"The hold": Most effective way to soothe a crying baby

Dr. Robert C. Hamilton, a highly respected pediatrician from Santa Monica, CA, has been making waves through social media thanks to his informative video featuring his incredibly effective method for holding and soothing crying infants.

You may think you've heard it all before, but Hamilton's "Hold" is so effective it's freaky.

Initially, Hamilton began to implement his hold after years of working with infants in his practice. Day after day, Hamilton dealt with crying infants as a result of giving them their regular shots. Of course, needles and babies don't exactly mix, so he had to find a way to make sure his tiny little patients would calm down and be soothed after their shots.

He found a way to assuage their pains and their discomfort in the form of a simple hold. And, quite honestly, it's so simple that any parent owes it to themselves to give it a try!

Let's review the basics of his method, so you can test it out as soon as possible:

In his now viral video, Dr. Hamilton features one of his crying patients after a painful shot. As you can tell, this baby was not too pleased with the shot, and now Hamilton will show just how effective his method is.

The first thing parents need to know about Hamilton's method is this: under no circumstance are you to use any forceful jerking motions. Every action taken by the holder is to be careful and gentle using only the fleshy parts of the hands NOT the boney fingertips.

That being said, the first step for the hold is to firmly, yet gently plant your baby's bottom in your dominant hand and keep them secure. Next, you'll gently cross the left and right arm across the baby's chest and hold both arms in place using the fleshy part of your palm. Be sure to keep baby held at a 45 degree angle.

Next, all that's left to do is to gently rock baby back and forth, and occasionally up and down. In less than a minute, your baby will have completely stopped crying and calmed down.

Just take a look at Hamilton's little patient for yourself:

He went from crying to calm in just a few seconds! The method looks a little rough around the edges at time, but if parents are sure to try it in as cautiously, and gently as Hamilton explains, then there's nothing to fear, parents.

To better understand and implement his methodology, we implore you to watch the instructional video on page two!

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