Week 10

Days 64 to 70 · 9 weeks 0 days to 9 weeks 6 days old · about 2 months This week a typical baby measures about 58 cm (22.8 in) and weighs about 5.5 kg (12.1 lb). Babies vary widely, and what matters is that your baby keeps following their own curve on the growth chart. Your baby is more awake and more watchful now, and many discover their own hands this week, staring at them, sucking on them and bringing them together. For you, the first two months are behind you. Your body is still recovering, and you may notice new changes, such as hair coming out in the shower. This week looks at hands and simple play, how feeding is changing, postpartum hair loss, your baby's temperament, car seat safety in cold weather, and a check-in on how you are both doing.

Day 64 · 9 weeks 0 days old

Your baby has found their hands

For the first weeks, your baby's hands were mostly clenched into fists and moved by reflex. Around now, many babies notice them for the first time. You may catch your baby lying very still, gazing at a hand held up in front of their face as if it belonged to someone else.

This is an important discovery. Your baby is starting to learn that the hand moving in front of them is part of their own body, and that they can make it move. Over the coming weeks the fingers uncurl more often, the hands come together over the chest, and they find their way to the mouth again and again.

Sucking on fists and fingers is normal at this age. It is how babies explore and how many of them soothe themselves. It does not always mean your baby is hungry, though it can be one of several feeding cues, so look at the whole picture: rooting, fussing and the time since the last feed. Some babies find their hands at 7 weeks, others closer to 3 months. If your baby was born early, expect this and other skills nearer to their corrected age, counted from their due date.

Try this: During a quiet alert moment, gently open your baby's hand, stroke the palm and let them grip your finger, then watch what they do with their hands afterwards.

Day 65 · 9 weeks 1 day old

Feeds may be getting quicker

Around 2 months, many parents notice that feeds take less time. A breastfed baby who once needed 40 minutes may now finish in 10 or 15. This is usually a sign of skill, not a problem. Your baby has a stronger suck and your milk flows more readily, so they take in the same amount faster. Your baby may also be easier to distract. A noise, a sibling or a light can make them pull off to look around. If that happens often, a quieter, dimmer room for some feeds can help.

Bowel movements change too. Many breastfed babies who once had several dirty diapers a day now go less often, sometimes only every few days. If the stool is soft when it comes and your baby is feeding well, wetting about six diapers a day and gaining weight, this is normal. Formula-fed babies tend to have firmer stools and a steadier pattern.

Call your baby's doctor if your baby has fewer than about six wet diapers in a day, hard or pebble-like stools, blood in the stool, very pale or white stools, or seems unwell or is feeding poorly.

If you are formula feeding, keep following your baby's cues rather than a fixed amount, and let them stop when they turn away.

Try this: Today, notice how long a typical feed takes and how your baby signals that they are finished, without timing every minute.

Day 66 · 9 weeks 2 days old

Why your hair may be falling out

Many people are alarmed, some weeks after birth, to see clumps of hair in the shower drain or on their brush. This is postpartum hair loss, and it is very common. It usually starts between 2 and 4 months after birth.

During pregnancy, high hormone levels keep more hair than usual in the growing phase, so less falls out and many people notice thicker hair. After birth, hormone levels drop and all that extra hair moves into the resting phase at once, then sheds a few months later. You are not losing more hair than you would have; it is falling out all together instead of gradually. The shedding often peaks around 4 months and eases afterwards. Most people find their hair back to its usual fullness by their baby's first birthday, though short new hairs around the hairline can stick up for a while as they grow in.

Gentle care helps: a wide-toothed comb, loose hairstyles, less heat and fewer tight ponytails. Eating well matters too, as low iron can make shedding worse.

Call your care provider if you have bald patches, hair loss that is still heavy after a year, or shedding along with extreme tiredness, feeling cold, weight changes or a racing heart, which can point to a thyroid problem or anemia. Try this: If shedding bothers you, try a shorter or looser style that needs less pulling and brushing for the next few months.

