Your little 2-month-old baby is no doubt just the most adorable little being on the planet. But your 2-month-old baby’s sleep may be less darling! By the time your little one is 2 months old, naps may be all over the place, and night sleep may feel like a nightmare. Plus, we find in our work with parents that by the time your baby is 2 months old, all the adrenaline that was keeping you going through the newborn phase is wearing off quickly. Exhaustion is hitting full-force.
Yeah…to call 2 months old a tricky time would be an understatement. 😉 Fortunately for you, we have tips!
2 Month Old Baby Sleep Tips: 8 Ways to Help Your 2 Month Old Sleep
- Focus on the first and second naps of the day (the others may be all over the place). Nap schedule? Yeah, right.. Most 2-month-old babies are still napping all over the place and have little-to-no consistency in their daily feeding and nap schedules. That’s okay. It’s normal. Instead of worrying about making each and every nap a winner, just focus on the first and second naps of the day. Those tend to be the most restorative. Make sure those happen at home, and that they are close to an hour.
- Lots of night-waking is normal. At 2 months old, your baby’s drive to eat still trumps the drive to sleep. This is perfectly normal. Don’t worry at all about sleeping through the night at this age. Just focus on feeding your baby frequently. And take heart. Night sleep will gradually start to lengthen in the next month or two.
- Focus on rhythms and routines, not on the clock. This is HUGE. Most babies are in no way ready for a clock-based schedule at this age. If you try to force one on your baby, the outcome will no doubt be disastrous. (Over-tired baby, anyone?) But that doesn’t mean each day needs to be chaotic and unpredictable. What you CAN do is to focus on carving out routines for your 2-month-old baby. At this age, the Eat-Play-Sleep routine is a great one. Feed your baby, engage her in a short activity, and then lay her down to sleep (ideally, while she’s still slightly awake). And focus on doing this routine in chunks of time, rather than by the clock. For example, aim for 3-hour blocks of time during the day, give or take 30 minutes or so.
- Your 2 month old’s newfound alertness means you need optimal sleep conditions. Gone are the days when you could count on your newborn to sleep anywhere, through anything. Your 2-month-old baby is much more alert these days! So now, it’s key that you create a great sleep environment. Keep the room dim during sleep, use soft white noise to block out ambient sound, and try to avoid spending all day out and about so that your baby can catch sleep at home in his sleep space.
- The “witching hour” is definitely still ‘a thing’ for your 2 month old! If you find that your 2-month-old baby is fussy in the evening, believe me, you are NOT alone. This is so common! Most newborns and young babies go through this “witching hour” fussy spell. It will start to get better soon, but for now, your best bet is to plan on lots of cuddling and feeding in the evening. Remember, this is a development spell. It’s not something to “fix.” And keep in mind, too, that many babies fuss frequently in the evening because they want to cluster feed before they go to bed for the night. This can actually work to your advantage if you offer frequent feeds right before bed. Many babies will follow up this spell with their longest stretch of night sleep.
- You are still in the season of back-to-back-to-back growth spurts, so adjust accordingly. Speaking of fussy spells and cluster-feeding…growth spurt, anyone? Babies go through an eye-popping number of baby growth spurts in the first year of life, and guess what? One of those growth spurts happens right at 8 weeks. You may notice extra night-waking, shortened naps, and increased fussiness around this time. This is all normal. Respond by offering extra feedings as necessary. Just like the “witching hour,” this growth spurt is a perfectly normal developmental stage. It’s not a problem to solve. Rather, it’s a spell that you just have to wait out.
- Work now on creating a strong, sleep-inducing bedtime routine. At 2 months old, your baby is still too young for formal sleep training. (Although you can certainly use our e-Book, Essential Keys to Your Newborn’s Sleep, to work on laying a foundation of healthy sleep habits that will make sleep coaching about a million times easier in another few months!) However, it is NEVER, EVER too early to institute a great bedtime routine! Even though your baby is too young for a fixed bedtime each night, you can definitely start working out a consistent routine now. Then, by the time your baby is ready for sleep training, you’ll already have this foundational step laid.
