“Abuse is defined as any action that intentionally harms or injures another person.” (Medical Dictionary)
I don’t think that the child was abused. I do think that the father was embarrassed. I also think that he should be; a child who might make noise in shul should not be brought into shul. A parent should be embarrassed that he didn’t realize that his child’s stage of maturity. Unfortunately, he reacted to his own shortcomings and not to his child’s.
It will be a great day when we only react to our children’s shortcomings and not to our own. Whether we are reacting to how we were parented or whether it’s to a bad day that we’ve had, it’s hard to always be patient with our children. Let’s first work on our own shortcomings before giving parenting advice to everyone else.
BTW, when we shush a baby, we are telling mom to “NOT BRING A BABY TO SHOFAR!!