A crying baby can leave new parents trying everything from rocking and lullabies to walking around the house at midnight. For Chinese businesswoman Sarah Jane Ho, one surprisingly effective trick for her four-month-old son Baby J is the Hanuman Chalisa.Sharing reflections on becoming a mother at 40, Ho said she discovered the devotional prayer through Indian friends she met at Burning Man. She now plays it when her baby becomes fussy – and claims the response is almost instant.
22 Sept 2026 | 15:05
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“When baby is fussy or melting down, playing the Indian song Hanuman Chalisa calms him within 5 seconds and puts him to sleep in 2 minutes,” she wrote in an Instagram post. Ho added that she now plays it on loop every morning.Her post, which offered a glimpse into the routines she has adopted with Baby J, quickly caught attention online, particularly for the unexpected appearance of a Hindu devotional text in the daily routine of a Chinese mother based in Los Angeles.Ho also shared that she does not follow a “cry it out” approach with her baby. “For the first 9 months baby doesn’t realize he’s a separate entity so whenever he cries I IMMEDIATELY pick him up,” she wrote, adding, “I don’t believe in letting him ‘cry it out’.”
From Hanuman Chalisa to Brahms
The Hanuman Chalisa is not the only music Ho has incorporated into Baby J’s routine. She said she plays Brahms’ lullaby for eight minutes every day, believing that there is data suggesting the music can help a baby’s brain develop faster.Her post, however, was not framed as a list of parenting rules. Ho repeatedly acknowledged when she was following her own intuition rather than established evidence.That was particularly evident when she spoke about food allergies. Since Baby J is being breastfed with milk pumped by his surrogate, Ho said she sends peanuts and soy milk to the surrogate in the hope that early exposure will prevent allergies later.“I’ve no idea if this is scientifically proven, I’m just following my intuition,” she wrote. She also directed followers interested in her surrogacy journey to an episode of her podcast, Hot Water.She is taking a similar approach to pets. Ho said she deliberately exposes Baby J to friends’ and neighbours’ dogs because she hopes early exposure will reduce the possibility of pet allergies later in life.
Bare feet, grass and a little ‘grounding’
Another part of Baby J’s routine involves spending time outdoors with his bare feet touching natural surfaces.Ho said she lets his feet touch stone, grass and dirt in the garden, describing it as “grounding”. She believes the practice supports neurological and physical development and pointed to the large number of nerve endings in babies’ feet.Again, these are Ho’s personal beliefs and practices rather than claims established by the post itself as medical guidance.At the end of her Instagram post, Ho turned the tables on her followers, asking fellow parents to share their own suggestions for her four-month-old.“Any more tips you can share with me that I can try out with baby J?” she asked.The post has since prompted discussion around her parenting choices, while the Hanuman Chalisa detail particularly stood out to Indian users. Some commenters pointed out that the Chalisa is more accurately understood as a sacred Hindu devotional text rather than simply an “Indian song”.For Ho, though, the post appears to be less about presenting a definitive parenting formula and more about documenting the small discoveries, experiments and routines that have become part of her first experience of motherhood.And for Baby J, at least according to his mother, the morning soundtrack now has a distinctly Indian twist.
