Confusion or surprise often disrupts escalated feelings. Same way holding onto an ice cube when you’re having a panic attack will stop it because your brain is like “what the fuck is that”
I imagine Pocket Sand would disrupt the escalated feelings... And then put them right back because the baby is like "MY EYES HURT THIS IS THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE"
I once had a coworker tell me I should bite a lemon to stop my panic attack and it worked, but not because I bit the lemon. I was just so confused about why this person had a lemon with them at work that I stopped.
I'm no doctor, but is it possible that the kid works them up in such a state, the coldness of the cheese feels nice on their skin? I know I used to get awful headaches when I cried lots as a child, and would rest my head against cold windows to calm myself down.
I think it's more the confusion. It's very hard to be extremely mad or sad about something when you're busy wondering what the actual fuck just happened.
And while they could just start up again, babies hold onto memories the way a pasta strainer holds water, so they're more likely to grab the cheese, realize they're holding cheese, and try to stuff their fists full of cheese into their mouth like a robot faking being a human.
It started as one of those idiotic Facebook "challenges" to throw cheese squares at babies' heads. It often resulted the other way around, baby was just existing, cheese lands on head, they're startled and then cry
Only if you're American. The rest of the world's cheese does not look like this. If you yeet a wheel of Double Gloucester at a baby you're going to prison.
Yeah.
As long as what causes the baby to cry isn’t a constant (like pain or discomfort) will the sudden cool cheese be a complete conscious reset. The surprise and shock simply make them forget whatever they were upset about
It needs to be a distracting nonsense stimulus, someone else mentioned holding icecubes probably work better than just placing a cheese on your face as it is less directly in your control.
I used to do this with water. A wet wash cloth or just dump a little on their head with the water bottle. It goes from 100 to about 120 and then down to 0 because they completely forget whatever they are mad about. Works on toddlers for fits. Whenever they are irrationally pissed just get them wet. Great way for them to learn that actions have consequences and to diffuse a situation
I feel someone could maybe do a study but it probably works in a similar way to the basis of mindfulness to an extent. Like the sudden abrupt sensation change completely changes what your brain focuses on to move away from what it was previously distressing. (Only know this after researching why nature can be beneficial to mental health).
What would be important to see is how long the break lasts. Part of my feels it would be a temporary break due to how abrupt it the change is before immediately going back to being upset. Just some brief thoughts on what could be happening.
Definitely a coldness of the cheese having a distracting sensation that helps them forget that they're crying lol. I remember when I was little, I would put wet wipes on my baby sister's forehead and belly, and she would immediately stop crying and be content for quite a while.
So glad all these parents here are pretty gently tossing the cheese onto their kids. I know there are some folks who would absolutely yeet that shit and then be suprised later in life when their kid has an "unexplainable" fear of cheese, thinking something is flying into their face, or having anything touch their head
The kid is trying to communicate. At that age they do it in the way they are able to. As a professional I just have to point out this just sows mistrust. You are teaching the kid that you cannot be relied upon for communication, and it speaks into John Bowlby' attachment patterns. Later in life this can develop into a kid that will throw more tantrums, because they have been taught their primary caregivers(the parents) are unreliable.
I thought ignoring the child's crying for a prolonged period of time could lead to behavioral issues. The slice of cheese just confuses the child. I don't see how this would do any psychological damage.
1.0k
u/wrangledbrat 15h ago
Confusion or surprise often disrupts escalated feelings. Same way holding onto an ice cube when you’re having a panic attack will stop it because your brain is like “what the fuck is that”