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Crying baby? Would you like to test out The Hold?

Hello

We've been reading all about The Hold, a technique that's said to soothe and calm a crying baby in seconds – and we'd love it if some of you could give it a try for us and tell us if it works for you.

The Hold was 'invented' by US paediatrician Robert Hamilton and it involves holding your baby in a particular way and slightly jiggling him or her up and down. Obviously, that's not the actual instructions!

Basically, it's a 4-step technique:

  1. Fold your baby's arms across his or her chest.
  2. Secure your baby's arms gently after they're folded.
  3. Gently grasp the nappy area with your dominant hand.
  4. Rock your baby up and down at a 45-degree angle, maybe with a little side-to-side jiggle thrown in.

To see how to do The Hold properly, you can watch Robert Hamilton do it on this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-nBoQ8EASs

If you have a small baby, please would you give The Hold a go (next time your baby's crying) and come and post here afterwards to let us know if it's working for you?

It would be fab if you could post a pic, too – we LOVE seeing your babies! (But don't worry if you can't:  we do understand that, if you're on your own, it's quite hard to take a pic and comfort a crying babe!).

OK, so over to you! Please do give it a go and let us know how you get on!

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Replies

  • Oh, all the numbering's gone from my post. How odd!

     

    Here it is again: 

    1. Fold your baby's arms across his or her chest.

    2. Secure your baby's arms gently after they're folded.

    3. Gently grasp the nappy area with your dominant hand.

    4. Rock your baby up and down at a 45-degree angle, maybe with a little side-to-side jiggle thrown in.

     

  • Saw that yesterday and tried it last night!! (Except I could not fold his arms 😀) But it worked anyway! He seemed so content instantly! 😊hurray!  It is just I could not do it for long (he is heavy lol) but at least it calms him straight away ☺

  • Ooh that's great that it works for you, Mirela! It does look good.

    Anyone else up for giving it a try?

  • Hi ladies as you all know baby Cameron is a screamer and cryer 24/7 we tried this although hard to get his arms in the right position once we got it he seemed calm but as soon as we stopped he goes back to screaming and crying again xxx

  • I agree!  It works with Lorelei as long as you don't stop rocking her. After a few minutes she does get to be a little heavy. So I've found that if I use it to help her calm down I can do whatever I'm trying to get her to do. Ie nurse when she's really upset. 

  • Sorry ladies it really did not work for me X 

  • I don't tuck Lorelei's hands. She hates to have her hands tucked into anything. When I tuck her hands she gets fussy. Sorry Alba :( that's too bad. 

  • So i tried it! It worked when he was just a little grizzly but not when he was super angry... Maybe because (as others have said) i couldnt do it for long as baby is too heavy to hold like that for long!. I definitely prefer the '5 S's' technique from 'happiest baby on the block'... Its a similar principle (wiggling / jiggling while securing their arms) but you do it with them lying on their side on your lap so its a lot easier to do for longer... Not that i usually need to do it for long as unless he really needs something (eat, change etc) this usually does the trick.

  • Okay so update. I agree with SW2. if Lorelei is a little upset it works but when she's really upset it doesn't help 

  • My baby suffers from colic and there's literally nothing you can do to stop them crying. I saw a video about this on Facebook and thought I'd try it. It works! She stopped crying instantly 

  • Yep worked for corey we do it all the time now and he loves it and even goes to sleep lol and also worked great after his jabs :) xxxxx

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