Babies at two months old
Congratulations – your baby reached the first big milestone at 2 months.
Watching your baby’s behavior and the way your child speaks, plays or moves by now gives you important information about their mental and physical development.
Milestones are what most babies should be doing by a certain age.
That doesn’t mean every baby will do exactly what they should be doing right around that time – after all every baby is different and has their own slow or fast development.
You as parent know your baby best and can probably start to see a little bit of their personality coming trough after the newborn phase.
The first few months in a baby’s life are really hard and a big change for new parents but you should never be afraid to ask your pediatrician if you have any questions of concerns.
What do babies do at 2 months?
You can expect your baby to start:
- smiling at people and tries to look at their caregiver (parents)
- may start sucking on their fingers as a way of self soothing
- make cooing sounds and turns the head towards sound around them
- paying more attention to faces
- follow your finger or or things with their eyes and recognize people from a farther distance
- getting fussy and bored when the ongoing activity doesn’t change for a while
- to hold their head up and push themselves off the ground during tummy time
- the movements overall start to become more smooth
The CDC has a great milestone tracker App you can use to check off all the important developments.
I’ve been using the app since my baby was two months old after my pediatrician recommended it to me and I always found it helpful.
You can also get this free printable milestone checklist for your two month old here:
This may also be interesting:
– Baby Hunger Cues
– Most useless baby items
– How to swaddle your baby
– Moms confess their worst parenting fails
– Date night at home for new parents
What can I do with my 2 month old?
- Continue to show your baby affection by cuddling and skin on skin time.
- Talk to your baby
- Let your baby learn how to self sooth (mostly by sucking on their fingers)
- Start a routine early like a bedtime routine so your baby learns to understand the difference between day and night.
- Smile at your baby and be excited when they start cooing and making sounds
- You can copy the sounds your baby makes sometimes
- Keep watching your baby and you will see there is a different in cries for different needs. If you can distinguish those cries you can meet your baby’s need a lot faster and become more confident as a parent.
- Introduce peek-a-boo to your baby for some fun play time
- Read books to your baby (books are so beneficial to kids at any age)
- Hold a toy over your baby’s head and encourage your baby to try and reach the toy
- While having tummy time you can also use a toy to encourage your baby to lift their head
When should I be concerned?
Every baby has their own speed in development so don’t make yourself too crazy when your baby doesn’t hit the milestones right away.
If your baby is missing one of the important milestones for their age bring it up to the pediatrician at the next well baby visit.
If your baby does not respond to loud sounds or watches things that are moving it should be discussed with the doctor.
Sleep
Babies at two months of age need about 15-16 hours of sleep a day.
Unfortunately those hours are spread over the whole day and night with the baby still eating about every 3 hours.
Babies are usually not ready to sleep trough the night yet.
You should keep putting your baby on a flat surface on their back to prevent SIDS (Sudden infant death syndrom) without any extra pillows or blankets that are a hazard to your baby.
Nothing soft should be in your baby’s crib since all these objects like pillows, blankets or stuffed animals are a risk for your baby to suffocate when they roll on it with their face.
Other interesting questions about two month olds
Yes, Babies start to recognize faces earlier than any other object and by two months start to recognize their primary caregiver’s face (usually the parents)
Male babies around 2 months on the 50th percentile weigh about 12 lbs while female babies are around 11 lbs.
They absolutely can. Should you do it? Probably not. It is actually recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to not let your kid watch any TV under the age of 2 years because it is not helpful to their early brain development.
One thing that can happen if your baby constantly lays on the back is that the head will be flat in the back and they may take longer than other babies to learn to lift their head properly. Tummy time is crucial for the development of strong neck muscles.
No, when you are holding your baby it is in a upright position. You can lay on your back and place your baby facing towards you on your stomach for tummy time.
In general yes but if your baby has developed a good weight gain (about 4 oz a week) it is totally fine to let your baby sleep until they wake up to eat.
At two months age a baby sleeps about 8-10 hours a night but most likely not all at once. 2-month-olds sleep a total of 15-16 hours a day (day and night combined)
While they can’t see as good as adults it is believed that baby’s have a good color vision by the time they are five months old.
Do you have any more questions about your two month old?
Drop your questions and tips in the comments for other parents to read.
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