Your 2-month-old: Pediatrician guide to sleep, feeding, growth, and development

This is your ultimate two-month-old baby guide with what you need to know about feeding, growth, development, and sleep.

Yes, we are working our way through the first year of baby's life as we do it ourselves as physician parents. And that

means this week we will cover key milestones your two-month-old should be hitting, how much your baby should be eating, and what to do if your baby isn't gaining weight. Yeah. We're also

going to share what we did to get all three of our babies to sleep eight hours or more at 8 weeks of life. If this is your first time meeting us, I'm Kurt.

I'm board certified pediatrician and dad of three. I'm Sarah. I'm a

of three. I'm Sarah. I'm a

board-certified OBGYn and mom to those same three. Yep. And we are the doctors

same three. Yep. And we are the doctors Borgman.

[Music] Welcome back again. This week is all about life with a two-month-old. And

we'll be sharing the things we've worked on a lot with our kids at this stage to help set them up for success. And also

some of the things we've struggled with along the way, which we will share in our in real life towards the end of this video. Yeah. But first, let's jump into

video. Yeah. But first, let's jump into the basics about normal development, feeding, and growth. And we are going to talk about sleep, too, and what we've done to actually be getting some sleep by now.

This time between 1 and 3 months of age is kind of wild in many ways. your

little baby is transitioning from being this tiny little snuggle potato to actually having some meaningful awake time. They are getting a bit more

time. They are getting a bit more interactive and maybe starting to smile back at you, that social smile. Um, and

they're making all those little adorable coups and gurgles and truly starting to explore things like their hands and things in the world around them. If you

haven't started already, now is a great time to start reading a book to your baby every day. Talk to them about the world around them. Tell them what you

are doing as you do it. Um, it feels silly sometimes, but their brains are absorbing everything around them. Um,

their vision is still expanding. We're

kind of just getting past those first couple of feet. Um, but they learn so much from just living in an interactive day with their caregivers. Yeah. Now,

having said that, this 2-month mark is also smack dab in the middle of what is one of the most challenging parts of early parenthood. Um, in addition to

early parenthood. Um, in addition to your baby being more aware of themselves and their surroundings, their little bodies are changing rapidly, too. And

that doesn't always make for a happy baby. Um, as it turns out, a huge part

baby. Um, as it turns out, a huge part of counseling for parents at this stage is for you to be aware that from 6 to 10 weeks of age is classically the time when babies are the fussiest. This is

that period when baby collic hits hardest for most. And so if you feel like your baby is all of a sudden fussier out of nowhere, you're not alone. Those witching hours in the early

alone. Those witching hours in the early evenings can hit really hard. Um so this is honestly a great time to check in with yourself, your partner, and your

support system. It has been two months

support system. It has been two months of middle of the night feedings, so many diapers, and you or your partner might have just freshly gone back to work. On

top of that, now you have this really fussy baby sometimes. Yeah, we've said this a few times in recent episodes, but don't be afraid to ask for help. Um, and

also just lean into your strengths for you as care provider. Yeah. And and that can look like someone's coming over to hold a crying baby at night cuz that gets exhausting. Or someone is coming

gets exhausting. Or someone is coming over to help with the little toddler so you can be the one holding the crying baby. Yeah. Really just trying to figure

baby. Yeah. Really just trying to figure out how to balance everything out. Um,

but in reality, remember there are times where all baby's needs are going to be met and they may still be fussy. So, if

you're feeling frustrated, it is okay to set them down someplace safe for a moment for yourself to regroup. Um, I've

got this little mantra that I tell our crying child. Um, and I also use this

crying child. Um, and I also use this later when it's time for sleep learning, too. Um, that helps me. It's just like,

too. Um, that helps me. It's just like, hey, you are fed, you are dry, you are comfy, and you are so so very loved. Um,

and more than reassurance to baby, this also just serves as a reminder to me as parent that baby's needs are met and them crying from time to time is okay and expected.

