Month 2: Top 10 Sensory Activities for 2 month old baby » Sensory Lifestyle (2023)

FAQs

What are the activities of a 2 month old baby? ›

At 2-3 months, you might see more smiles, plus new facial expressions and ways of communicating. Babies might stretch, kick, move their arms and start to control their head movements. Play is how babies learn. Try talking, reading, singing and playing peekaboo to boost newborn development.

Your 2-month-old is wide-eyed and curious, smiling at faces and engaging with everything around her/him. Babies at this age are social and love to interact. Here is how your little one will be growing, learning and changing during this sweet age.

Is it OK for babies to watch sensory videos? Watching baby sensory videos is perfectly safe for your little one and can help to enhance visual and auditory stimulation, eye coordination and movement, particularly if your baby chooses to dance along to the music.

Babies begin to perceive colors more and more between 2 and 4 months old. To start, they're able to tell the difference between shades of greens and reds. The exact timing for when your baby will see these colors is individual, so there's no set week or month when it happens for all babies universally.

Shoulder hold: rest baby on your chest and shoulder, supporting baby's head and neck with your hand. Place your other hand under baby's bottom. Keep your baby safe: never hold hot drinks or cook while you're holding baby. Always hold baby securely when going up or down steps.

Some examples of sensory play includes exploring colour with rainbow rice, exploring texture with fluffy soap foam, or exploring smell with apple scented playdough. Many activities even explore more than one of the 5 sense; taste, hear, smell, touch and see!

When you smile, your baby might smile back. Babies are discovering their ability to make sounds: Soon you'll have a cooing and gurgling machine! Your baby will "talk" to you with a variety of sounds. Some babies begin to make some vowel sounds (like "ah-ah" or "ooh-ooh") during this time.

Singing, dancing, and enjoying music is a brilliant way of engaging with your baby and helps their brain development. Playing music or singing nursery rhymes while they chill in their bouncer can keep them calm and occupied (even while you get on with the other things you have to do).

Moving - Physical or Motor Development

Holds head up and begins to push up with arms when lying on stomach. Makes smoother movements with arms and legs. Moves both arms and both legs equally well. Brings hands to mouth.

How much TV can a 2 month old watch? ›

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children under the age of 2 not watch any television.

Studies say that background TV still affects babies, even though they're not actively watching: It distracts babies from interacting with their parents. They tend to play less. Their attention becomes less focused.

Babies should not watch Cocomelon or any other programs that involve screen time. The World Health Organization recommends children abstain from sedentary screen time until 2 years of age. After this, the guide is up to 1 hour per day, but no screen time is better than some.

From 2 to 4 months: focusing and tracking moving objects

But if one of your baby's eyes constantly turns in toward their nose or outward away from the nose, talk with your pediatrician. At about 2 months old, babies usually are able to follow a moving object with their eyes as their visual coordination improves.

As a newborn your baby will look into your eyes, especially during skin-to-skin contact and feedings. By 1 month old your baby will see your entire face. By 2 to 3 months old their ability to focus will improve. At 3 months old they will enjoy looking at black-and-white patterns.

Shades of black and white send the strongest signals to a baby's brain, explains the Dr Sears Wellness Institute. These strong signals can help stimulate brain growth and aid in visual development. When it comes to creating a visually stimulating black and white nursery, the possibilities are endless.

When will my baby be able to grasp objects? Your baby can grasp an object from the moment she is born . At birth, grabbing is a basic reflex. But by the time your little one is three months or four months old, she'll be actively trying to grasp things with both hands .

Parents usually start kangaroo care once or twice a day for at least one hour each time or as long as it is tolerated by your baby. The longer you hold your baby, the better. Any amount of time is good, but it is best to try for at least 1 to 2 hours each day.

Q: How much awake time for a 2 month old? A: Two month olds usually need 45 minutes - 1.75 hours of awake time between sleep periods. Periods of wakefulness tend to be shorter in the morning and lengthen throughout the day, with the last wake window usually being the longest stretch of awake time during the day.

Sensory stimulation is the activation of one or more of the senses including taste, smell, vision, hearing, and touch. It can range from something as simple as a hand massage with scented lotion or listening to a playlist of favorite music to more complicated activities designed to provide a sensory experience.

What are some sensory behaviors? ›

Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills.

In the journey to when babies will start talking, their verbal skills will progress through stages as their vocal mechanism matures and as they learn to relate to their environment, Artemenko says. First, vowel-like sounds at birth move to "coos" and "goos" at 2 to 3 months. Babbling starts around 4 months of age.

Most newborns startle or "jump" to sudden loud noises. By 3 months, a baby recognizes and calms to a parent's voice. By 6 months, babies turn their eyes or head toward a new sound and repeat sounds.

In the first month, aim for 10 minutes of tummy time, 20 minutes in the second month and so on until your baby is six months old and can roll over both ways (though you should still place your baby on her stomach to play after that).

Play ideas for encouraging newborn cognitive development

Talk to your baby often, hold your baby, and make eye contact. Read with your baby, recite nursery rhymes, or sing songs. Repeating the same song, rhyme or story is great for babies, because repetition is one of the ways they learn. Make faces with your baby.

