If you've ever, even briefly, been in charge of caring for an infant, at one point or another you probably asked Siri, "Does something, anything, help calm a crying baby?" One pediatrician seems to have the answer, which plays out like a magic trick in this video.
Robert Hamilton, MD, a pediatrician from Santa Monica, CA, has created a tutorial for what he calls "The Hold." Dr. Hamilton takes a screaming, crying baby (one who just received a shot, poor lil' boo), folds both of the baby's arms across his or her chest, and, in Dr. Hamilton's words, "shake[s] his little booty." The doc also points out that it's best to gently rock the baby up and down at a 45-degree angle, tilted forward so the kid's little head doesn't roll back. It looks a little like you're about to launch the baby into outer space, but it does seem effective. The video features several infants being (adorably) calmed by this method, so you know it wasn't just a single child who really likes self-hugs.
Dr. Hamilton specifies that the method only works with babies who are light enough to hold this way, so once a bambino is older than about three months, you'll have to find a different soothing secret. But when you're confronted with a squalling newborn niece or nephew this holiday season, get ready to become known as The Baby Whisperer — a.k.a. the most popular person at the party.
Opener Photo: Jade Brookbank/ Getty Images.