- Work on “drowsy, but awake” at bedtime, and/or during the first nap of the day. As I mentioned earlier, your baby is too young for official sleep training at this age. However, if you want to start working on building a healthy foundation of good sleep habits now, you can slowly start to work on laying your baby down drowsy, but awake, a few times each day. You do not want to do this for every nap, and after every night waking. (Doing that will lead to an overtired and cranky baby!) Rather, just work on drowsy but awake for one nap per day (preferably the first nap, when the drive to sleep is strong) and possibly at bedtime (again, when the drive to sleep is very powerful). Just remember not to push this. If your baby protests, it’s perfectly okay to take a step back and try again in another week or two.
Hello, our 2 month old daughter goes to bed at 7.30 pm every night without fail. We dream feed her at around 10.30 ( this is when we go to sleep). She wakes up at 2 am for her next feeding and again at around 5 am. She fusses until her morning nap at 8 am. She doesnt want to go back to sleep until then. So my question is, is there any way that I can make sure her long sleep cycle( stretch) happens when I am sleeping. Can pushing her bed time later (10.30 pm) work? If so, how can I do that? Thank you
Hi Merve – Thank you for writing to us! Sorry to hear your little one likes to be wide awake from 5-8am! That is tough for us parents that want to be asleep! Keep working at getting her back to sleep at this time, and hopefully things will smooth out! This article shoudl help:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-guide/2-3-month-old-baby-sleep-guide/
And, although your baby is not yet 3 months, she will be there very soon, and this is a good reference too:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/schedules/3-month-old-baby-sleep-and-feeding-schedule/
We do offer a few more in-depth solutions for parents who need more help. Our e-book, Essential Keys to Your Newborn’s Sleep, may be a good option for you. In it, we give you a complete toolkit to help your baby establish healthy sleep habits today and throughout the first year.
In addition, our highly trained sleep consultants can help families of newborns manage soothing issues, crying, schedules, sleep associations, and coordinating sleep and feeding times. Our sleep consultation packages are perfect for helping you feel confident in your sweet girl’s sleep, and we’ll work with you to provide a path forward too.
You can read more about our wonderful newborn options here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/essential-keys-to-your-newborns-sleep?utm_source=crs&utm_medium=desk
I hope this information helps, and good luck!
my daughter is two months she’s already teething she’s really fussy at night and hard to put her to sleep what is the best thing to do
Hi Trynity,
Thanks for using The Baby Sleep Site as a resource! I’m sorry you’re dealing with some fussiness from your 2 month-old. Although it’s rare to see teething at this age, we do see a lot of colic, growth spurts, and overtiredness at this age, all of which can cause fussiness. We have an article on “decoding” fussiness that I think will help here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/decoding-your-fussy-baby/
If you do continue to have trouble, please get in touch with your pediatrician. Although many healthy babies are fussy at this age, sometimes it can be due to a treatable medical condition like an ear infection, colic, or GERD, and we always recommend ruling those out before anything else.
I hope this helps – good luck!
Hello. My daughter will be two months old tomorrow. She will not take naps at all unless being held amd bounced. I try to lay her down for naps but she will resist sleep all day and then I have a screaming baby. I spend my days bouncing her so she can sleep. How do I get my baby to take naps in her crib? She sleeps in the crib better at night but not during the day.
Hi @Sierra – Thank you for writing and congrats on your new baby! Sorry to hear that naps are a struggle, but you are not alone! This is common for babies of all ages! Have you signed up for our free guide just for families with young babies yet? Here is the link:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/15-free-baby-sleep-facts-new-parents-must-know
You may also want to take a look at this article for some really helpful tips:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/baby-wont-sleep-in-crib-3-tips/
If things do not smooth out, we do offer a few more in-depth solutions for parents who need more help. Our e-book, Essential Keys to Your Newborn’s Sleep, may be a good option for you. In it, we give you a complete toolkit to help your baby establish healthy sleep habits today and throughout the first year.
In addition, our highly trained sleep consultants can help families of young infants to manage soothing issues, crying, schedules, sleep associations, and coordinating sleep and feeding times. Our sleep consultation packages are perfect for helping you feel confident in your newborn’s sleep, and we’ll work with you to provide a path forward for understanding when to switch from managing sleep to more formal sleep coaching too.
You can read more about our wonderful newborn options here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/essential-keys-to-your-newborns-sleep
Good luck Sierra and feel free to contact us with any questions!
