Mum's hack puts crying baby to sleep in seconds with hold that 'works every time'

A mum has shared a technique to get tricky babies to sleep within minutes - saying it works every time even when her baby is in a bad mood.

Becky Wilko shared a video of her and her newborn, explaining her baby had been crying for hours and was refusing to settle and go to sleep.

In the clip posted to social media, she said her son was having "one of those days" and wouldn't settle.

She explained he has colic which is when your baby has frequent, prolonged and intense crying or fussiness despite being healthy.

But she has since discovered a particular hold that puts him to sleep in minutes.

After videoing her son crying and being rather unsettled, she places him in the "tiger in the tree" hold and in seconds he calms right down.

"OK, so I've held him like this before not knowing what it was," Becky said.

"An hour later he's fast asleep!"

In the clip, instead of cradling her son, she flips him over so his stomach is resting on her arm.

She also shows viewers another hold specifically for babies with colic.

The mum gets her son's fists and puts them on his chest. As she holds his fist, she rocks him and he instantly stops crying.

Other parents soon began commenting saying they wish they knew about these holds earlier.

One said: "Wish I'd have known about these 10 years ago, he's absolutely beautiful!"

A second said: "Swear by this hold. Worked every time. Mine would fall asleep trumping away lol."

If your baby has colic, Plunket has advice for parents on how to best soothe your baby.

It can be difficult to soothe a baby with colic, but there are a few things you can try to help calm your little one. According to the Plunket website, you can:

- hold your baby upright for feeds and burp them afterwards
- if your baby is breastfed and seems worse after mum eats certain foods, talk to your Plunket nurse, or other Well Child provider
- if your baby is bottle-fed, check you are preparing it correctly
- hold your baby while they are crying and talk to them with a soothing voice
- play soothing music
- keep the lights dimmed
- babies like to move so try gentle swaying, push them in a pram, or use a front pack to carry your baby while you do things around the house
- give your baby a warm bath or a gentle stomach rub.

Plunket also says you should consider visiting a doctor if your baby "isn't feeding well, doesn't settle or continues to cry for long periods, or has a different cry than normal".

"A louder, more urgent or high-pitched cry could be a sign of a more serious illness."

Raising Children, a parenting support website also gives advice on how to properly hold a newborn baby.

Advice from Raising Children parenting website. Photo / Raising Children Australia

While holding and cradling a baby, make sure its head is resting against your chest and your hand slides up from the baby's bottom until it is under the neck to provide support.

It explains to then gently allow the baby's head to rest in the crook of your arm while your other hand is under the baby's bottom.

Using the cradle hold allows you to interact with your baby.

It also suggests a shoulder hold, which allows your baby to rest on your chest and shoulder while on its tummy, supporting the baby's head and neck with your hand.

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and republished here with permission.