qsmom, that's a good one, although not appropriate in a professional setting
i do something similar with my son, since he's small enough. but i like the idea about putting your head near his and rocking and talking.
momraine, that's interesting about the not crossing the arms. in both techniques i was trained in we crossed the arms for small children. their arms i mean, not ours. and it works really well if the child is small enough. but i've gotten the same looks while holding kids in school settings. but sometimes there's no choice. i worked in one school where we had older kids too and had to do take-downs and face down holds to high schoolers! that was scary. i quit that job in the first year because it was dangerous and very stressful. and i didn't like holding the bigger kids. i felt it was wrong somehow. if an older child is having that much trouble, that's what the cops are for. not me. IMHO.