Your baby at 2 months

Time is flying by, and your baby is 2 months old.

By this point, you have already had your six-week postnatal check-up. You are now much more used to feeding, changing, and looking after your baby. Your hormones have settled down a bit more, and you are settling into life as a new mother. If this is your first baby, you are probably still enjoying cards and baby presents from some of your friends and relatives (as well as plenty of unwanted advice!). And dressing your baby in cute new baby clothes is probably a lot of fun.

But what is life like for your baby at two months?

Baby Development 2 Months

Looking after your two month baby is starting to become much more rewarding than it was before. Apart from the fact that you are gaining confidence as a new mother, your baby is beginning to smile at you. There is nothing more winning than seeing that toothless grin as you pick up your little one for a cuddle or you change a nappy. Many parents say that this is the time when they really start to fall in love with their new baby.

Your baby’s focus has moved on now, and they will show an interest in more complex, defined designs. You can put more sophisticated mobiles over the crib, and when the baby is having “tummy time” on their play mat, you can place colourful soft toys and cloth balls that jingle in front of them. Watch your baby reach out towards the colourful ball – which then jingles as it gently rolls away. You will see how the baby will show an interest and perhaps even smile at the ball.

Your little one’s grabbing instinct is also becoming more voluntary as part of baby age appropriate behaviour. Watch the baby reach out for objects in general, clasping them tightly. Your little one may find it easy enough to seize an object – but letting it go is a different question!

Your Sleeping Baby

You will find that your baby’s sleeping habits are starting to change. They are now more awake, spending up to around ten hours alert. They will sleep in more concentrated naps, with longer wakeful periods in between them. During the day, this is the time for playing and chatting to your baby. Some parents are fortunate enough to have a baby that sleeps through the night. But this is by no means the norm, and you may well find that your baby at 2 months will still be waking you for one or two feeds in the night.

Keep trying to train your baby about the difference between night and day. It often helps to have a distinctive wake-up and sleep-time routine. In the morning, for example, you could make a whole ceremony of washing the baby’s hands and changing the nappy. Open the curtains to show that it is light. Don’t put the baby down in the crib except for night sleep. The baby can rest on the play mat or in a playpen, both of which can be used as “daytime beds.” At night, once again, you can have a whole night time ritual of bath, pyjamas, cuddle, and then going to bed in a darkened room. And during the nocturnal baby feeding, there is no play or chat.

What is Your Baby Eating?

Your little one is growing, but this is still not the time to give baby solids. The sole baby foods at this age are either breast milk or formula. Feeds will have settled into a pattern of every three or four hours. If you are bottle feeding, you should avoid adopting harmful practices like putting the baby’s bottle in bed or propping the bottle so that the baby can suck alone. Your baby is also too young at this stage for adding baby rice cereal to the bottle or giving supplements like water or fruit juices.

Some babies suffer from colic at around this age, which gets very intense at around six weeks. Colic usually goes away by the time the baby is about three months, so hang in there, even if it does get frustrating at times having to drop everything to hold a screaming little bundle.

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