Two months in, most babies smile back at you, calm down when picked up and follow you with their eyes around the room. Here is what most babies do by 2 months, four gentle ways to play this week, and what to check on the labels of the oil, lotion and wipes that touch your baby's skin every day.
What most babies do by 2 months
From CDC's 2022 checklists: things at least 3 in 4 babies do by this age. A guide for a chat with your pediatrician, not a test.
Five or ten minutes each, with things already in your home. Do them in any language you speak at home.
1
Face to face
5 min · nothing to buy
You need: Nothing — your own face is your baby's favourite thing to look at
Hold your baby about a forearm's length from your face, where they see you best.
Smile slowly and talk softly. When they smile, smile bigger back.
Move your face a little to one side and see if their eyes follow.
Looks at your face
Smiles back
2
Chest-to-chest tummy time
2–5 min, a few times a day · nothing to buy
You need: You, lying back on the bed or a cushion
Lie back, half reclined, and place your baby tummy-down on your chest.
Talk to them so they try to lift the head to see your face.
A minute or two is plenty at first. Try again after the next nappy change.
Stay close. Only while your baby is awake and you are wide awake too. For sleep, your baby goes on the back.
Holds the head up on the tummy
3
Follow the dupatta
5 min · nothing to buy
You need: A bright dupatta or a red-and-white cloth
Lay your baby on the back on a sheet on the floor.
Hold the cloth above them, then move it slowly from one side to the other.
Pause in the middle, then go back. Babies this age follow slow things best.
Stay close. Keep the cloth in your hand, above your baby — never over the face or left in the cot.
Watches things move
Looks for several seconds
4
Lullaby time
5 min · nothing to buy
You need: A song you know — a lori, a bhajan, anything
Hold your baby close and sing slowly, the same song each day.
Stop for a moment between lines and watch: a coo, a kick, a stare.
Answer whatever they do with a soft “oh, is that so?” and carry on.
Calms down when picked up
Makes sounds other than crying
What touches your baby now
WHO's advice is breast milk or formula alone until 6 months, so the labels that matter now are on what goes on the skin — oil, lotion, nappy cream, powder and wipes. Turn each one over and check for:
“Parfum” or “fragrance” — one word for a blend the maker does not list.Parfum / fragrance
Propylparaben and butylparaben, and the rest of that family.Parabens
Scan a label
Free. No sign-up. Pick 0–6 months on the result to check it for this age.
The AAP advises no DEET repellent under 2 months; mosquito netting over the bed or pram does the job.
If something worries you
You know your baby best. If your baby is not doing some of these things yet, or has stopped doing something they used to do, tell your pediatrician — at the next visit, or sooner. CDC's advice is not to wait: acting early is what helps most.
Born early? For the first two years, pediatricians usually count from the due date — the corrected age.
In India, your pediatrician can also refer you to the District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) at your district hospital, part of the government's Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram.
Questions CDC suggests taking to the visit:
What do you and your baby enjoy doing together?
What does your baby like to do?
Is there anything your baby does, or does not do, that worries you?
Has your baby stopped doing anything they used to do?
Was your baby born early, or do they have any special health needs?
Pikabee