About two months have passed since birth. Be sure to share parenting duties to give yourself a break from hard work. You should have many questions about how fast your baby should grow, how much weight it should gain, and what is expected of it in general. Here`s everything you need to know about your 8-week-old baby!

Baby Development

By now, you will have understood its mood and behavior and have an established routine of feeding, bathing and playing. Do not try to compare yourself and your baby with other mothers and their children. While sometimes you may not feel so sure about what you`re doing, the best decision about how well you`re doing is yours and your baby`s! Babies are quite content as long as they are fed enough, sleep well and their diapers are changed on time.

In the first 6 months of life, the baby can take 20 - 30 grams per day, 150 - 250 grams per week, 600 - 900 grams per month. It has also grown by about 7 cm and its cheeks, stomach, arms and legs have begun to fill. In the second month, the baby`s head and brain continue to develop at the same rate. Head circumference enlarges by 1.25 cm per month. During this period, it is normal for the baby`s head to be larger than the rest of its body. The head still grows faster than the other organs. The fontanelle is still open, but towards the end of the second month and the beginning of the third month, it starts to harden and close a little more.

An important milestone your baby should have achieved by now is a social smile (i.e. when someone smiles at it) and holding its neck.

Milestones

1. Your baby starts to laugh consciously. When you talk to it, it will respond by laughing or making sounds like ‘gurgle’.

1. Your baby will now begin to show curiosity towards everything around it. It will follow people, moving objects and will show particular interest in different objects.

1. Babies begin to realize that smiling is fun. You will see it smile when you hug it, hear its voice, or see the people it loves.

1. It will start to prefer some toys over others and will smile when it sees its favorite toy.

1. Now that it has become more aware of its arms and legs, you can find it playing with its hands and feet. Its movements may be a little messy at first, but you`ll soon find they become more controlled.

1. Teething at 8 weeks is very rare, but your baby`s salivary glands are developing fast. So, expect lots of drooling from now on.

Nutrition

When your baby is 2 months old, feed every 2-3 hours, 8-12 times a day. A good way to tell if the baby is getting enough is a steady growth rate of 150 to 200 grams per week and 6 or more wet diapers per day.

In the feeding of a 2-month-old baby not receiving breast milk, 90-150 ml of formula 6-7 times a day at one meal is given to the baby. However, we would like to point out again that if the mother has milk, even a little, it is necessary to give breast milk to the baby before formula.

Talk to your doctor about the correct milk quota for its age and weight. It is important to prepare the formula and water ratio in the mix correctly - follow the instructions and discard any excess food.

Expressing Breastmilk and Its Storage Tips

1. You will need 2 weeks to get the bottle in order before you go back to work. You can start training by giving 1 meal a day with a bottle.

1. Even if it wants to refuse at first, this order settles down over time, don`t worry. If your bottle is rejecting the teat, you should try changing the teat at your next bottle feeding session. In fact, if your baby is using a pacifier, make sure that the pacifier it uses daily and the pacifier of the bottle are the same brand and type.

1. It`s time to buy a breast pump, both for starting work and to have a spare food in case of an emergency. Remember, not only working moms need a breast pump! Mothers with a lot of milk also need it.

1. Stocking up will ensure that your baby will not be deprived of breast milk if you are going back to work, have the flu or go out, and the milk ducts will not be blocked and be painful if you have too much milk. For all these, you need to express your milk.

1. You can store breast milk in a bottle, milk storage bag or plastic/glass container and keep it in the refrigerator or freezer.

1. When you put the date on the accumulated bags and put them in the freezer, you can store them for up to 6 months. But to be safer, you should have it drink before 3 months. While pumping breast milk takes about 45 minutes at first, it decreases to 30 or 15 minutes as you gain experience over time.

Sleep

In its first few weeks having 18-20 hours of total sleep it had, replaces with 14-16 hours a day, although babies still wake up in the middle of the night at this stage, they also begin to sleep in blocks of 5-6 hours of sleep. Some babies sleep more and have a predictable regular sleep pattern. Others are more alert and refuse to sleep when their parents try to put them to bed. In general, there is not much control over your 8-week-old`s sleep schedule and you need to adapt your responses to its rhythms.

However, while babies may not sleep on their own at this stage, it is helpful to put them to bed before sleeping so they can learn to fall asleep on their own in the coming months. Babies that can only sleep with support become dependent on their parents to fall asleep. They do not develop self-sleeping skills as they go through the lighter sleep and wake phases. For this reason, when they wake up in any 45-minute sleep cycle, they may request the same support from you again. This is a preference. You have to make the decision according to your baby and the school you have adopted and be determined. Otherwise, both mother and baby exhaust more, making sleep times stressful in the first two years of parenthood. For example, if you have decided to breastfeed your baby whenever it wants during the first 2 years, you should know that it may wake up frequently for 2 years and accept the sleeping pattern. However, whatever your decision, we do not recommend methods that cause intense crying and feelings of helplessness.

Behavior

By week eight, most of your baby`s movements will still be random and uncontrolled. Babies don`t yet have enough control to pick up and hold a rattle or toy, but this milestone is on the horizon. Babies will also begin to lose their grasping reflexes and will soon replace it with a conscious grip. It`s a good idea to talk to your baby often, even if it doesn`t yet understand what you are saying.

