How to get your 2-Month-Old Baby on a Schedule

The importance of napping, our daily routine, and tips and tricks.

Everly is now 2 months old and we are finally getting the hang of things and figuring out a daily schedule that works for us. Getting her to nap has been a challenge for us, but now that we have her in a routine, it makes things much easier on us and her. When she does not get enough naps in, especially in the morning, our whole day is thrown off.

Doctors recommend that a baby eats every 3 hours no matter what, so we have based our schedule on that recommendation. Now I am not saying that every day looks exactly like this, but this is what I try to aim for. Sometimes, she decided she only wants to nap for 30 minutes at a time, and sometimes she wants to eat every two hours. We just adjust our schedule accordingly.

According to raisingchildren.net, 2-3 month-olds should be getting at least 14-17 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. That means your baby is going to need lots of naps during the day. Babies this young do not know how to put themselves down for a nap, therefore, you need to help them get to sleep. At 2 months, babies can only tolerate being awake for only 30-75 minutes without getting overstimulated. According to What to Expect, a baby who is overtired end up having a stress response – an increase in adrenaline and cortisol which makes it trickier for them to wind down for sleep. Make sure you do not keep your baby up too long or you might have a more difficult time getting your little one to calm down.

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Signs of sleepiness of overstimulation

There are signs to look for that will tell you if your baby is getting sleepy. As soon as you start to see these signs, you will want to being to put them down for a nap. The key to get your baby to fall into a schedule is to be consistent with your nap time routine. The signs of sleepiness are as follows:

• eye rubbing
• crankiness
• ear or hair pulling
• yawning
• closing fists
• fluttering eyelids or difficulty focusing – your baby might even go cross-eyed or seem to be staring into space
• making jerky arm and leg movements, or arching backward
• frowning or looking worried
• sucking on fingers (could also mean your baby is hungry) 

You do not want an overtired baby. When a baby is overtired, it makes it harder to get them to fall asleep and they are more fussy/cranky. If you see that your baby is showing signs of being overtired or overstimulated, it is important that you calm them down and begin your nap time routine.Signs your baby is overtired or overstimulated:

• Has a hard time settling down or falling asleep.
• Only takes short naps, instead of full-blown naps.
• Doesn’t get a lot of sleep at night.
• Is very cranky or fussy.
• Gets frustrated easily.
• More prone to meltdowns (in an older baby).
• She falls asleep at random times during the day (in the high chair when eating, for instance, or as soon as she hits the stroller, even if it’s not naptime).

Nap Time Routine- How I Get My Baby to Fall Asleep

It is important to have a nap time routine that you follow consistently. That will help your baby know that it is time to take a nap and keep them sleeping for a longer stretch of time.

I do the following to get my baby down for a nap:

• About 10 minutes before it is time for her to take a nap or if she starts to show signs of being tired, I swaddle her up.
• I start her sound machine and give her a pacifier.
• I take her up to her room where she naps in her crib, and bounce her in my arms and tap her but until her eyes begin to get sleepy.
• Once she starts to look sleepy, I place her in her crib and tap her chest lightly with my hand until she falls asleep.
• If she is having difficulty falling asleep still, I will sing her a lullaby until she closes her eyes completely for about a minute.

What I do if she wakes up in the middle of her nap:

• Before doing anything, I wait a few minutes and watch her from her monitor. Sometimes she will put herself back to sleep with out any intervention.

• If her paci fell out of her mouth, I will put that back in. Sometimes that alone will put her back to sleep in seconds.

• If the paci is not the answer, I will lightly tap her chest until she falls back asleep.
• If that doesn’t work, I will pick her up out of the crib, sway back and fourth and sing her a lullaby. Next, if she does not go back down after about 10 minutes, I get her up and try to put her back down when she shows signs of being tired again.

It is important that your baby naps in the same place each time and that they fall asleep in the same place they wake up. Babies get confused when they wake up in a different place than they fell asleep. This makes it more difficult for them to fall back asleep on their own if they wake up in the middle of their nap.

2 Month Old Daily Schedule (What We Aim For)

Detailed Daily Sleep & Activity Schedule for my 2-Month Old

Like I said before, every day does not look the same for us, but I try to keep it as consistent as possible. During her nap time, I work, clean, cook, and sometimes run errands (always bringing her with me obviously). Here is what our usual schedule looks like:

Wake up – 7 am

We usually start our morning around 7 am. As soon as she wakes up I feed her and change her diaper. Sometimes she falls asleep on the job, so I change her diaper in the middle of feeding, and then bring her back to see if she is still hungry. This generally takes about 30 minutes. Once she is done eating, I take her out of her pajamas and dress her for the day. She then gets to playing in her swing for about 30 minutes, or as long as she is happy while I shower (sometimes lol) and get ready for the day. By that time she is ready to go down for a nap.

