2 months
Two months old: cooing and conversations
Smiles, coos and the first round of vaccines.
At two months your baby smiles at you on purpose, answers with soft coos and holds the head more steadily. This is also the month of the first routine vaccinations at the polyclinic.
Growth
Weight
4.9–7.0 kg
Length
57–63 cm
Growth is fastest in these months, and head circumference is tracked as closely as weight. Typical range; your paediatrician tracks your baby on a growth chart.
What your baby is learning
- Head control is steadier: in your arms the head wobbles less, and on the tummy many babies lift the head to about 45 degrees and hold it for a moment.
- Cooing begins – soft vowel sounds like "ooh" and "aah" – and your baby starts to answer when you talk.
- Smiles are now frequent and clearly social, aimed at you when you appear or speak.
- Your baby follows a moving object across the midline and watches hands and faces with great interest.
- Movements become smoother; arms and legs stretch out more and kick when your baby is excited.
Feeding
- Breastfeed on demand; feeds may become quicker and slightly less frequent as your baby takes more at each one. Exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months remains the goal.
- Growth spurts around 6 and 12 weeks can bring a few days of very frequent feeding. Feed more often rather than adding formula or anything else.
- If formula is used, prepare it fresh for each feed, discard what is left after an hour and sterilise bottles and teats until 6 months.
- Vitamin D 400 IU daily continues; ask your paediatrician if you are unsure of the dose. No water, juice, tea or cereal yet – your baby's gut is not ready before 6 months.
- Mothers: keep taking potassium iodide 200 µg daily while breastfeeding, eat regularly and drink to thirst.
Sleep
Total sleep is still 14–17 hours a day, and night stretches of 4–6 hours become more common. A simple bedtime routine – a wash, a feed, a song, lights down – helps your baby learn the difference between night and day. Safe sleep does not change: on the back for every sleep, on a firm flat surface in your room, no pillows, quilts or positioners, a room that is not too warm, and never on a sofa or in an adult bed. Once your baby starts trying to roll, stop any swaddling.
Check-ups and vaccines
- At 2 months your baby is due the first round of routine vaccines at the polyclinic: OPV-1 (oral polio), Rota-1 (oral rotavirus), PCV-1 (pneumococcus) and Penta-1 (diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and Hib).
- Mild fever up to 38.5 °C, fussiness, sleepiness and a sore, slightly swollen leg for 1–2 days are common after the injections. Offer extra feeds and cuddles; ask the paediatrician before using paracetamol and never give aspirin. Call 103 for fever above 39 °C, fever lasting more than 48 hours, a seizure, or a baby who is limp or very hard to wake.
- The monthly check-up: weight, length and head circumference, hips and heart, and a chance to ask about feeding, colic and sleep.
- Crying often peaks around 6–8 weeks and then eases. Colic – intense evening crying in an otherwise healthy baby – is exhausting but harmless; take turns, and put the baby down safely and step away for a minute if you feel overwhelmed. Never shake a baby.
Play and everyday tips
- Have conversations: copy your baby's coos, wait, and let them reply. Turn-taking is the start of language.
- Tummy time every day in several short sessions, with a mirror or a toy in front to look at.
- Offer a light rattle to hold for a few seconds and shake it gently where your baby can see and hear it.
- Read picture books aloud and name what you both see; babies love the same book many times over.
- Gentle songs and rhymes with hand movements; carry your baby around the house and describe what you are doing. Keep screens off.
Call the doctor or 103 if
- Fever of 38 °C or higher before 3 months is an emergency, even in the days after vaccination: call 103.
- Difficulty breathing, grunting, blue lips, or a cough with a whooping sound or long pauses between breaths.
- Not smiling in response to you, not following moving things with the eyes, or not reacting to loud sounds.
- Feeding poorly, fewer than 6 wet nappies a day, repeated forceful vomiting, or no weight gain.
- Very floppy or stiff, a bulging soft spot, or inconsolable crying that is different from the usual evening fussing.
- For any of these, call 103 or go to the polyclinic or hospital straight away.
Trust your instinct. If your baby seems unwell to you, call 103 or go to the polyclinic.
Monthly updates in Telegram
Tell the bot your baby's birth date and it will send a development digest every month, with the vaccines due next.
- ✓A short digest every new week
- ✓Countdown to your due date
- ✓Reminders about upcoming checkups
- ✓Kick counter and contraction timer