How can I keep my newborn awake during the day?

What are some things to do to keep a two week old more awake during the day? Nights and days are mixed up since we came home from the hospital, and mama is tired!

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IMO its much to early to mess with that. More time is needed for them to adjust to being outside the womb. Newborns need the sleep and sleep alot in the beginning. Dont worry it won’t last forever, hang in there. Maybe find someone to help you a couple hours a day so you can rest if you don’t want to or can’t rest when the baby does. Good luck

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You don’t. Still too early. Let them sleep when they’re tired and when they are sleeping, get some sleep yourself. Don’t worry about if your house looks like a tornado came through. Totally understandable and natural right now. Congratulations on your new addition :heart:

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Sleep when they do it’s too early to do anything

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You are in baby time. :blush::rose:

Routine routine routine! My son has slept through the night since the day he was born and my daughter shortly after. Congratulations!

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Sleep when they do :green_heart: they eat every few hours at this age. Your baby will get on a sleep schedule when it a little older, but 2 weeks is too early. Maybe y’all to your doctor and see what they say. They may have different advice than mine did

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Newborns sleep a lot. That’s how they grow. Get some sleep when they sleep. And also like someone else mentioned maintain as strict of schedule as possible and they’ll eventually adapt.

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You cant. They are supposed to sleep.

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You don’t leave the baby sleep sleep when the baby sleeps it’s a newborn

Light, noise, sound, during the day.

Dark, quiet time at night.

Just wing it as much as possible. Nobody sleeps in the newborn phase.

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You can’t keep a newborn awake that’s just mean. They sleep when they wanna sleep.

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My grandma says roll them down the length of the bed carefully though old wise tail

It’s a newborn. They’re supposed to sleep whenever they want.

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Newborns sleep! It is just the way it is. Take it one day at a time. And ask for help too.

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Had this problem with 2 out of 3 kids. Literally would be awake most of night as a newborn. I ended up using old wives tale and rotated them 3 times counterclockwise VERY carefully obviously and have someone help. It worked with both times i did this. That night their whole sleeping pattern changed. It was heaven. Lol good luck!

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be thank ful he is sleeping they dont know the difference between day and night yet

You can’t, sleep when you can ask for help if you need to but at 2 weeks old thats totally normal and expected

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i’m confused by everyone’s reaction to this. yeah a newborn’s sleep schedule is not gonna be perfect but it’s helpful to get them on a schedule where they have more of their wake windows during daylight hours and more sleep at night.

keeping the room bright during the day and only having a dim lamp/nightlight at night helps. newborns don’t get too easily entertained but showing them colorful things and new and interesting objects could make their wake windows slightly longer until they zonk out. but overall the most important thing is just making a clear distinction between day and night with a bedtime routine and lighting, and encouraging sleep during that time.

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Keep a 2 week old awake?
You’re funny.

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I used moms on call the book. I do think before 3 months baby’s cues can be followed

A newborn shouldnt be awake long periods of time definitely not all day long

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U shouldn’t try and keep a 2 week old awake they need the sleep

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No no no dont keep ur new born awake they trive off sleep the more the better they are suppost to sleep anything from 17/19hrs in 24hr hr period when they wake is up to them that young! They just eat pee poop cry wind n take in what they can Xx

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The baby is a newborn they need to sleep. You have to rearrange your day . They nap alot pick which naps you can work through and which nap you can rest through. Believe it or not this is the easy stage it’s just a matter of planning .

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People always say sleep when baby sleeps…im so tired of hearing that lol. I have a 4 year old…I can’t sleep when baby sleeps during the day with a 4year old.

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Sleeping helps them grow. Don’t worry about lught being on during day and keep the lights as low as possible at night. Baby will eventually get used to it. But do not keep your baby awake for anything. 6 living 1 angel and I let them sleep. Days and nights aren’t mixed up, baby just needs to grow. And I know you can’t sleep when baby does. I do hate that saying. But it does get better. But it will probably get worse when baby sleep regresses.

Welcome to motherhood

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Arent we all tried lol it’s a new born let them sleep … have a nap at the same time …

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I just went through this. I stayed consistent with having baby sleep (or at least lay) in his crib at night. Definitely let baby sleep during the day, bc keeping mine up during the day completely backfired and then he was overtired and didn’t sleep at all at night. By about 8-10 weeks, he started to figure out days/nights, thankfully!! Good luck, and soon enough you will start to get some sleep. But in the meantime, enjoy every minute of the nighttime cuddles!

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I was blessed enough to have my kid sleep throughout the night from birth, however during the day you really shouldn’t stop them from sleeping. That’s honestly mostly what they’ll do until their older. My only advice would be to try and keep them on a routine, like A warm bath/wipe down & then feeding at night right before bed used to knock my son right out.

