Baby Leo has been going viral since 2009 in his attempt to stay awake.

And we wonder just what pre-teen Leo thinks of his video being viewed over 7.6 million times on one YouTube channel alone!

Unexpected audience

When Lisa Jones joined YouTube in 2006, she thought the channel was simply going to be used to share videos of her boys with her own family.

But social media had other ideas.

Alas, she doesn’t seem to mind. As her YouTube bio states:

“…it’s been so lovely to share precious moments with the whole world and to have such sweet comments.”

In fact, both of her children – Rion and Leo – have viral videos. In one, Rion reacts with disappointment to his dinner to the tune of 141k views.

But Leo just happens to be the star of the channel with his sleep video.

Fighting the Sandman

Why is it that babies always want to stay awake? Don’t they know how precious sleep is?

Well, ok, so they don’t. And to them, being awake means getting to participate in all the fun, so it’s no wonder they fight the sandman when they can.

In his video, Leo is smiley and happy, but obviously very, very tired.

Tucked into his car seat, he really wants to smile at mom, but his eyelids are just too heavy.

The little fella can’t help but nod off.

But Leo’s not going down without a fight. He struggles as hard as he can to stay awake as he jerks his head back up to smile at mom again.

It’s almost as if he was hoping she didn’t see him surrender to the nap.

He’s a fighter

At least 6 times Leo falls prey to the fairy dust. But just as soon as his head bows down, he pulls himself right back up to give mom a grin.

For nearly a minute he does his best to make sure he’s not missing out on anything.

Responding to concerns (as people are so keen to express on other people’s parenting) that Leo is not properly secured in his car seat, Jones posted the following in the video’s caption:

“NB: For anyone concerned about the positioning of the carseat and the untightened straps: Here in UK, car seats are permitted in the front seat as long as there are no airbags fitted or at least deactivated. This was our old car – Hyundai Accent. There were no airbags fitted on the passenger side. Before I started the engine, Leo’s straps were tightened securely and we made our journey in safety.”

The reactions

Most commenters avoided the criticisms and went straight to the cuteness.

“I always come back to this video because he is the cutest baby ever. That smile warms my heart so much!!! Ive been watching it for over 3 years now! I always come back to this video because he is the cutest baby ever. That smile warms my heart so much!!! Ive been watching it for over 3 years now!” said a longtime viewer.

We can see why. Leo is in good spirits throughout.

“I have four children and have never seen a baby fight sleep with such pleasantness. Adorable!” pointed out another commenter.

And that’s why we just can’t stop saying “Aww” while watching this baby.

Be sure to scroll down below to see little Leo try his hardest not to fall asleep for over a minute.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: YouTube – Lisa Jones, Tenor