Nap Time – 8:30 AM

Babies at this age can not tolerate staying awake for much more than an hour. Everly would stay awake all day if we let her, but she needs her rest to grow. To put her down for a nap I always swaddle her and give her a pacifier. Sometimes it takes 15+ minutes to get her to fall asleep. She likes to be swayed back and fourth and tapped on the butt to put her to sleep. I also use the Rohm sound machine to keep her to sleep.

Remember to always wait at least 30 -45 seconds before picking up your baby when she wakes up. Everly will wake up multiple times from her nap, but will usually put herself back to sleep in a few seconds. I used to pick her up right away, and that was a big mistake.

Wake Up, Eat & Play – 9:30 AM

At 10 am Everly usually wakes up to eat again. She sometimes wakes up before then, but if she doesn’t, I wake her up because she has to eat every 3 hours. After she eats, I change her diaper and take her downstairs to play on her play mat for a bit. She loves her play mat. We have a simple neutral one, but she always really enjoys the colorful ones. I always lay next to her and allow her to talk to me. Once she starts getting sleepy/cranky, usually around 11, I swaddle her back up and put her down for a nap again.

Nap Time – 11 AM

At 11, I put Everly back down. I do the same thing as mentioned above and make sure she sleeps in the same place each time. That way she will get used to her surroundings and will sleep better. Everly sleeps in her crib for naps only, she sleeps in her bassinet at night. We have the Owlet Baby Monitor that I watch her on during her naps.

Wake Up, Eat & Read – 12 PM

At 1 PM Everly wakes up and eats again. After she is done eating I change her diaper and pick out a book to read her. I lay her back down on her play mat, and read her the book and show her all of the pictures. Right now, she cannot see much so she likes black and white books. I have linked a few of our favorites below

Black & White Baby Book for children 0-3 Months

• Look, Look!
• Hello My World
• Spots and Dots
• Black & White

Nap Time – 1:30 PM

Around 2 PM, Everly goes back down for a nap. I follow the same procedure as I mentioned above.

Wake Up, Eat & Play – 3 PM

At 4 PM Everly wakes up if she has not already woken up on her own. I feed her, change her diaper, and bring her downstairs. I spend about 15 minutes just talking, singing, or dancing with her to let her food digest. After about 15 minutes. We do tummy time for a bit. She generally doesn’t like to be on her stomach so she always rolls over, but the practice is good for her.

Nap Time – 4:30 PM

Around 4:30PM, Everly goes back down for a nap. I follow the same procedure as I mentioned above. During nap time, I pump so that my husband can give her a bottle when she wakes up. Our doctor recommended that we give her one bottle a day so that she gets used to it in case we ever need someone to watch her or if I have to go somewhere for an extended period of time.

Wake Up Eat & Play with Dad- 5:30 PM

At 5:30 PM Everly wakes back up, and Dad is on duty. He feeds her a bottle and does whatever they would like to do together, sometimes we go on a family walk together to get some fresh air.

Nap Time- 7 PM

Dad then puts her back down for a nap following the same procedure as above, but sometimes she just naps in his arms because he doesn’t get to see her all day.

Wake Up, Eat, Bedtime Routine- 8 PM

I wake her up after only an hour so that she has time to eat and take a bath before bed time. We generally put her down to bed at 10 PM. During this feeding I always give her vitamin D drops. Babies do not get enough vitamin D through breast milk, so my doctor recommended giving her vitamin D drops daily. Check with your doctor before giving your baby any supplements.

I bought our vitamin D drops from Target, they are linked here.

Bed Time – 9:30 PM

At 10 PM, Everly gets her pj’s on. She always sleeps in her Love to Dream Swaddle. She also wears her Owlet Sock to bed when she sleeps. This gives me so much peace of mind knowing that if something is wrong while I am sleeping, the sock will play an alarm to wake me up. She is now sleeping from 10 PM – 4:00 AM. She goes back down after 4:00 AM and sleeps until 7 AM.

This is our daily schedule for our 2-month old that works for us. I found that consistency is key. Keeping as much the same as possible for the baby is good. At first, I was having her nap anywhere I was. This didn’t work very well. I was anxious about leaving the baby alone in her room. However, she sleeps so much better now. I just make sure I watch her on her monitor the entire time she is alone. Now I can get so much more done during the day.

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