I won’t advise what to do, im a first time mom and miraculously my daughter started sleeping her nights at a month old, on her own accord.
But what I did learn in that month rather quickly was sleeping when she slept. That way regardless of what time she woke up at, I was rested enough to take her on. That helps tremendously in your ability to function. And know that you are only 2 weeks in, it will get better!!

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You’re on your babies schedule now

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Firstly, you want them to sleep a lot, it’s a huge part of their development. Keep the lights on during the day and don’t swaddle during the day either. They will still sleep just not as deep. At night make sure it’s dark and quiet except for white noise like a fan. It’s not gonna give you overnight results but they will catch on. 2 week olds sleep a lot… it’s how they grow. It can be a rough period for mom just remind yourself that it won’t last forever. You will get through it.

My 4th is going to be 2 months old on the 3rd and she is kicking my butt. Even with all the knowledge and experience I gained with my last 3 I still find myself feeling pretty helpless at times. They’re all different. But it will be okay. Soon these days will feel so far away.

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I’m sorry you’re tired. BUT, the baby is only 2 weeks old. Take a nap when baby sleeps during the day. It’s very unusual that baby would be awake that long during the night. They need to eat during the night so you have to get up with them no matter what the daytime awake time is. They are so precious, just feed and cuddle.

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Ok…I understand wanting to get that sleep schedule under control but…honey, two weeks old? That’s all they do now is sleep. And she’ll have sleep regressions every few months, regardless of how good she is at sleeping early in life. Now you can definitely “teach” good habits… during bed and nap times, keep the room dark, cool, maybe some white noise (we’ve always used a fan for our son) and try not to let her get used to falling asleep to tv or bright rooms whenever you can help it. But at two weeks, there’s not really a training you can do. Just instilling early on good routine. And this first year, sleeping is the best thing she can do. They sleep so much because it’s developing their brains.

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Um it’s a newborn. Baby needs to sleep. I get that your tired but this is motherhood.

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You don’t. Newborns sleep the majority of the time. They will wake to eat at night. That is normal. :woman_facepalming:t3:

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Yeah NO!. 2 week olds sleep when they want to. Give bub time to adjust to the world

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They grow when they are sleeping you just have to give it time it took 4 1/2 ms for my son to start sleeping 10 hours a night, only waking once for a bottle and diaper change, hes 7 1/2 ms now and still goes to bed at 11, up at 5am for a bottle then sleeps until 9 am

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You don’t. Let the baby sleep

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Nah. GENTLE sleep training shouldn’t even start until around 6 months. Until then you’re on their time. They’re growing so fast mentally and physically their little bodies need the rest. Newborn bodies are in the rhythm they need to be in for healthy development. Leave that baby be

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Sleep when the baby sleeps if you can when u can.

Sleep when they sleep

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I had 6. 5 of them in 6 yrs I did NOT have time to worry the small stuff By the way NO PAPER DIAPERS

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Do you have help? Most of the time the beginning is the worse you two will get your grove! Best thing is to have help at night and bath and feed At night .

Mama is just beginning to be tired!

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First of all no matter how much you keep the baby awake during the day (which is nearly impossible :laughing:) they will however need to feed every 2 hour bcz their stomachs are so tiny they can’t hold much milk. So make sure you feed on demand. Around the clock. No routine or time schedule for that bcz baby’s growth is important. Even with a partner to help you still have to wake up for night feedings. Accept that it’s gonna be hard so you can mentally get prepared. Know that you won’t have that 6 hours night. Acceptance is important.
Also Newborns can’t distinguish between day & night as they spent a whole 9-10months in darkness and the don’t have the hormones yet which are responsible for the biological clock.
One way to get the baby know the difference put the baby to sleep during the day in broad light & at night in a darker room. Every child is different and around 2 months they will begin to show some signs. No matter how many people say “It won’t last forever” which is true, for you at this moment it’s gonna be exhausting and stressful so once you accept that fact things will at least feel normal. Good luck!! :heart:

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Yeah…nope you can’t. Newborns need a lot of sleep. They’ll adjust soon enough but please whatever you do don’t mess with their sleep.
Only advice is to sleep when they sleep even if it’s little cat naps it helps.

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I’m sorry whaaaat? Good Lord, why are some people so stupid? New borns sleep alot and stay awake a little longer as they get older. This is why it’s so important to sleep when baby sleeps!

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You have a 2 week old. He is a newborn. They need a lot of sleep and shouldn’t be kept awake. Hes way to young to be put on some kind of schedule that will backfire on you. You being tired won’t last forever.

