2-Month-Old: Milestones, Activities, Gear, Dad Tips & More
Your baby is transitioning from a newborn to an infant. You’ve probably gotten into a decent pattern and a personality that will last a lifetime has already emerged.
Here’s a comprehensive guide to 2-month-old milestones, activities to do with your baby, what to expect with food and sleep, toys and gear, and ways to master being a dad.
2-Month-Old Milestones
Starts to coo and make other sounds (that aren’t crying)
Recognizes familiar people at a distance
Turns their head and eyes to sounds
Holding their head up while on their stomach
Start to reach for and grasp objects with their hands, bringing them to their mouth to explore
Start to roll over from their stomach to their back at this age
More deliberate (less jerky) movements of the arms and legs
Reflexes
Your 2-month-old is still holding on to those reflexes from birth. They will eventually be “integrated” or lost in the coming months but they remain mostly the same for now. Here are some common newborn reflexes:
Rooting reflex: When a newborn's cheek is touched, they will turn their head and open their mouth as if to start breastfeeding. This reflex helps newborns to find and latch onto their mother's breast for feeding.
Sucking reflex: When a newborn's lips are touched or a nipple is placed in their mouth, they will start to suck. This reflex helps newborns to feed and get the nutrition they need.
Grasp reflex: When an object is placed in a newborn's hand, they will grasp it tightly. This reflex helps newborns to hold onto objects and eventually learn to use their hands.
Moro reflex: When newborns feel like they are falling or are startled, they will throw their arms out to the sides and cry. This reflex helps newborns to protect themselves and to alert their caregivers if they are in danger.
Tonic neck reflex: When a newborn's head is turned to one side, their arm and leg on the same side will straighten out and the arm and leg on the opposite side will bend. This reflex helps newborns to develop their neck muscles and to learn to control their movements.
Stepping reflex: When a newborn is held upright with their feet touching a flat surface, they will move their feet as if they are walking. This reflex disappears after a few months.
Activities To Help Your Child Thrive
Play peek-a-boo: Use this as a way to help your baby practice tracking objects and learn about object permanence (the concept that objects still exist even when they can't be seen).
Play swat the toy. Since your babies movements are more coordinated and they’re able to track shapes and colors with their eyes, challenge them by holding a toy above them while they’re on their back and have them swat at it. This is step one of turning them into Muhammad Ali.
Encourage grasping and reaching. Expose them to a variety of safe toys and (safe) household items with different textures, weights, sizes, and temperatures. Keep it creative and natural with things like ice cubes, grass, and dirt.
Food
Consumes about 4-5 hours of formula or breastmilk at each feeding
Eats about every 3-4 hours
Bottle nipple size: Level 1 (based on the Dr. Brown bottles)
Sleep
Typical sleep total per day: 14-15 hours.
2-month olds will probably take 3-4 naps a day lasting 1-2 hours each.
Red Flags
It’s important to note that babies develop at different paces. If you’re not seeing these 2-month-old milestones, reflexes, or patterns with sleep or food then talk to your pediatrician.
Stuff
Toys (with a purpose)
Here are some toys recommended by an occupational therapist to help your 2-month-old’s development.
Gear (that you actually need)
A diaper bag. The “diaper” in the diaper bag really doesn’t do it justice. You’ll use this for anything and everything that your kid needs to travel with (food, meds, toys, activities, etc.) for the foreseeable future. Get a durable one with compartments like this.
Car vacuum. Your car is going to get gross. Keep a small vacuum that plugs into the car in the back for easy cleaning.
Back care tools. Over the last couple of months, you’ve likely acquired some muscle adhesions in your upper and lower back, whether you realize it or not. My three favorite tools to address these issues are (in order):
Mountable deep tissue massager (the mounting is key for the upper back area)
TheraGun (good but overrated because it doesn’t target deeper layers as well and you need a patient friend/significant other to do it on the back area)
Dads
“Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.”
–Reed Markham
Dad focus
Hang out with the boys. At this point, you’ve likely been cooped up for a while. Zoom out a bit by making a plan to have you and your partner alternate weekends to spend time with friends. Grab some food, a drink, or even just a quick hike with a buddy. Just remember that if you’re going back to those bender days, your kid won’t care if you’re hungover.
Dad tips
Mushroom coffee. Remember those days when you could sleep in on the weekend? While they’re a long ways a way, I found a great way to remedy it: mushroom coffee. At first, I was just slugging coffee after coffee to get through work but it was killing my deep sleep and I was getting jittery and couldn’t focus well. I started to put a pack of the Four Sigmatic Lion’s Mane “Think” packets into my morning coffee and it was a game changer.
Communicate obsessively. You’re getting into a groove-ish but there are endless logistics, planning, fatigue, mishaps, frustration, confusion, and assumptions being made. If communication isn’t your strong suit (hey guys) then make a point to communicate obsessively. Even if you think you said it already, even if you assume she knows it, even if it might not matter, say it. Tone is important too. Say it in a helpful, productive, non-judgmental way. Make your inner voice your outer voice (with a filter) to help things run smoothly.
Organize those clothes. We had so many onesies that my kids didn’t even get to wear them all because they were growing too fast (lesson: if you give clothes as a gift to friends and family who just had a baby, give them in the 6-9 month range). As they grow out of them, start a system to organize them by age and season into bins. Whether you donate them, sell them, or store them for the next baby, you’ll thank yourself down the road.
Thank your dad. We never realize how much was done for us until we’re in that experience itself. Write a thank you letter to your dad. It doesn’t have to be long or sobby but it should be genuine.
Recommendations
Article:
Parental Burnout: What To Do If You Feel Overwhelmed As A Parent (Mark's Daily Apple)
Podcast Episode:
Should Ear Infections Be Treated with Antibiotics? (Chris Kresser)
Book:
Savor this time with your 2-month-old, celebrate the milestones, and remember that you’ve got it good.
Got any suggestions that worked for you and your baby at this age? Leave them in the comment section.