Hello, our baby is 7 weeks old, he is bottle fed. I started noticing that bathing him at night would wake him up instead of helping him so sleep so I switched atheathe around 9am and it seemed to work. He would stay awake for about 1 hr 1hr 20 min tops around 8 am which is when our days starts, nap every 2 hours feed and repeat and at night he would wake every 1 and 30 to feed but lately he is fussy and can’t nap during the day and by 5 pm he does not want to sleep anymore he is on and off sleeping until 9pm !!! He will take like 10 minute naps but for the most part he will try to stay up to 4hours!! And then around 9:30pm or 10:30 he will sleep and wake until 2 am to feed and again until 5 or 6 am and the cycle repeats, I would like to know if I need to tweak his sleep schedule or bathe him again in the evening to see if it will work?? I just want him on a normal routine thank you!!
Hi @Genesis Orozoco, congratulations on your new baby boy. These early weeks can be so crazy as everything changes with your baby so quickly so hang in there. Here is a link to a free guide with tips to help your newborn with sleep: https://www.babysleepsite.com/15-free-baby-sleep-facts-new-parents-must-know/
At this age it may be challenging to get on a super rigid schedule as things do change so quickly, so I would definitely pay attention to the clock and try (the tips in the free guide will help) to not let him stay awake beyond 1.5-2 hours, but if he starts acting sleepy sooner, then that’s ok too. In regard to bathing, all babies respond differently to baths. I personally never incorporated it into our routines and made it an extra thing because I didn’t want to commit to doing it every day, ha! But that is just me. 😉
We do also have an ebook you may find helpful reading through that will help walk you through in greater detail how to establish good habits, and a routine for your baby from now through the first year of his life. Here is a link to read more about our newborn ebook: https://www.babysleepsite.com/essential-keys-to-your-newborns-sleep/
I hope this helps!
Hi – our 10 week old is doing pretty well during the night for the most part and usually takes a good first nap. Then as the day progresses, she fights sleep more and more. Second nap is very short and third nap only happens if we are holding her. Bedtime is really hard. We put her down between 6:30-7 and she usually wakes up crying immediately or within 10 minutes and then we have 1-3 more times rocking her, putting her down and hoping for the best. Sometimes this process takes 2-3 hours. She is our third and I don’t recall the others being like this at bedtime. She just fights it so much. Is this something we can do something to improve or will it just take her getting a little older? Keeping her up later won’t help – she is so tired by this time of night she seems strung out! And our other 2 kids are 3 and 5, so we need some consistency so that we can manage all of the bedtime routines!!
Hi @Janne Quinn, thanks for writing to us and congratulations on your 3rd baby! It is crazy how different all babies can be, isn’t it? I know you’re not a new mom, but we do have a free guide available for parents of newborns, it may be a good refresher or have some new insight that wasn’t needed for your other 2. You can sign up to receive the guide here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/15-free-baby-sleep-facts-new-parents-must-know/
I may take time to get into a rhythm, especially since I’m sure you’re working around your older children’s schedules during the day at times, so hang in there. If you can, keep a close eye on the clock and try not to let her stay away longer than 1.5 or 2 hours max (she may be tired earlier than that which would be okay too). This may help prevent her from getting so overtired that she doesn’t fight bed time so hard. I hope this helps but please let us know if you need anything else! We are here to help.
Does the wake time of 1 1/2 to 2 hours incorporate the time she is awake and feeding? For example, if she woke up at 10 am and starts eating at 10:15 am, you’re saying she should be asleep by at least 12:15 pm? And is that for the whole day if we’re doing the eat-play-sleep routine ?
Hi @Julia, yes the wake time would be the total amount of time she’s awake. So if she woke up at 10 am, the next time you’d want to try to get her to sleep is between 11:30 am and 12 pm. I know that can sound crazy and like you’ll hardly get any time with her, but those times will lengthen out eventually! Hope that helps!
Hi. Just found this site and it is so helpful for this FTM. I am working on instituting the feed-wake-sleep routine with my 9 week old. But, she wants to nurse before each nap even if she got plenty to eat before wake time. Should I be working to stop this at this age and if so, how? She’ll fall alseep usually when nursing but rouse when I take her to her bassinet. She is usually pretty good about putting herself back to sleep once in the bassinet. Full disclosure – we have the Snoo that gently moves her while sleeping and plays white noise. Thanks!
