Mom checks if baby is still asleep, can’t cope with what she finds

Expecting parents are often told to “sleep while you can,” and one woman recently shared why. In a viral TikTok video, she captured the moment she checked on her newborn, who was supposed to be snoozing.

However, 2-month-old Thiago Ortiz had other plans. In the clip, filmed around 10 p.m., 26-year-old Karla Ruiz checks to see if her son is asleep by turning on her selfie camera as they lie in bed together.

Within seconds, she can’t help but laugh, as Ortiz is wide-awake, and his reaction suggests he knows he shouldn’t be—smirking mischievously.

Ruiz told Newsweek: “I believe he smiled because he was like, ‘Hi, I’m awake, mom. What are we watching?'”

As of now, the October 2 video has amassed an astounding 38.4 million views.

Research has shown that parents lose a staggering 133 nights of sleep before their baby turns 1. A survey commissioned by Snüz, a U.K.-based retailer specializing in baby sleep solutions, found that 45 percent of 1,300 parents admit they can’t sleep during the day when the baby sleeps, with about 55 percent attributing it to household responsibilities.

Nearly all participants (96 percent) reported having their baby sleep in the bedroom with them during the first six months, adhering to safe sleep guidelines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises several safe practices to reduce the risk of sleep-related infant deaths. These include removing hazards like blankets, pillows, bumper pads, and soft toys from the sleep area. Room sharing—without bed sharing—is also recommended. These practices can lower the risk of sleep-related infant deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), accidental suffocation, and deaths from unknown causes.

Previously, Newsweek spoke to five expertswho all agreed that the following factors reduced SIDS: avoiding smoking and secondhand smoke is crucial, as both are known factors in increasing the risk of SIDS.

They also emphasized the importance of breastfeeding in reducing infant death and recommended that babies sleep in the same room as their mothers, flat on their backs, on a hard surface free from blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, other children, and pets.

TikTok Reacts

The popular video has over 15,000 comments—many of which have racked up hundreds of thousands of likes too.

“That damn smirk [proud],” said one comment with 385,700 likes and another user said: “At least he’s chillin[g], not crying.”

“Bro smirked as if he knows what’s happening,” pointed out a third commenter.

A fourth user joked: “He was checking if you still awake.”

If you have a family dilemma, let us know via [email protected]. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.