Getting a baby to sit still for a photograph can be nearly impossible. The props, the flash, the cute outfit frills -- it can all turn into a nightmare pretty fast.
Back in the late 1800s, Victorian parents had it much worse with half-minute-long exposure times, the Guardian notes. But they seemed to figure out an ingenious way to calm antsy babies: by becoming part of the photo.
While holding their babies in place, mothers would conceal themselves in the photographs disguised as chairs and couches draped in fabric in the background. The results may be eerie, but let's face it, the idea is pretty clever.
A new collection of the vintage photos called "The Hidden Mother" by Linda Fregni Nagler reveals more than 1,000 of the creepy portraits. According to the book's description, the practice of hiding a parent in a portrait continued until the 1920s.
See if you can spot the hidden mothers in the portraits below.