Milestones & tummy time

Around 2 months, most babies…

• Smile at you on purpose. The social smile usually arrives right around now (6 to 8 weeks), and it is worth every sleepless night.
• Watch your face and follow it (and high-contrast objects) with their eyes.
• Turn toward sounds and calm to a familiar voice, and start making cooing sounds (“ooo”, “aah”).
• Lift the head briefly in tummy time, and hold it steadier when upright on your shoulder.
• Discover their own hands, and start batting vaguely at things.

Every item has a wide normal window. Premature babies are measured from their due date, not their birth date.

Tummy time: the daily mini-workout

• Back to sleep, tummy to play: several short sessions a day while awake and supervised. Start with 1 to 3 minutes and build toward a total of 15 to 30 minutes a day by month 2 or 3.
• It builds the neck, shoulder and core strength behind every later milestone (rolling, sitting, crawling), and it prevents flat spots on the head.
• Baby hates it? Normal. Go shorter and more often, get down on the floor face-to-face, put a mirror or a high-contrast card in view, or lay baby on your chest. Chest-to-chest counts fully.
• Never during sleep, never unsupervised, and not right after a big feed (unless you enjoy laundry).

Feeding their brain (no flashcards required)

What actually helps development looks boring: talking and singing to baby during everyday care, face time, answering their coos, giving them contrast to look at, and carrying them along on the daily household tour. Screens have nothing to offer this age group. Your face is the premium content.