Now that we are at that twomon mark, often things are getting into more of a groove with feeding. If you're

breastfeeding, often breast milk supply is pretty solidly established. Um, and

baby is usually technically better at nursing. you probably got the like

nursing. you probably got the like formula mixing down by this stage too if you're doing that. Yes, you're thinking about that those ratios a little less.

Um, having said that, for all three of our kids, we were working through some tongue and lip tie issues around this age. Um, with that definitely throws a

age. Um, with that definitely throws a wrench in a lot of things. Um, for our second with B especially, we did a we were doing a lot of occupational therapy

to really work on developing his latch both at the breast and with a bottle.

Um, and feeding difficulties are one of the easiest ways to end up with a fussy baby. Yes, absolutely. A hungry baby is

baby. Yes, absolutely. A hungry baby is a fussy baby regardless of any issues with unexplained colic that we mentioned is so common at this age. Yep. So, how

much does a two-month-old usually eat?

Yeah. So, in this window of 1 to 3 months of age, whether breast or formula fed, most babies are eating about 3 to 4 ounces of feed and still feeding about 6 to eight times a day. This puts them

fairly predictable in this window of 24 to 32 ounces total in a day. Um, and by the end of this month, most all kids are pretty consistently hitting about 30

ounces every 24 hours. Um, and they actually end up sticking with this daily requirement pretty consistently until they're about nine months old because that's when they're really starting to get a lot of solids. It's replacing that

milk and making up a significant portion of their diet. Yeah. Some other things I want to mention about feeding at this stage have to do with bottle feeding a breastfed baby. Um, so as we talked

breastfed baby. Um, so as we talked about, I went back to work part-time pretty early because I I missed my patients and my um work out of the home.

Um, and so with that, something we had to think about a lot was breast milk storage. Um, we have done a lot of

storage. Um, we have done a lot of episodes about breastfeeding with our first two that I encourage you to check out. Um, and also have this video linked

out. Um, and also have this video linked here about breast milk storage guidelines. Yeah. Um, we've also with

guidelines. Yeah. Um, we've also with that had to think a lot about bottle feeding too. For all three kiddos now,

feeding too. For all three kiddos now, we started giving bottles early. Really

just trying to set up for that transition for when Sarah went back to work. And something to think about is

work. And something to think about is how do you breastfeed a bottlefed baby?

Switch that. How do you bottlefeed a breastfed baby? Um, and we actually have

breastfed baby? Um, and we actually have a video all about some special things to consider when bottlefeeding breastfed babies, though, because you really want to not run into issues with nipple confusion and end up having them

refusing either the bottle or the boob.

Yes. And there are some things to troubleshoot. Um, is the flow too fast

troubleshoot. Um, is the flow too fast or too slow? Is the milk warm enough? Do

they need to burp more when they're taking a bottle? Um, this time around we really found that Hank really liked warm milk um much more than his older brother

and sister had. And so we've tried a bunch of different bottles. So I'm going to link our favorite bottles that are really lactation consultant approved for breastfed babies as well as this milk

warmer that we have gotten for the babysitter to have when they are out and and about. And we can put those in our

and about. And we can put those in our Amazon link below. Um remember it is a learning process to figure out each kiddo a little bit no matter how many

you have done before.

So a common question is how do you know that your baby is eating enough? Yeah.

So as always you can know your baby is eating enough by seeing appropriate growth. Um and honestly this is one of

growth. Um and honestly this is one of those big key things at that two-month wellchild visit with your pediatrician.

How are they growing? Yes. So, another

big milestone for your two-month old baby is that two-month-old wellchild check with your pediatrician. Yep. So,

in addition to looking at that growth, which we're going to talk a little bit more, this is also the first time they're getting kind of a full round of vaccines. Um, you know, and we know

vaccines. Um, you know, and we know there's a lot of people out there, a lot of you may be wondering, gosh, like what is the evidence behind each of these vaccines? So, we're actually doing a ton

vaccines? So, we're actually doing a ton of work in the background right now, working on prepping a series, going through each of these vaccines just so you've got that extra information saying like, "Hey, why are we giving this vaccine? What's it what's the data

vaccine? What's it what's the data behind it? Reasons they need it or any

behind it? Reasons they need it or any potential risks." Yeah. So, at each of

potential risks." Yeah. So, at each of these pediatrician visits, in addition to that, the pediatrician does some specific things, and that is they are

going to measure baby's length, their weight, and their head circumference.

