Thousands of caregivers have been arrested since the early 1980s based on a “shaken baby” diagnosis, a medical belief that young children hospitalized with three symptoms — brain swelling, bleeding in the brain and bleeding at the back of the eyes — must have been forcefully and deliberately shaken.

But a growing number of medical and forensic experts say the diagnosis is too definitive, particularly in the absence of other signs of abuse. While some babies are undoubtedly shaken by overwhelmed caregivers, which can cause life-threatening brain damage, these scientists say it isn’t enough to look only at three symptoms before they draw conclusions.