Hi @Rebecca Cage, thanks for writing to us! There are lots of different methods and opinions out there and at Baby Sleep Site we just want to help you find the best (and safest) method for your child. Around 4 months is the age they say bad habits can really start to form, so I personally wouldn’t worry about it, and I nursed my babies all the time and they ended up fine. ha! I think it really is preference but I never limited my nursed baby when they were really young from a feeding (I think formula would be different since it’s easier to track). It sounds like your baby is able to settle herself nicely which is what’s important, if it ever becomes a problem and she NEEDS to nurse (or have a bottle) to fall asleep, then it would be something to address. Here is a link to a free guide you can download with tips for new parents that may help: https://www.babysleepsite.com/15-free-baby-sleep-facts-new-parents-must-know/
I’m so glad you found us! Please let us know if you have any more questions through the coming days, weeks and months as your sweet girl goes through different stages of development. We’d love to help you through it all. 🙂
Hi! How do I get my 2 month old to sleep during the night as opposed to going to bed at 4am and then sleeping until
4pm with wakings in between for feedings and diaper changes?
Hi @Diane – Thank you for writing to us! It sounds like your little one has her days and nights mixed up (AKA reverse cycling). This is common, but oh so tough on parents!! This article should be helpful:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/breastfeeding/reverse-cycling-baby-sleep/
Good luck and please contact us if you find that you need more assistance!
Hi I have a 8 week old baby boy who is bottle fed. He will only sleep on me. I’ve tried swaddling and all the things I used with my first but nothing seems to work. He will sleep 4-5 hours at night but only on me. Looking for suggestion to break this.
Hi @Katie – Thank you for writing, and congrats on baby #2! Sorry that your little guy is struggling with sleeping on his own!
We have a really great free guide about newborn sleep in the first four months that should really help. Here is a link to access the free guide: https://www.babysleepsite.com/newborn-free-guide-download/
If things do not improve with the tips and suggestions in the free ebook, and you’d like more help, we also offer our Ebook, Essential Keys to Your Newborn’s Sleep, all about infants and sleep. It is available as a stand-alone option, or along with a Teleseminar and our Basic Email Consultation Package, where you will receive a Personalized Sleep Plan and one follow up email consultation.
You can read more about the newborn ebook packages here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/essential-keys-to-your-newborns-sleep/
Please contact us if you have any questions, or if you need any assistance!
Good luck Katie!
Hi. We have a 2month old baby at home and he doesnt sleep AT ALL during the night and most of the time he is fussy during feedings (bottlefed)
Hi @Jane, congratulations on your new baby. I am so sorry to hear these first few months have been such a struggle. Here is a link to download a free guide with tips for new parents to help encourage sleep: https://www.babysleepsite.com/15-free-baby-sleep-facts-new-parents-must-know/ If you are at your witts end and need more help, let us know. We would love to work with you family even when your son is this young if you need the help. For more information on our personalized plans, you can visit our site here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/ or feel free to contact us directly at [email protected] and we can offer more advise and links to resources from there. Hang in there!
Hello, our baby girl is 8 weeks and ebf. We’ve been doing her last feeding in our room (usually falls between 9-10p) with the white noise on and then we swaddle her and put her down to sleep in her bassinet in our room. She sometimes falls right asleep, other times she’ll wake a few times but we’re usually able to get her to stay asleep within an hour. Then she’ll sleep for 6-7 hrs before she wants to nurse again, then usually another 3-4 hr stretch before her morning feed and after that she usually wants to sleep again for another 2-3 hours. Should we be trying to keep her awake after her first morning feed so we can put her down for a formal morning nap? Or we could move up her Nighttime routine to the next feeding before what we’ve been doing. Also during the day she mostly naps in her swing, should she be napping in her Nighttime bassinet or Packnplay in the other room?
Thanks!!
@Amanda – Thank you for reading and for sharing! It’s definitely something of a challenge figuring out sleep for a 2 month old since their sleep needs are still high and somewhat sporadic at times. The first nap/sleep of the day is frequently easier to come by as a baby’s drive to sleep is still relatively strong coming out of night sleep. Napping in the swing isn’t “Wrong” so long as you make sure she’s supervised as it’s not a firm, flat surface. One of our sleep consultants would be better able to answer your more specific questions as this is their specialty. Please consider connecting with one of our lovely ladies – you can read more about them here:https://www.babysleepsite.com/about Thank you, again, for reading!