And then they plot each of these on a growth curve and it's this graph to kind of make sure that baby is following along and keeping up where they're supposed to. Yeah. And by this two-month

supposed to. Yeah. And by this two-month mark, your baby should really be following pretty closely along with their curve. They found out like, oh,

their curve. They found out like, oh, this is the line they're going to continue on for the rest of this first year of life. And really, if they aren't f hitting their curve, it's a good time to start looking into why. Most of the

time, they just need to eat more. But

talk with your pediatrician about other causes. Is there some reason they might

causes. Is there some reason they might be burning more calories? Are they

having heavy breathing troubles? Is

their heart healthy? Or is there any problems with actually absorbing the nutrients and calories themselves?

Either they've got excessive vomiting, diarrhea, loose stools, or other potential medical causes that could be keeping them from having normal growth.

The best part about getting some of that feeding and growth down is that when those things are more established, it makes nighttime sleep so much more doable for you and baby. Yes. With so

many questions about how do you get your baby to actually sleep? Yeah. So, Kurt

mentioned that at this age, most babies need somewhere between 24 and 30 ounces of breast milk or formula per 24-hour day. And as it turns out, if you can

day. And as it turns out, if you can fill their little tanks up during the day and get that intake in between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. or whatever your

a.m. and 7:00 p.m. or whatever your schedule is, they don't necessarily need to eat overnight by this age. Yes. Now,

of course, assuming they're grown well and back to birth weight and all those things. Yes. Yes. Of course, they your

things. Yes. Yes. Of course, they your babies still may want to get up in the middle of the night just for a snack or to hang out with their favorite people in the whole world. Um, but this age, our kiddos are actually able to give us

sleep on average about 1 hour stretch for every week old they were. So, what

does that mean? For instance, when they were 6 weeks old, they were on average sleeping for six hours at a stretch at night. When they were eight weeks old,

night. When they were eight weeks old, they were sleeping about eight hours at a stretch. Yes. Um there is a lot that

a stretch. Yes. Um there is a lot that goes into sleep at this age. So check

out our newborn sleep episodes um if you have missed it because now is when we are really working to lay the groundwork for sleep learning or sleep training that can happen at that 4 to 6 months of

age mark. Yeah. And we went into this in

age mark. Yeah. And we went into this in a ton of detail about like you know how do you set up the environment for sleep?

How are you using your schedule? Um, and

for us at this stage, really thinking about, hey, getting ready for sleep learning, sleep training coming up, means we're using those early morning naps, especially when there's a ton of sleep pressure to put baby down a little

drowsy but awake as they're learning to put themselves to sleep. Um, you know, we're building those bedtime routines and common cues like using a sleep sack or singing the same songs before each

put down. Yes. So, if you have no

put down. Yes. So, if you have no strategy at this time, that is okay. But

a lot of these little things can really help set your baby up for more success with sleep in the months to come. So,

this like two-month stage, as we mentioned, can be really hard. Um, life

is good. Like, life is good. Um, you've

got this little baby. It's fun, but there's so much that's hard. I mean, but like this is when, you know, Hank smiled at me while I was doing a diaper change.

And like when they start giving a little bit back, it just is so fun and they're so sweet. Um, sleeping a little more has

so sweet. Um, sleeping a little more has been great like the putting together stretches like if you haven't watched our sleep episode go watch it like just little things to say hey how can we try

to put together some hours of sleep at night so that you can get a full REM cycle start to feel a little more like a person again I know I was like I feel

like I don't look this tired cuz I'm getting some more sleep now but so it goes the I think the like this stage is different for every kid and for every

parent like the purple crime time piece like we you know each kid was so different like you know this time around Hank had like six days where he's like just like extra fuss he had put Hank this wasn't that bad this just had like

