What should a 2 month old be doing?

Read next: 3 months · 4 months · 6 months

A 2 month old should be sleeping roughly 14 to 17 hours in 24, feeding every 2 to 4 hours, smiling back at you and starting to coo. Most of the day is still feeds and naps, and that is exactly what it should be.

The ranges below are consistent with HSE and WHO guidance. They are wide on purpose. Two perfectly healthy 2 month olds can sit at opposite ends of every one of them.

How much should a 2 month old sleep?

Roughly 14 to 17 hours in 24, spread across 4 to 5 naps and the night. Wake windows are still short, about 60 to 90 minutes, so a baby who has been up for an hour and is going glassy or grizzly is usually ready to go down again rather than hungry.

The longest night stretch is often 4 to 6 hours by now, though plenty of 2 month olds still wake every 3 hours and that is within normal. Sleeping through is not expected at this age. Nights are still nights with feeds in them. If you want the fuller picture of the 0 to 3 month range, our guide to how much sleep a newborn needs goes into it, and the wake windows chart shows how the windows stretch over the coming months.

How much should a 2 month old drink?

For a formula-fed baby the HSE rule of thumb is around 150 ml per kilogram of body weight per day. A 2 month old is often somewhere around 4.5 to 5.5 kg, so that works out at roughly 600 to 750 ml across the whole day, not per bottle. The formula by weight guide has a worked table.

A breastfed baby takes what they need and you cannot measure it, so go by the number of feeds (8 to 12 in 24 hours is typical), wet nappies (around 6 or more a day) and steady weight gain at the PHN checks. Neither type of baby needs water or anything other than milk at 2 months.

How many feeds for a 2 month old?

Most 2 month olds feed every 2 to 4 hours, which is roughly 6 to 8 bottles or 8 to 12 breastfeeds in 24 hours. Feeds may be starting to space out a little compared with the newborn weeks, and some evenings will still have a run of cluster feeds. Both are normal.

Growth spurts around 6 weeks and again around 3 months bring a few hungrier days. Feed to the cues rather than the clock and it settles on its own.

What milestones should a 2 month old have?

The 2 month old baby milestones most parents notice, in no particular order:

• The social smile. A real smile in response to your face or voice, usually from around 6 to 8 weeks.
• Cooing. Soft vowel sounds, often in reply when you talk to them.
• Following a face. Tracking your face with their eyes as you move slowly from side to side.
• Head lifting. Briefly lifting the head in tummy time, still wobbly and not for long.
• Hands to mouth. Finding their fists and sucking on them, which is not a hunger sign on its own.

Rolling, grabbing toys and laughing come later. If someone tells you their 2 month old is teething, it is far more likely to be drool and fist chewing, which every 2 month old does. First teeth are usually 6 months or later. Our 0 to 6 month milestones guide lays out the rough order.

What is a normal day with a 2 month old?

If you are searching for a 2 month old baby sleep schedule, be gentle with yourself: at this age it is a rhythm, not a timetable. A fairly typical day might look like this.

• Wake and feed around 7am, a short bit of tummy time and chat, nap by about 8.15.
• Feed around 10, awake for an hour or so, nap again.
• Feed around 1pm, a walk in the pram or a nap in the sling.
• Feed around 4, a short late-afternoon nap.
• Feed around 6.30, bath if it is a bath night, down for the night between 7.30 and 9.
• Two night feeds, often somewhere around 11 or midnight and again around 3 or 4am.

Some days will have five naps, some three. Some babies do their long stretch at the start of the night and some in the small hours. What matters is the shape over a week, not any single day.

What checks or vaccines happen around 2 months in Ireland?

By 2 months the 6-week GP check for you and the baby has usually happened. It covers your own recovery as well as the baby's weight, hips, heart, eyes and general development.

The first vaccines are given at 2 months at the GP: the 6-in-1, PCV, MenB and the oral rotavirus drops. A mild temperature, a sore leg and a grumpy, sleepy day afterwards are common and pass within a day or so. Your GP will tell you about infant paracetamol after the MenB dose. The full timeline is in our Irish vaccine schedule guide. The next PHN visit is the 3-month development check.

What is not normal at 2 months?

Most differences between babies at 2 months are just differences. These are the ones worth a call to the PHN or GP rather than waiting for the next visit:

• No smile at all by around 8 weeks, or not responding to your voice or to loud sounds.
• Not watching or following your face.
• A body that feels very floppy or unusually stiff.
• Not feeding well: fewer wet nappies, refusing feeds or not gaining weight.
• A fever of 38°C or above at this age is always a same-day GP call, vaccines or not.

How do I know if my 2 month old is on track?

Compare your baby against the ranges above over a week, not a single day. One short night or one hungry afternoon means nothing. A week of feeds that keep dropping, or a week where the smiles never come, is worth raising, and the place to raise it is the PHN check. Lullagram shows the baby's exact age, logs feeds, sleep and milestones in a tap and turns a week of logging into the daily averages the PHN asks about, for both parents. It is free to try on Android, iPhone and web.

Every baby has their own timetable. This is a guide, not medical advice. If you are worried, ask your PHN or GP.