Day 67 · 9 weeks 3 days old

Play at this age is simple

Play with a 2-month-old does not need toys, plans or special equipment. At this age, you are your baby's favourite thing to look at, listen to and touch. Play is any back-and-forth moment when your baby is alert and calm. Good play now is short and close. Hold your baby about 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in) from your face and talk, sing or pull faces. Slowly move a brightly coloured or black and white object from side to side and watch their eyes follow. Let them kick against your hands, or lie them on their back under a simple play gym. Give some tummy time on your chest. A few minutes at a time is plenty.

Watch for your baby's signals. Wide eyes, a relaxed body and cooing mean "more, please". Turning away, arching, yawning, hiccups or fussing often mean "I need a break". Pausing when they look away teaches them that their signals work, and that is part of learning too.

You do not need to fill every waking minute. Babies also need calm time to look around a room, listen to voices and watch leaves move outside a window.

Try this: Choose one daily routine, like a diaper change, and turn it into a two-minute game of talking, pausing and waiting for your baby to answer.

Day 68 · 9 weeks 4 days old

Every baby has their own temperament

By now you probably have a sense of your baby's personality. Some babies are easygoing and adapt to almost anything. Others react strongly to noise, new places or a change in routine. Some are wriggly and busy; others are content to watch. This inborn style of responding to the world is called temperament.

Researchers describe temperament in a few broad traits: how active a baby is, how regular their eating and sleeping patterns are, how they react to new things, how intense their feelings are, how sensitive they are to light, sound and touch, and how easily they settle. None of these is good or bad. A sensitive baby may become an observant, careful child; an intense baby may become a passionate one.

Temperament is not something you caused, and it is not something to fix. What helps is finding a good fit between your baby's style and how you care for them. A baby who is easily overwhelmed may do better with quieter outings and longer wind-downs. A baby who loves stimulation may need more chances to move and watch.

If your baby's temperament feels very different from yours, that is common too, and worth naming without blame.

Try this: Write down three words that describe your baby today, then look back at them in a few months to see what has stayed the same.

Day 69 · 9 weeks 5 days old

Puffy coats and car seats do not mix

Car seat safety does not stop once you are home from the hospital. As your baby grows, check the harness regularly. In a rear-facing seat, the straps should come from slots at or just below your baby's shoulders. The chest clip, if your seat has one, sits at armpit level. Once buckled, you should not be able to pinch a fold of strap at the shoulder between your finger and thumb.

In cold weather, never buckle your baby in wearing a snowsuit, a puffy coat or a thick bunting bag. In a crash, the padding compresses and the harness can end up far too loose to hold your baby. Instead, dress your baby in thin layers, buckle them in snugly, then put a blanket or their coat over the top of the harness. Warm the car first if you can.

Avoid products that did not come with your seat, such as head inserts, strap covers or seat liners, unless the seat maker approves them. Keep your baby rear-facing for as long as the seat allows.

A car seat is for travel. When you arrive, move a sleeping baby to a flat, firm surface if you can, and on long drives, stop for breaks so your baby is not in the seat for hours at a time.

Try this: Next time you buckle your baby in, do the pinch test at the shoulder and readjust the strap height if they have grown.

Day 70 · 9 weeks 6 days old

Two months in, how are you both doing?

Ten weeks ago your life changed completely. It is worth stopping to ask how you are, not just how the baby is. Many parents realize they have not had a real conversation with each other in weeks, other than about feeds and diapers.

Some couples feel closer than ever. Others feel tense, distant or quietly resentful about who does what, especially at night. Both are common in the early months, and neither means something is wrong with your relationship. Sleep loss makes everyone shorter-tempered and less generous.

A short, regular check-in can help. Pick a calm moment, not 3 a.m., and ask each other three things: what is going well, what is hardest right now, and what one change would help this week. Listen without fixing at first. If you are parenting alone, the same questions are worth asking of yourself, and perhaps sharing with a friend or relative who can help.

If either of you has felt low, anxious or not yourself for more than two weeks, that deserves attention. Look back at the entries on postpartum depression and anxiety in the first month, and on depression in partners around 2 months, and talk to your doctor or nurse.

For your partner: Tonight, ask the birth parent the three check-in questions, and act on the one change they name.