One Mom's Viral Hack for Keeping Baby Asleep is Genius

November 9, 2018

Every mom knows the torture of just having gotten the baby to sleep in their crib—a miracle in itself—but as soon as you take your hand off their belly, they wake up! When Australian mom Melissa Dykstra posted her ingenious idea to keep her baby snoozing to the Facebook group Baby Hints and Tips, it quickly went viral—for good reason.

She placed a blown-up rubber glove on her baby Olivia's stomach, and it actually tricked the little one for long enough to let the exhausted mom get in a quick break. "It gave me enough time for a shower and to finish my coffee while it was still hot," Dykstra told news.com.au."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 and I was surprised at how well it worked."

How did Olivia react when she realized it was a faux hand? "I did sit with her and she wasn't upset when she woke up, just looked a little confused," Dykstra said.

Like most great ideas, the genius of Dykstra's baby sleep plan was its simplicity, and it soon had other moms reacting in solidarity and sharing the trick. The FB post gained nearly 7,000 likes and 10,000 comments. "Whatever it takes to get that coffee break peace and quiet!" one mom said. "If I had seen this 20 minutes ago I might not be stuck on the couch with a baby on top of me," another commented. We've all been there!

Some mommas admitted they had come up with similar ideas. "I use to put a teddy bear on my kids' backs and they slept longer," one mom shared. "I used to put a wheat bag heat pack (unheated) on baby to give him the sensation I was still holding his tummy," another mom suggested. Others used a book or even a shoe! But not all experienced moms knew about this hack. "Why didn't I think of this 19 years ago?" one mom lamented.

Another mother, though, had a different thought. "Probably going to get hate on this, but [they're] only so little for so long—don't worry about the house work or anything else," she commented. "While they are this little sit there and enjoy them while they're going off to sleep." Aww, that's good perspective, but sometimes a momma just needs a break! Self-care is really important for new moms.

If you decide to do this trick, make sure whatever you use just has gentle pressure and isn't too heavy, and keep close by as well. But isn't it great when moms can support each other and share what works for them? It takes a village, and sometimes that village is 10,000 strangers on the internet.