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If your exhausted and able to, sit reclined doing skin to skin for a few hours. Laundry, dishes, all that extra stuff, it can wait. Just relax and enjoy some snuggles with the baby. Get some snacks and drinks and just sit and enjoy the time with the newborn. You’ll miss it when it’s over.

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I hate when people say sleep when the baby sleeps :joy:

I have OCD specifically with completing tasks and a mess is a task so, I can’t just shrug it off and take a nap.

There is also such a thing as insomnia caused by sleep deprivation. The more sleep debt you collect, the harder it is to actually fall asleep. I’m going on 2 years of hardcore broken sleep and it takes me at least 2 hours to actually fall asleep.

What I did was kept the house bright and loud and active. When night time came, it got darker, calmer and quieter. Eventually circadian rhythm kicks in and babies adjust.

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You gave up sleep when you had a baby lol

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Girl, you don’t know what exhausted is yet! Newborns are NOT meant to sleep through the night and won’t for a while.

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That’s not possible for a newborn. They NEED to sleep as much as possible and as often as possible for proper development.

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You can’t keep a 2 week old from sleeping…didn’t they tell you you’re schedule is gunna be f’d for a few months?

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You can’t keep a newborn baby awake during the day, they need to sleep!.

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They need alot of sleep at 2 weeks old . Wtf.

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Sleep when baby sleeps helps due to you not being exhausted.

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Wow :flushed:— Newborns need the sleep. This is normal and you can’t keep a newborn awake. Lol This baby is brand new, they’re going to sleep most of the time. I know how exhausting it can be, hopefully you have a partner that can help so you can get a couple of hours of rest. Things will get better!! but you gave up sleep when you decided to have a baby.

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Sleep baby in light rooms during the day and dark at night they eventually learn the difference.

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You don’t. Newborns sleep in intervals, it’s imperative they sleep as much as possible for development

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Newbies sleep a lot! Its impossible to get them on a routine until at least 4/5 plus months. You have to ask for help, from babies dad, your family and friends ect, if your exhausted, ask someone to look after the lil one while you sleep abit. My 14 month old still doesnt sleep too well, hes usually up early everyday 1 nap a day now. But we are finally getting afew nights through. But you cant keep a newborn awake during the day. Or he/she will end up over tired and that will be 10 times worse

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Jesus, some women are really not meant to be mothers. I said what I said

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A new born should be sleeping atleast 14 hours a day

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Newborns sleep more or less lots and their pattern wil change for next few years where they will sleep won’t sleep ect my baby is nearly 6 months
She can sleep not all hardly or all dy long and night depends on day and things ect
It all new and confusing they nice and snug n safe in the womb then unsafe and u snug and unfimilair places

People tell me to sleep wen baby does but got other things to. Eg clean

Baby’s sleep a lot especially in the first few months unfortunately there’s not a lot you could do other than ask for help from family and friends

75% of you ladies are rude af. Poor mama is probably just exhausted. There is such thing as a first time mom… It will get easier! As for now baby is going to sleep most the day and nights, once they are a bit older and can start using their hands to hold baby toys and roll around they will be awake for longer periods. Then you can try starting a solid schedule :relaxed:

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Newborn or not your sleep life is gone forever now!:rofl: Be grateful if you get any sleep once so ever!

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A schedule! Never believed you could have a newborn on schedule until my third child. My first two were exhausting, I was sooooooo tired. When I brought my third home we had a routine, I kept her up through the day by music and dancing with her, tummy time, if I cooked or cleaned she was in her bouncy chair right by me and I always talked to her while doing all household chores. Than every night it was strictly bath, fed, burped, bed, and I never strayed from that schedule. It works, really works and she still goes by that routine 3 years later.

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14 months pp and haven’t had any proper sleep since 2 weeks before my delivery :weary: you should see the 4th month sleep regression :speak_no_evil: but you’ll eventually get use to the 2 - 3 hour sleep schedule :weary:

Only advice is, don’t feed with too many lights on at night, and engage too much or play with baby after night feedings.

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My kids are 12, 9 and almost 3, so big age gap but I kept them all on that schedule. I was just done being tired sooooo tired and I listened to my sister because her kids had a schedule since day 1 and finally gave it a go on my 3rd and a schedule was my life saver and stick to it. Every day and night do the same thing. All lights out by 10p.m. and bed in my house when I brought her home. No tv, no lights except a soft night light, if they fuss and are not wet or hungry try a nuk if that does not work use a swing in very dim light and swaddle them snug. White noise works great too. But routine is key.

