Your 2-Month-Olds Development

The First Real Smiles

This month all your efforts will be rewarded with beaming, toothless baby smiles. The first genuine smiles are certainly among parenting's most heartwarming milestones. In a sense it's payback time. You've been diaper changing, feeding, bathing, kissing and cuddling without much response from your little bundle of joy. But one day, it happens: Your baby smiles, and you're certain he wasn't just passing wind.

This will probably delight you, even if you've just had your worst night yet. For Rob, that first smile from his six-week-old daughter Holly brought tears to his eyes. "It was a lousy day at work," he recalls. "I was sleep-deprived and the traffic that day was terrible. When I finally got home and my wife handed me the baby, who looked straight at me and smiled this gorgeous all-gums grin, I remember thinking, 'She knows me' -- and nothing else mattered." By two months of age, a baby begins to move beyond his early preferences for two-colour objects toward more detailed and complicated designs, colours and shapes. Let your baby look at and touch a wider variety of objects now -- good choices include plastic toys and soft balls.

Sleeping for Longer chunks of time

If your baby is sleeping through the night now you're one of the lucky few. Most babies will still want a middle-of-the-night feed at two months, or even a couple of feeds. But the good news is, he should be sleeping for longer stretches and staying awake for longer periods of time. Most two-month-olds have two to four long sleep periods and as many as 10 hours a day when they're awake.

Movements less jerky

He will now be coordinating his movements better. You'll notice that the jerky arm and leg movements of his newborn days have given way to smoother, more circular motions. Your two-month-old is also able to grab objects voluntarily now, though letting go comes later. In the early days grabbing was mostly involuntary and instinctive.

Is my baby developing normally?

Remember, each baby is unique and meets cognitive milestones at his own pace. These are simply guidelines to what your baby has the potential to accomplish -- if not right now, then shortly. And if your baby was born prematurely, you'll probably find that he'll need time before he can do the same things as other children his chronological age. That's why most babies born prematurely are given two ages by their pediatricians -- their chronological age (calculated from their birthday) and their adjusted age (calculated from their due date). You should measure your child against his adjusted age, not his chronological one. Don't worry. Most doctors assess a premature child's development from the time he should have been born and evaluate his skills accordingly.

If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, check with your doctor.