A baby crying non-stop for seemingly no apparent reason is an all too familiar scenario in most households. This situation could be frustrating for everyone in the home, especially for the parents who are rendered helpless as they do every conceivable thing possible to calm down their wailing infant. There is no guaranteed technique to appease a crying baby – but one doctor in California seems to have it figured out.
Dr. Robert Hamilton, who practices at the Pacific Ocean Pediatrics in Santa Monica, California, became an unexpected YouTube celebrity after his video went viral. As of writing, this particular video – which is his first upload ever – has been viewed a whopping 30 million times already! The video’s content is a tutorial on how to calm down a crying baby with a technique called “The Hold”.
“I’m a little bit humbled,” Hamilton told TODAY Parents. “I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen.”
Doing “The Hold” doesn’t involve rocket science. In fact, it is very simple and just requires the following four steps:
- Pick up the baby and fold his arms across his chest.
- Secure the baby’s arms with your hand while also using it to support his chin.
- Gently support the baby’s bottom with your dominant hand. Make sure to use the fleshy part of your hand, not your fingers, to ensure a secure hold.
- Position the baby at a 45-degree angle and gently rock him.
While rocking the baby, you may do an up and down motion, or you can also try shaking the baby’s bottom. The key here is to avoid jerky movements and make the sequence smooth. The angle is also highly important as it will help you keep control of the baby.
In the video, “The Hold” was demonstrated on fussy babies who just received a shot. Amazingly, Dr. Hamilton’s technique was able to calm down the babies in a matter of seconds! We bet most of you wish you could do this with your babies forever, but Dr. Hamilton recommends only doing this on babies up to 2 to 3-months old, as infants beyond this age would be too heavy to hold in this position.
“The Hold” works because it is essentially swaddling the child, says Dr. Hamilton. “That’s a comforting position for a baby because you have to remember where they’re coming from — a very tight womb — and they’ve been in that position for a long time,” he says.
“By doing that, you’re really kind of recreating the womb, if you will, and that kind of comforts them, plus the gentle movement.”
He’s sure that other pediatricians also do the same technique, but believes that the unique quality of “The Hold” is how he wraps the babies’ arms across their chests. Dr. Hamilton has found that it works on 90 percent of the babies, but will not be effective for those who are ill or hungry.
Watch the video below to see as Dr. Hamilton demonstrates “The Hold”.
(Note: This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only and not to be treated as a professional opinion, recommendation or medical diagnosis.)