Parents Are Splashing Water On Their Babies As Part Of Viral TikTok Trend

Once upon a time, parents were filming themselves "cheesing" their kids. And now the latest trend to take over social media has parents on TikTok jokingly splashing water on their babies to see how the little ones will react.

Sometime last month, the viral and somewhat controversial trend really took off after YouTuber and Netflix's Haters Back Off star Colleen Ballinger posted a TikTok of her partaking in the challenge with her 1-year-old son who laughs every time he gets splashed with water. "So Jojo Siwa texted me and told me I had to try this with my baby...he LOVED IT," she captioned her TikTok video, which has since amassed more than 5.9 million views

Since then, parents and relatives of small children have followed suit, posting videos of themselves sitting in front of a camera with a cup or bottle of room temperature water and randomly splashing it onto the baby sitting nearby as the song "What You Doing With That" plays in the background.

Some babies have reacted with giggles, others with utter confusion. One uncle on TikTok, @bradpittzcousin, who took part in the challenge expressed a bit of remorse after his little niece gave him a look that can only be described as "What the hell, man?" after she got splashed.

"This was actually my first attempt, no more mean videos with my niece for a long time," he captioned his video, which has 2 million views on TikTok. "I vow to let her throw me in the ocean when she's older because sharks are my biggest fear in life," he added in the comments.

One mom, TikTok user @tia.dunham, who took part in the trend assured her followers that "no babies were harmed in this video." In her TikTok video, which has over 4.7 million views, her baby's reaction translates to pure shock as he gets splashed with water.

Plenty of users got a kick out of the little guy's reaction, with one viewer writing "You guys made my whole night." But after receiving some backlash, @tiadunham responded with a follow-up TikTok video to assure everyone that her son was fine. "I promise you I didn't hurt him," she said. "I love my son to death and would never do anything that would hurt him."

Overall, opinions of this new craze have been mixed. While some have found it funny, others haven't been so impressed. "YALL QUIT DUMPING WATER ON BABIES ON TIKTOK. Ya a**holes," one person tweeted about the challenge. "Stop dumping water on your babies for tiktok it ain't funny," another said.

As for the babies, some were shocked and confused, of course. In a video of the challenge shared by TikTok user @mikaylamatthews, her baby didn't look too happy about getting drenched. "I’m never doing a Tik Tok trend again," she captioned the video. "I felt so bad."

Others, however, apparently found it to be pretty funny. In one video shared by TikTok user @pressley.hosbach, the toddler can't stop giggling as he gets splashed.

Like most social media trends, this one will soon be replaced with another soon enough. I mean, remember in 2019 when people threw slices of cheese on their baby's head? Or, heck just recently when parents tested their kids patience with the candy challenge?