Photo: Natalia Lebedinskaia / Shutterstock
So adorable you'll want your baby to cry more often.
By PopSugar — Written on Dec 04, 2021
While bringing a new life into this world is a blessing for any parent, there's no denying that once the crying starts, the reality also sets in about just how much work and new stresses new parents face.
A crying baby can be one of the biggest frustrations of all for new parents.
But one doctor has it figured out when it comes to how to calm a fussy newborn — and the technique is not only quick, but it's surprisingly simple.
Dr. Robert Hamilton, a pediatrician who has been practicing in California for three decades, first discovered a solution when he was looking to remedy a common challenge for professionals in his line of work.
"One of the challenges pediatricians have is trying to communicate clear and precise information to their parents, a lot of times over a baby who is crying very loudly," he noted.
Turns out, his method — which he coined "the hold" — is a perfect maneuver for parents to try doing at home as well.
In a helpful video, Hamilton enlists some cute babies to show parents how it's done.
In the 2015 video, titled "How To Calm A Crying Baby," Hamilton uses his tiny patients to demonstrate the hold, which also adorably involves a little booty shaking, and then breaks it down into four simple steps:
1. Fold arms across the chest.
2. Secure the arms gently after they're folded.
3. Gently grasp the diaper area with your dominant hand.
4. Rock the baby up and down at a 45-degree angle while shaking their booty.
This hold, he notes, is most ideal for the baby's first two to three months of age, at which point they've usually become too heavy to be held in such a position.
So, does this trick really work? Could it be the "perfect" way to stop a crying baby and new parents from pulling their hair out?
According to the pediatrician and the former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Robert Block, “We’ve known for some time that some babies like to be swaddled. The AAP has had some concerns about incorrect swaddling, but this is a good technique.”
Block says that it is basically just another, albeit unconventional, way to swaddle a baby. He also advises that if you are trying this method, it's important to remember to lean the baby forward as you wrap.
And if this doesn't work, Block also suggests, “Put your baby down gently on his back, somewhere safe like a crib and walk away.”
However, Hamilton's video has over 44 million views, meaning that quite a few people have been willing to try out this particular method. Either that or a lot of people just wanted to look at some adorable babies.
But it is essential to note that the hold technique may not work for every baby.
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Kate Schweitzer is the Senior Editor of PopSugar Family. Visit her Twitter for more.
This article was originally published at PopSugar. Reprinted with permission from the author.