This 'Ultimate Mom Hack' for Calming Kids Down Is Actually Brilliant — and Doctor-Approved
A TikTok user by the name of @lydia.sunshine is earning high praise after sharing her simple yet effective tip for calming kids down when they're upset. According to her viral TikTok, she got the tip from her great-grandmother more than 20 years ago, but it wasn't until recently that she became a mom herself and decided to give it a try.
Now, she's sharing the tip far and wide in hopes of restoring some sanity to the lives of desperate parents everywhere — and to her surprise, it's actually backed by science.
Lydia's TikTok was first shared in December, but is just now taking off.
In it, she explains that her wise and loving great-grandmother used to repeat a certain phrase that she never quite understood.
“To set the stage, my great-grandmother was a little, tiny, very strong-willed Mexican woman,” says Lydia. “Every single time this woman heard a baby cry or a toddler have a tantrum, she’d say, ‘Mira! Put that baby in the bath or bring it outside.”
@lydia.sunshine This hack literally works on any age kid, i swear! 🤯 #momhack #momadvice #DoTheJuJu #parenthood #momsoftiktok #sahm #ShareTheMagic ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
For years, that phrase was just something "funny" her great-grandma would say.
But now, it's become her gospel.
"I never realized how valuable that advice was going to be until fast-forward 20-something years later … [my great-grandma has] passed way and I have a 2-year-old and a teething newborn who are just miserable."
(Yikes — we know the feeling.)
But one day, it suddenly hit her …
"I’m at my wit’s end, and I look around and [my great-grandmother's] voice pops into my head: 'Mira! Put the baby in the bath or bring it outside!'" recalls Lydia.
So, that’s exactly what she did … and lo and behold, it worked.
At her next pediatrician appointment, Lydia decided to run the "trick" by her doctor.
And to her surprise, it wasn't just some weird thing her great-grandmother once said — it's an actually thing that's scientifically proven to work. (Not just with with babies, either.)
"It turns out that two major factors in increasing serotonin levels in babies, toddlers, and really anybody else, is an increase in core body temperature and an increase in oxygen in your bloodstream," Lydia explained. (In other words, the two things you make happen when you get into a warm bath or head outside into the fresh air and sunshine.)
Needless to say, this mama was floored — which is why she's now sharing the tip with others.
In the comments, plenty of parents were grateful to Lydia for passing it on.
"Those abuelitas sure knew their stuff!!" wrote one person. "Grateful for them and their wisdom!"
"It's cool there's a scientific reason," added someone else. "I thought it was about change if scenery, bc we kind of do it too."
"I’ve never heard this, but my daughter (6) will take 'relaxi-baths' if she’s having a rough time," one mother shared. "It always helps."
Of course, there were also a few jokes thrown into the mix.
"Got it," wrote one mom, who said she planned to "put the kids outside and take a bath" herself soon.
LOL — honestly, that sounds pretty amazing to us.
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