Baby sleep at 2–3 months: growth spurts, the sleep-stage flip and normal night wakings

Your baby is growing and developing!

At this age, your baby only responds to physical needs – hunger, tiredness, needing to feel close to you. That's it, full stop.

The flip in sleep stages

Around 3 months, there's a flip in sleep stages – your baby starts entering sleep through lighter sleep instead of deep sleep. If it's suddenly harder to put him down after 20 minutes, this could well be why.

The growth spurt

There's also a growth spurt around two and a half months – suddenly hungrier, more irritable, more night wakings. It's temporary, and it will pass.

If your baby struggles with gas or reflux, it may well flare up at this stage, and that can affect sleep too.

Night wakings are normal

Night wakings at this age are completely normal. A two-to-three-month-old's brain simply isn't mature enough yet for long, unbroken sleep, and that doesn't mean something's wrong with you, with him, or with what you're doing. Quite the opposite! This is exactly how it's meant to be!

Your presence while he's falling asleep is not a “bad habit.” A baby who falls asleep feeling safe and secure is building the exact foundation he'll need to develop further down the line.