If you have older children, let them interact with the baby. Gentle, loving play will help develop baby`s social skills. You will also see your baby recognize different faces; can even stare at people who wear glasses for longer.

Crying

You may find that your baby is still restless and has occasional crying fits. These cries can reach a record level of 3 hours a day between the 6th and 8th weeks of the baby. That`s how they release their accumulated stress, so don`t get discouraged. Crying for a long time is also difficult for babies because it can tire them out and cause them to reach the point where it is difficult to soothe. As a precaution, make sure the baby is well fed and comfortable. If you suspect it may have colic that affects many babies, contact your pediatrician about how to deal with it.

Care Tips

1. You can follow your baby every week by answering the following questions; Breast milk or formula, how often and how much is fed? How many poop and wet diapers per day; what is the consistency and color of bowel movements? How many hours continuously at night, in what position and where does it sleep? What are my baby`s behaviors and milestones completed? For example, for this week, does it respond to your voice and smile? Does it follow your face and objects with its eyes? What does it do during tummy time?

1. It is recommended that you breastfeed from both breasts at each meal. However, while doing this, you should not move on to the other before you finish on one. Because the milk that feeds and keeps the baby full is the milk at the end.

1. In cases where the mother needs to use medication, the doctor must know that the mother is breastfeeding. For this, you should definitely tell your doctor that you are breastfeeding. If you have to use medication, you should stock up on your breast milk and give it to your baby.

1. If you`re a working mom and you`re on maternity leave at 32 weeks, you`d better start slowly stocking up on breastmilk before starting work and training your baby to get used to the bottle.

1. If the 2-month-old baby does not want to breastfeed, this can be caused by what you have eaten lately, the stuffy nose of the baby, slow or pressured milk coming in, thrush etc. in the baby`s mouth. It could be related to having problems, an ear infection, lactose intolerance, baby reflux, or even stress that it is experiencing. We recommend that you review all of them one by one.

1. In the meantime, if a family member won`t be looking after your baby when you start working, you`ll need to find a babysitter you can trust. That`s why it`s a good idea to start researching who to work with.

1. Babies at this stage continue to spit during or after feeding as they swallow air with milk. After feeding, do not move it too much and remove the gas.

1. Offer your baby a variety of objects to appeal to all its senses. It`s like a sachet for sound, a rose for fragrance, a cloth to touch, a big colorful ball to look at...

1. Babies often kick the bedspreads during their sleep. In such cases, a baby sleeping suit can come in handy. It is not recommended to have anything extra in your baby`s bed anyway.

1. For almost 40 weeks, the baby`s legs or foot shape may not have improved because it has been in strange positions in the womb. This introversion may continue for a while. In the following months, the baby`s feet get stronger as they are used for crawling and walking, and this curvature disappears. However, if you are still very worried, you can consult your doctor.

Tests and Vaccines

Your baby needs a general check-up at 6 to 8 weeks for growth rate, weight gain, and infections. At 8 weeks, your baby should also have Combination, Tuberculosis, Pneumococcal and Rotavirus vaccines if you are going to have it. Premature babies and low-birth-weight babies should follow the same immunization schedule as full-term babies, unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

This number can be intimidating, so it is recommended that you take your spouse, family member or friend with you. Because mothers are generally more vulnerable to the crying of their babies. In addition, some pedagogues do not recommend that the baby see the mother in such situations where the baby will be hurt and cry. The first time they feel the pain, they think that `my mother is here but why is she giving me the pain` they think that they may experience disappointment and this may damage their bond. Some mothers never want to leave their baby alone when it hurts. The decision is entirely up to your maternal instincts; you are the best mother for your baby!

Plays and Activities

1. Attach bright, light, attractive and different objects to a strong rope and hang them over your baby`s crib, almost within reach, but not low enough to grab, and it will start to wobble. This is an ideal activity to develop hand-eye coordination and strengthen the arms.

1. An aquarium is a good exercise that improves vision and sense of object permanence. All you need is an aquarium with lots of colorful fish at your home or in a friend`s house. You can also visit a pet store to see more fish!

1. As its eyesight improves, it starts to show more interest in bright and vibrant colors as well as shapes made up of contrasting colors. Show it bright color pictures and photos. Get rattles.

1. Give names to the objects. Teach your baby the names of animals and people. Pronounce your name by pointing out parts of your body. Say rhymes. These are things that develop baby intelligence.

1. Read the same story several nights in a row. See if the story gives any signs that it sounds familiar. You can do the same thing with a song that you make yourself listen to all week.

1. Spend face-to-face time with your baby for its social development, sing songs to it and call it by its name especially this month.

When to Apply to The Doctor?

1. You have noticed that the baby is fed very little, its diapers are dry and it is in pain. There may be dehydration and constipation. It should be taken to the doctor immediately.

1. Baby`s fontanelles (soft spots on its head) have not fused yet and are still soft. This area may swell slightly when your baby is crying, or they may appear collapsed when they are dehydrated. Consult your doctor if it persists for a long time.