I was you know there was a couple nights where I was like bouncing him for almost 2 hours to try to get him down. Um and

so like there's definitely those times or like learn to know like know like which person has which strengths. Like

for us, like most of the time, like, hey, like I'm going to do the household stuff and wrangle the toddlers. Like the

newborn is more my jam. I like I have the boobs. It's just often easier for me

the boobs. It's just often easier for me to do that. So there's more divide and conquer once you have a couple kids. But

sometimes like, you know, give each other a break, you know, like, hey, I'm going to do bedtime for the baby these nights. So you can like be out in the

nights. So you can like be out in the daylight like Yes. Because a difference between Yeah. That's when when nap time

between Yeah. That's when when nap time or bedtime put down takes forever. Kerr

is definitely better in the purple crying phase or crying in general in where he's like babies cry. And I think that's the pediatrician in him where I

have had times where I get in my head that like crying is failure. This baby

won't stop crying. This is just really really hard. Like I'm failing. babies

really hard. Like I'm failing. babies

cry like and so that little mantra of like hey you're fed you're dry you're comfy you are so loved like you know and like you've got your little baby and sometimes you're like the number of

songs we sang to Cecilia our first like when we were thinking about their different phases of purple crying B was the worst our second was the worst he's the sweetest kid that he is such a doll

like he's so sweet this is not this season these couple weeks are not a reflection of what your toddler will be like like I remember you're going to

your fellowship graduation and my parents came and like my dad held bow for 3 hours and he just cried the whole time like he just cried. Um and that's

really there's a lot of I don't know what the word is there. there's a lot of guilt or feelings or that's really hard as a mom just because a it's exhausting and then

b you feel like then you're putting this heart on someone else to hold your crying baby. Like that was a really hard

crying baby. Like that was a really hard thing with Bo was that I knew this baby was really hard and like not necessarily a fun time for someone to take care of

if I wanted to leave or do something or like go to Kurt's graduation. Um, but I think the people, well, my sister, my mom, they're they're just like, it's

just a baby. They're crying. We're here.

They we love them. This is okay. Um,

we'll be they're like, "We'll be fine, Sarah." And so, I think like we need

Sarah." And so, I think like we need your strengths and also use your support system like cuz it's these you're you've been working really hard for 2 months and it's like starting to stack up. Um,

you know, the other thing that like, you know, we have both gone back to work, you know, we like kind of staggered where like I went to back back to work and then like when she went back kind of in her full-time role, like now like I took a couple weeks off with that and

just like trying to like ease that transition as our family's adjusting because um it's a big adjustment. We're

like, hey, like we're like caring for a newborn and also like doing our full-time jobs again. And so, um, give yourself grace. like this is life is

yourself grace. like this is life is hard but it's also so good and so good the hardest this hard is going to change like it's going to be a different hard

um but just because it's hard doesn't mean it's bad it's just hard and it it is okay that it's hard very there are lots of good things worth doing that are

hard absolutely and so this is one that may be the season you're in um so hang in there if you need to set the baby down and they're crying Hey, it's okay.

They're fed, they're loved, they're dry, you are meeting their needs. Um, it just happens right now. Talk to your pediatrician. Um, if you have concerns

pediatrician. Um, if you have concerns that it's more than that, um, and hang in there. All right, so that was a

in there. All right, so that was a pretty focused guide of what to expect with having a two-month-old. Um, hope

that helps you kind of know what's coming and tips for getting through.

Yeah, this month can be one of the hardest. And know, please know that this

hardest. And know, please know that this heart is temporary. There are some really fun weeks and months coming ahead.

Thank you for joining us on our wild adventure. Please make sure you are

adventure. Please make sure you are subscribed. We are working on lots more

subscribed. We are working on lots more baby content as well as some toddler content coming at you soon. Summer

topics and even a series going through all of those childhood vaccines. All of

those questions you want to know. We are

going to dive deep into it. Yeah. We'll

see you next week, guys. Bye.

We're doctors, but not your doctors.

Anything we've said in this video is for education or entertainment purposes only. It is not medical advice. Any

only. It is not medical advice. Any

specific medical questions you have should be directed to your provider.