‘Mean’ trick sees parents pranking their toddlers

A bizarre TikTok trend sees parents pranking their babies into thinking they’ve hit their heads – just to see if they’ll cry – has been branded mean by some.

A raft of videos on the social media platform – under #fakebump #fakebabyhitprank shows babies and toddlers reacting with confused tears after their parents deliberately make a loud noise and then ask their child if they’re okay in a sympathetic manner. 

The idea behind the prank is to show how children might cry just because they’re getting sympathy – but some have suggested the joke is a tad cruel. 

One Dad, in a clip entitled ‘Pretending to hurt baby’. is seen using his hand to protect his baby’s head as the pair walk gently into a door. 

When he heaps comfort on the baby, it begins to cry, despite not being hurt.  

In one video, entitled ‘Baby Prank: fake bump on the door’, a dad tells his audience he’s going to ‘prank my baby and I’m gonna act like she got hurt on the door’.

He then walks in with the little girl in his arms but begins acting as though she hit herself on the way into the room. 

Many have found the dozens of videos trying the challenge cute, saying babies are ‘little drama queens’ 

However, others suggested making a baby upset for no reason wasn’t funny

Holding her tight, he says: ‘Are you okay, baby?’ patting and stroking her head. The little girl begins to weep and eventually he tells the crying girl ‘I’m just kidding, you didn’t hit your head!’.

Many people saw the funny side of the footage, often filed under #pretendtohityourbabyshead on TikTok. 

One amused user wrote: ‘They love that extra attention tho. My daughter always does this and needs a bandage when there’s not even a scrape.’ 

However, the crying distressed others, with one saying: ‘This isn’t funny’ and another adding that the response was a ‘learned response’ from previous interactions when a real incident had happened.