Woman shares amazing trick to keep her baby sleeping, and it quickly goes viral

The mum of a 1-year-old shared a genius way to keep her baby asleep and have time to take a shower and a warm cup of coffee.

The hack got posted to the Facebook page ‘Baby hint and tips’ on November 6 and went viral since. The caption to the post read. 'Parenting level 100 unlocked #genius.'

The picture shows a baby fast asleep with a rubber glove placed over her stomach, which appears filled with water. The trick is that the baby would still think mum is holding her, resulting in her sleeping longer.

The out of the box thinking mum wrote alongside the picture:

‘Going on for 20 minutes now and she hasn’t realized. She will crack it when she wakes up, but for now, I actually get to finish my coffee!’

Comments on the video have racked up to 11,000 and almost 4,000 shares, and many responded by writing replies like, ‘This is just genius!’, and ‘Totes need to do this! My arm can’t take much more of this.’

Read more on our Twitter account @amomama_usa.

The mum responsible for the posting of this clever trick is Melissa Dykstra from Australia’s Gold Coast in Queensland. Melissa’s view on using the trick on little Olivia was forthcoming as she said:

"It gave me enough time for a shower and to finish my coffee while it was still hot. I did sit with her, and she wasn't upset when she woke up, just looked a little confused. She's going through her first 'leap' (in her mental development), so she's been extra clingy the last few days and makes it so hard to even go to the bathroom so I thought I'd try it."

Opinions on the subject vary, many are for the hack, while others think that it is harmful. However, the Mayo Clinic put together some useful tips in helping baby sleep through the night and are as follows:

Consistency at bedtime

To much stimulation close to bedtime can make it harder for the baby to fall asleep. Bathing, singing, cuddling or reading can help wind things down while marking a clearly defined end point after leaving the room.

Source: Freepik

Don't wait for baby to get overtired before going to bed

Wait for the baby to get drowsy before putting him or her to bed. By doing so, the baby associates the bed with falling asleep. A reminder to also let the baby sleep on her or his back, making sure the crib is clear of loose items.

Settling down may not happen right away

The process of finding a comfortable position to fall asleep in might go along with some fuss and crying. Give it some time and if the crying doesn’t stop, check in on the baby and say comforting words before leaving the room.

Source: Freepik

A pacifier perhaps?

Trouble settling down may be remedied by a pacifier, while research suggests the use of a pacifier during sleep reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

Toned down nighttime care

In the event of needing to care or feed the baby at night, make sure to make use of dim lights, with a soft voice and calm demeanor. It brings the message across that it's sleep time and not play time.

Take the baby’s preferences into account

Babies have natural patterns; therefore they can be early birds or night owls. Adjust to that and life can be much easier for both of you.

A hilarious example of this got posted on social media where a new mother, who apparently gave birth in a Hawaii hospital, took a video of her husband, clearly sleep deprived.

She threw a rolled up blanket at him to wake up, and it fell into his lap. He half wakes up and thinks it's his newborn baby. Mum films his as he rocks and holds the rolled up blankets, and she pans the camera to where the baby is soundly sleeping on her chest and back again to her half asleep, blanket rocking spouse.