What rational person would think it would make a baby stop crying if you hit them? If this man has a wife/children, I really feel bad for them, as in how awful it must be to live with this man.
This is OT, but speaking of men standing by frozen reminded of a show I saw about people reactions in public. They staged, in a public park, a group of 12-13 year old boys picking on/bullying another boy - throwing his backpack etc. (it was pre-arranged) to see how adults in the park would react. They did this scene several times and in EVERY case it was a woman who came to the boys aid. Men just stood frozen, looking uncomfortable, but did nothing. Every time it was a woman who would step forward, get in the middle of it making them stop, asking who their parent were, etc. It was very interesting.