital, is aimed at raising awareness about infant crying to help lower the incidence of shaken baby syndrome and infant abuse.
The campaign encourages knitters and crocheters to donate baby caps in any and all shades of purple, which are then going to be handed out to new B.C. babies along with a video and booklet as part of the "Period of Purple Crying" program.
The caps are being accepted until Oct. 26, either by being sent to the hospital, or at a number of yarn shops around the Lower Mainland that are accepting donations on their behalf. They'll then be handed out starting in November, to new babies and their families at hospitals around the province, including Burnaby Hospital.
Claire Yambao, an organizer with the program, says each hospital with a labour and delivery ward gets a portion of the caps for the babies born there.
"The caps are distributed to all birthing hospitals in B.C. Last year we collected 4,000 caps and each birthing hospital received a one month supply," she said. "We are hoping to meet or beat 4,000 this year."
The Period of Purple Crying program was rolled out in B.C. hospitals several years ago, with the intent of educating new parents on what has been dubbed "PURPLE" crying - each of the letters in the word purple stand for a different facet of newborn crying which can be particularly challenging for parents.
P is for "peak of crying", which is at around two months, U is for unexpected, R for resists soothing, P is for pain-like face, L is for long-lasting and E is for evening.
The information also includes tips for parents on how to handle the crying, which can be profoundly stressful.
As well, during a yarn swap later this month in Vancouver, a free table will be set up where people can donate purple yarn to the Click for Babies campaign. The Vancouver Yarn Swap is set for Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Vancouver Alpen Club, 4875 Victoria Dr.
For more information, see www.clickforbabies.org or go to www.dontshake.ca for information on local drop-offs for caps. Follow Purple Crying on Twitter at @PurpleCrying.
NOW readers who are taking part in this campaign are encouraged to send in photos of their "purple cap" efforts by email at [email protected].
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