Baby's Sleep

You survived the first month with the baby! First month is always the hardest, as you are recovering from giving birth and adjusting to the new life with the baby.  As you enter your second month with the baby, there may be slight changes to baby's sleep patterns.  While first month's sleep may have been sporadic and not regular, the second month's sleep might be similar until you start to add more consistency to their nap schedule. Babies at this age will be more awake than during their first few weeks.  Baby's Second Month Sleep Schedule and Feeding Guidance Few Tips on the Second Month With the Baby Babies should be fed every 2.5-3 hours  Feed 8-10 times during 24 hour span  Naps should be around 1.5-2.5 hours long each time Let the baby sleep and don't make them overtired as overtired babies have more difficulties settling down for sleep It's okay to wake the baby up for feeding to maintain the routine Baby can be allowed to sleep longer stretches at night around 6 weeks old, but many babies don't do this until later You can review our first month sleep schedule and feeding guidance here, since maintaining EASY routine and 2.5-3 hour routine during the day will be the same as the first month.  The only difference might be that the babies can drink more and as a result has the ability to sleep longer stretches at night time.  At this stage, babies can drink up to 4 oz of milk as shown in the schedule below. However, babies vary in sizes and weights so their intake may vary.  Using the guidance that 2.5 ounces each day for every pound the baby weighs should be given to the baby, if the baby weighs 10 pounds, 25 ounces of milk should be given in a day. If you feed the baby over 8 feedings, then, the baby should drink about 3 oz each feeding.  Here's a sample schedule of what 2 month old's sleep schedule looks like. Each cycle will start off with Feeding, Activities, and Napping.  7am 10am 1pm 4pm 7pm - Bedtime 10pm - Dreamfeed 2:30 - One night feeding Remember that above is a sample schedule and your baby is not a robot! They may wake up early from naps or may get hungry before the next 3 hour cycle. You may have to adjust your schedule but try to maintain the consistency. Striving to keep the first wake up time and bedtime will help you greatly in maintaining consistency to the routine. RELEVANT READ:  Real Life Story About Adopting A Babywise Routine - What I learned in the first 6 weeks The difference between the first month and the second month is that the baby might drop two night feedings to one, and may be awake for a longer period of time. When putting the baby down for a nap, ensuring optimal wake time before the nap would help you and the baby to go down for a nap easily.  While the wake-time varies for babies, babies at this age usually cannot stay awake for more than an hour. Putting the baby down after an optimal awake time will do the trick in making the baby sleep long stretches of time and also make them fall asleep without much fussing or crying.  RELEVANT READ:  How To Put Your Baby To Sleep - 3 Steps Why Do Babies Wake Up So Often? Baby Sleep Schedule During the second month, you will start to notice that the baby is more active and alert, but their sleep pattern may still seem irregular. Remember that instead of stressing out about your baby not sticking to the schedule or not doing things the books say or your other friends' babies are doing, use flexibility and work towards establishing a good routine.  RELEVANT READ: How To Establish A Bedtime Routine If you stay consistent on how you put your baby down, you baby will quickly learn that once the routine starts, it's bedtime, and go down for naps much more easily.  Hope this was helpful! Leave a comment below and share your experience with your baby during the second month! 

It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the "must-have" recommendations for your new baby. It could cost a small fortune to equip your little one with all of these items, not to mention the amount of space required to store everything. Instead of falling into this trap of baby consumerism, we recommend you focus on the essentials. Below is our list of the top 10 things we view as true must haves, culled from our years in the trenches of mothering newborns. A portable, easy-to-use, rear-facing car seat. This is a must have! In fact, you won't even be able to leave the hospital without a proper car seat that you can demonstrate you know how to use. This is an item that you will use A LOT, and you need to be comfortable with the mechanics of getting baby in and out and strapping into and out of the car. Definitely, spend some time testing out various options! A safe place to put the baby for play time. Whether you opt for a bouncy seat, a bean bag-style lounger, a floor play mat, a jumper, or something else, you'll definitely want at least one "safe play time" location on hand for baby. When trying to select which one or two you really want, think about where and when you'll use them as well as how long you want to be able to use them. A stylish and comfortable baby carrier. Trust us...hands free time is as much of a necessity for moms as a happy and safe baby is. When you can combine the two you've got a winner for sure. That's exactly what you'll get with a carrier. Test out some different options though so that you can find the one that will be most comfortable for both you and dad to wear without adding any additional physical stressors to your body. Also, be sure to consider how long you'll want to use the carrier and make sure your carrier of choice will work for that time frame. Diapering necessities, including diapers, wipes, and rash cream. This is a no-brainer. Stock up before the baby's born, and then stock up again once you figure out which items are best for your unique baby. Cozy and safe day-to-night outfits and sleepsacks. You'll find that the outfits you choose day in and day out are those that are easy to take on and off, easy to wash, and cozy for the baby. A lot of times, the baby will spend most of the day in what you'd traditionally consider pajamas. Seeing as how much time baby will spend sleeping, this only makes sense! Tealbee sleepsacks are the perfect option for your newborn's daily, day-to-night wear. A perfect place to sleep. At this age, you've got lots of sleep options for baby - from bassinets to Moses baskets to cribs, and several other choices in between. Which one you choose is really a personal preference. With luck, baby's sleep habits will coincide with your choice! See our articles here about baby's sleep! Extra bottles. Even if you plan to breastfeed exclusively, having some extra bottles on hand is imperative because you just never know what's going to happen. You don't ever want to be in a situation where mom is running late from an appointment, the baby is fussy and hungry, and dad is left without options because he can't find a bottle to feed the baby that emergency pumped milk that's been hanging out in your freezer! Comfort items, including at least a spare or two. You'll quickly realize which items baby uses to comfort him or herself. It could be a pacifier, the silky smooth corner of a special blanket, a teething ring, or a little stuffed animal. That item will then become one of the most important things in your life! Misplacing it will cause all kinds of heartache for both you and baby. Make sure you have a spare available, just in case. An abundance of onesies. This is one of those items that baby will wear every day. It's also one of the items that will take the most abuse and likely require frequent changes after blow outs or spit up instances. Unless you plan to stay on top of the laundry every single day, you'll want a good supply of these. Blankets, burp cloths, and bibs. Just like onesies, these are items that you'll go through quickly as they'll require a lot of laundering while also saving other loads of laundry. You'll use each of these at various times to protect baby's clothes, your clothes, and your furniture and flooring.  We hope this list helps you get prepared for baby without going overboard. Did we forget anything that you'd consider essential?