This Made Our Day: A Pediatrician's Trick to Instantly Calm a Crying Baby

Video from Robert Hamilton/Youtube

Perfected from 30 years of pediatric practice, Dr. Robert C. Hamilton has found a way to carry crying babies that calm them down almost instantly. Dr. Hamilton calls it "The Hold." 

The video shows him with two crying babies who've just gotten shots. He does "The Hold" and almost instantly the babies stop crying. Just like magic! Any parent would be hard pressed to find a way to soothe the babies faster than Dr. Hamilton's technique.

There's basically 3 steps to The Hold
1. Fold your baby's arms across his chest. Hold his upper body with one hand. Your baby's chin should be resting on your hand as well. 

2. With your dominant hand, support your baby by carrying him by his bottom at a 45° angle.

3. Gently rock your baby up and down. You can also gently shake his little booty from side to side. 



"You hold the baby with the fleshy parts of your hand, not with your fingertips," Dr. Hamilton said. "Everything you do is very gentle. You don't want to do jerky movements."

"You hold them at a 45° angle. You never want to [hold them like they're sitting straight up] because they can throw their head back and you can lose control of the baby very quickly," he added.

He also says that The Hold is helpful for babies until 2 months old. After that, the baby could get too heavy and carrying him with The Hold might prove difficult.  

There you have it, parents. Calming your baby down is now as easy as saying abrakadabra!