Parents around the world who are desperate for a decent night of rest have resorted to an unusual tactic to help their children (and in turn, themselves) sleep at night. 

A trend which originated on TikTok sees tired parents giving their little ones a spoonful of butter before putting them down for the night – with some claiming it helps their tots sleep all the way through until morning.  

However, despite being hailed by some as a genius parenting hack, experts have warned it’s not likely to actually make a difference – and can do more harm than good in some cases.

The trend, which first took hold in the US, saw mothers giving their babies a small square or spoonful of butter, often the Irish Kerrygold, before claiming they had managed to enjoy a full eight hours of sleep as their toddler slept through the night. 

Now the trend has spread to the UK and New Zealand with parents desperate for some shut-eye trying it on their own children. 

One mother has posted several clips on her social media account which show her trying the trend on her tot. 

Millie (@millieellis) has been documenting her attempts to settle her baby with the technique with her followers.  

In one video she told people: ‘So we are going to try the butter trend where you give your baby a spoonful of butter and apparently it works magic and they sleep all night long.’

Parents have been feeding their babies butter just before bed in a bid to get their children to sleep through the night, hopping on a viral TikTok trend

She then filmed herself giving a little spoon of Lurpak to her daughter Ivy, who at first was hesitant but soon swallowed the whole spoonful. 

After her mouthful of butter, Ivy slept soundly all evening, her mother claims. 

Millie has followed up on her first video and posted other people documenting her trying this new trend. 

Evaluating the use of butter to send daughter Ivy off to sleep, Millie said she experienced longer between waking up periods but added she wasn’t sure if that was the butter or because Ivy was overtired that day. 

Paige Balloch (@baigepalloch), a mother from New Zealand, also tried the trend explaining that her 15-month-old had never slept through the night and she was willing to try anything. 

Speaking to the camera she said: ‘We’re trying the butter before bed to see if it helps her sleep longer, because what do I have to lose?’

The exhausted mother then called over her toddler and fed her a spoonful of butter.

But in a follow-up video, Paige revealed it hadn’t worked for her little Margot who woke up three times in the night.

One mother Millie has posted several videos on her social media account following her trying this trend on her daughter Ivy with mixed success

As the trick takes hold around the world, experts have warned that the viral trick is fruitless and won’t help babies sleep. 

Hannah Love, a nutritional therapist and TikToker, took to the social media platform to debunk the trend, telling her followers it was a waste of time. 

She said: ‘I know the nutritional benefits of fats and they can slow down digestion, they’re going to regulate blood sugar levels, they’re going to regulate hormones, they can even reduce inflammation so there’s lots of things that fats are very beneficial for to help with sleep which is probably where this has come from.

‘But is butter the best thing for this? No, absolutely not. There are so many more beneficial fats that you could use to benefit your baby’s diet.’

Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a leading baby nutritionist, told the Independent that that social media platforms are ‘rife with misinformation’ and that butter is not recommended to help babies sleep.

She added that in fact it can present a danger because the texture of the butter could pose a chocking hazard.

She added: ‘Incorporating butter into cooking or spreading a thin layer on toast is perfectly fine. However, offering large chunks of butter directly from a spoon is not advisable.’

The NHS advises that it is perfectly normal for babies to wake up in the night, telling parents: ‘Newborn babies invariably wake up repeatedly in the night for the first few months, and disturbed nights can be very hard to cope with.’

Paige Balloch, a New Zealand mum also tired the trend, explaining that her 15-month-old had never slept through the night and she was willing to try anything

But experts have warned that the viral trick is a pointless task and won’t help babies sleep and could even pose a danger to babies’ health

To counteract this, it recommends starting a night time routine which can include having a bath, changing into night clothes reading a bedtime story or singing a lullaby.

It also reassured parents that different babies have different sleep patterns and it was unwise to compare them with others and instead advised trying to sleep when your baby sleeps.

The NHS has also broken down different sleeping patterns for different babies at different stages. 

It advised that newborns need the most amount of sleep and are often asleep more than they’re awake, averaging 18 hours a day. 

Babies often wake up in the night for feeding or because they need their nappy changing. 

While babies aged six months to a year old may be able to sleep for longer periods of time but can wake up due to teething or hunger. 

Two-year-olds will often need to sleep for between 12 to 15 hours a day, including naps while children over the age of three can often get through the day without a nap.