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They sleep most of the time. When my baby was about 2 months old i started cutting her daytime sleep shorter so she will sleep long hours through the night in between feeding. Just try to get as much zzz when baby is sleeping.

Newborns literally spend like all their time asleep they won’t understand day night patterns until 2/3 months old. You make noise during the day, go about your usual by cleaning or whatever just your normal routine and night time you make it more quietened down, bath before bed. Just make a schedule.

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Newborns shouldn’t be up longer then a hour.

Dont. Babies need to sleep!

Mama better get use to being " tired "… for about 18 years🤷‍♀️

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Honestly at this age, they sleep all the time, don’t keep them up, it’s not worth it. But you can start a form of sleep training regime… With my kid I let them sleep in their bassinet or bouncy chair a lighted room like my living room during the day (other than a nap from noon to 3pm) while I did stuff around the house and then a bath and then let them sleep in pitch black quiet bedroom from 6pm - 8am.
My kid has been sleeping through the nights since they were 8 months old and nap time was not a fight until they were 3.5 and no longer needed it.
But every kid is different.

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You probably shouldn’t have had a baby :woman_facepalming:t3:

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When they do sleep is developmental let baby learn to sleep naturally

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It happens to all newborns give them time and they will figure it out. Take a nap when they do and hopefully that will help

Sleep when the bany sleeps

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Y’all are a bunch of dense people who can’t read. I’m not talking about keeping the baby awake the while day. Just MORE AWAKE throughout periods of the day. Interacting with the baby, etc. Just so he is awake for a few minutes here and there. Sleep when the baby sleeps works with the first, but he is #3 and I’m a SAHM, so that’s out of the question. It’s not out of line or mean to want to try getting him to have periods of awake time to try and help him at night. Goodness gracious.

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I kept all the lights on during the day and noise. During the night the lights were off and quiet. It takes a little bit but it works.

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:joy: you dont if your as tired as you claim to be you would sleep while baby is sleeping

:heart::heart::rainbow::rainbow::four_leaf_clover::four_leaf_clover:Lots of attention and stimulation during the day :blush: never let their naps go for more than an hour during the day :blush: stimulating music and lots of natural sunlight. Go for a walk even if it’s just around the yard a few times a day. At night have a routine you solidly stick with. Give them a nice warm bath, clean jammies, lotion, lower the lights, use a white noise machine or fan on, (fan noise my son loved) feed with low lights, soothing soft voice. And then in the morning when waking up bright happy voice, lots of light, and repeat :heart::heart:

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Nights and days aren’t mixed up… they are newborn and sleep alot and up to eat alot.

That’s what babies do sleep. I haven’t slept in 7 years.

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It’s hard when they’re that little. I tried my hardest but they just kept sleeping :rofl:

Keep the lights on in the day, lights off in the evening. Wake him up to feed him every 3 hours until 6pm and then every 2 hours until bedtime. After day time feeds interact with him!

Let them sleep but don’t worry about noises around the baby. I always kept mine sleeping in the same your others are moving about. At around 10 pm I put them in their room. A night time bath helps also.

Baby will slowly start to be awake more but at 2 weeks they usually sleep a lot. If you think its a colic issue you can give some gripe water, check the bottle but im pretty sure you can give at 2 weeks old. Also, I am not a doctor so if you feel the need, you can check with the doctor to make sure they are okay with you giving it. And as baby gets older routines are your best friend. And i know its been said over and over but sleep when baby sleeps even if you feel housework needs done, honestly your sleep and sanity is more important than a super clean house. Congrats and good luck!

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Keep lights on during the day don’t be quiet, and at night keep rooms dark even when up. Other than that just wait, babies sleep constantly for the first few weeks. Try to rest when baby sleeps, ignore messes if you need too. Just hang in there mamma it gets easier. Also please ignore all these negative nancy’s in the comments! Being a mom is new and an adjustment. But you’re doing great!

Outside time! Even if baby goes to sleep outside it helps. My baby had her days and nights mixed up even before birth so once we got home I started taking her outside during the day. Wrapped her up if it was cold. It took about four days but she got herself straight and she has slept through the night since she was 5 weeks old.

Sleep when they sleep.

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They only stay awake for maybe 30 minutes at a time at that age, if not less. You don’t keep a baby up.

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If you want to start sleep training him, let him sleep plenty during the day if he wants and in the evenings, keep the lights on and the noise level at a normal and don’t try to keep quiet just for baby. If baby tries going to sleep you can take a cold wash rag and tickle the bottom of the feet and chin to keep baby awake for longer. Keeping the house a little cooler (not freezing obviously)and keeping baby I’m light on no clothes can help keep them awake too.