By 2-4 months, a few babies can:

Figure out simple toys (like shaking a rattle to make sound). Zero in on the source of a particular sound (a doorbell, running water, etc.). Show signs of developing a memory (this object is familiar, that toys make a certain sound, etc.).

At 4 months, a baby typically can hold his/her head steady without support, and at 6 months, he/she begins to sit with a little help. At 9 months he/she sits well without support, and gets in and out of a sitting position but may require help. At 12 months, he/she gets into the sitting position without help.

Many babies learn to crawl sometime between 7 months and 10 months. But as every baby is unique, your little one might be on the move earlier or later than others. Some babies skip the crawling stage altogether. Keep in mind that all babies grow and develop at their own pace.

What age is Cocomelon for? ›

“In its core audience of 2-5 the average viewer watched each episode nearly three times in the fourth quarter alone,” according to Nielsen, information that will shock no parent of a 3-year-old. Parents are losing their minds.

Listening to classical music is a good baby calming technique. Lullabies and other tunes have been played to children for many years to lull them to sleep or to simply slow things down a little. Listening to music is a good baby calming technique, whether you are rocking your baby in your arms or swaying to the rhythm.

A dark, quiet environment can help encourage your baby to sleep. Put your baby to bed drowsy, but awake. Before your baby gets overtired or cranky, you might try singing soft lullabies or swaddling or massaging him or her. Eventually, your baby will learn that these activities mean it's time to rest.

Spending too long doing nearsighted activities, such as looking at a TV, computer or other digital screens, may increase a child's risk of developing myopia. Myopia is a common eye condition that can develop in early childhood.

Nicole Beurkens, a psychologist in Grand Rapids, finds “Cocomelon” stimulating, but not overwhelming. Its bright colors help babies (whose eyesight is not fully developed) to see what's going on, and the repetition of the music is educationally valuable for children.

Babies shouldn't watch TV or use screen-based media, the AAP says. It's okay to introduce small amounts of high-quality, supervised screen time to toddlers after 18 months, but if you can wait until your child turns 2, that's even better.

What is better than Cocomelon? Winner of multiple accolades, including a Peabody Award and four Emmys, Classical Baby is a far more relaxed alternative to CoComelon, and helps introduce young children to classic musical arrangements by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and other classical composers.

Moving - Physical or Motor Development

Holds head up and begins to push up with arms when lying on stomach. Makes smoother movements with arms and legs. Moves both arms and both legs equally well. Brings hands to mouth.

Early signs of autism or other developmental delays include the following: 2 months: Doesn't respond to loud sounds, watch things as they move, smile at people, or bring hands to mouth. Can't hold head up when pushing up while on tummy.

When your baby develops motor skills like chewing on her hands, motor receptors in her mouth send signals to the brain to initiate saliva production, a sign that she may be ready to eat. Basically, your baby develops the muscles and digestive saliva just as soon as she needs it to eat solid foods. Amazing!

What should tummy time look like at 2 months? ›

At about two months, your infant may begin cooing and repeating some vowel sounds (ah-ah-ah, ooh-ooh-ooh).

Some children with autism smile to show they're happy but don't share their enjoyment. Others show little facial expression or have flat affect and rarely smile so you may not know when they're happy.

Young children may express more voiced than unvoiced laughter, as they haven't yet learned to purposely laugh. The test group of autistic children laughed just about as often as the non-autistic kids, but the autistic children's laughter was 98 percent voiced, while non-autistic children produced both types.

Specifically, he makes no effort to keep the game going or to play both parts of the game (i.e. both hiding and finding). Such limited ability to play a social imitative game, like peek a boo, is a risk alert for autism.

It's a habit

The tongue-thrust reflex that babies are born with includes sticking the tongue out. This helps facilitate breast or bottle feeding. While this reflex typically disappears between 4 to 6 months of age, some babies continue to stick their tongues out from habit.

Once a baby has discovered their hands, they often become the new favorite playthings, and putting them in their mouth is a form of self-exploration. When your young baby explores their hands, they are discovering that their hands belong to them and are under their control. It's a great sign of development.

Simply put, babies put their hands in their mouths because they can, and because it feels soothing. As long as the baby's hands are clean(ish) and that you and your doctor discuss a timeline for weaning from thumb sucking, chewing on their hands is nothing to be worried about.

If your baby cries or gets upset during tummy time, try not to automatically pick him up. Instead, comfort him in other ways first, like rubbing his back or singing soothing songs. Aim for about 30 minutes a day total, but you can break these up over the course of the day if your baby's really resistant.

Does a 2 month old baby recognize his mother? ›

Months 2 to 4: Your baby will start to recognize her primary caregivers' faces, and by the 4-month mark, she'll recognize familiar faces and objects from a distance.

Your 2-month-old baby's growth

The average weight of a 2-month-old baby girl is 11.3 pounds; the average baby boy at 2 months weighs in at 12.3 pounds. Height averages are 22.5 inches for girls and 23 inches for boys.