Sleep Training Tips for Your 2-Month-Old

New parents quickly learn that newborn sleep is anything but simple. Just when a baby drifts off during feeding, they often stir the moment they’re gently placed in the crib—turning what seemed like a peaceful moment into another round of rocking and soothing. Staying asleep, it turns out, is a whole different challenge.

These early sleep struggles can leave parents feeling unsure and exhausted. But understanding your baby’s sleep patterns can lead to a calmer household and healthier habits. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or simply need ideas to support better rest, a few gentle, thoughtful approaches can make nighttime routines more manageable.

Growing Difficulties with Bedtime

In one family’s experience, as the infant’s bedtime moved later and later, nightly sleep became more unpredictable. What was once a window between 10 p.m. and midnight soon stretched into the early morning hours. Parents struggled to adjust, feeling even more worn out as their child resisted any set routine.

Evenings felt long and stressful, filled with constant feeding, fussiness, and attempts to comfort a baby who showed no signs of settling. Parents reported sore muscles from rocking and bouncing, along with frustration as every effort seemed to end with the child waking up moments after being laid down. It was both physically and emotionally draining.

Parents tried strategies such as holding the baby in a front pack and gentle rocking, but she became alert again upon touching the mattress. No technique lasted, and sleep felt nearly impossible to achieve. The infant wasn’t always upset or crying—sometimes she was simply wide-eyed, seeking attention well into the night.

Concerns also grew about the risks associated with persistent sleep struggle. Exhausted parents might be tempted to use soft bedding or create unsafe sleep environments in hopes of a brief rest.

However, experts caution that soft bedding can raise the chance of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), especially when routines are not followed out of desperation. Parents should keep the sleeping area firm and clear of loose blankets, stuffed animals, or pillows.

Many parents feel isolated and unsupported during these challenging periods. Advice from professionals varies, and sometimes families are left with the sense that this exhausting phase may never end. The question of how to make nights safer and more restful weighs heavily, especially as sleep deprivation builds.

Trying Common Methods

Parents put traditional approaches such as replacing feeding with rocking for sleep into use, even though these often led to a lot of crying. To establish better sleep habits, they introduced a detailed bedtime routine. This included a final feeding, storytime, a bath, and gentle rocking until the baby fell asleep.

Over several weeks, these efforts shifted bedtime to 9:30 pm, making it more predictable. The consistent routine seemed to help until new sleep challenges appeared at two months old.

Sleep Setbacks and Growing Frustration

Sudden changes in the baby’s sleep left the parents feeling lost and anxious. Even after earlier progress, the infant began waking after short stretches and cried without relief. Tried-and-true methods like feeding or rocking no longer worked. These restless nights sometimes lasted for hours, leaving the parents exhausted and unsure of what to do. Naps also became harder, as the baby often woke soon after being laid down—despite familiar soothing routines.

During this difficult stretch, the parents worked to maintain a safe sleep environment. They continued placing the baby on her back in a crib or bassinet, kept loose bedding and toys away, and avoided bed-sharing. Room sharing helped them respond quickly while still following safety guidelines. Experts had advised patience, since certain methods—like “cry it out”—were not considered suitable for babies under four months old.

The parents, feeling desperate for rest, tried different approaches night after night. Still, they held onto a consistent bedtime routine and stayed focused on safety in the sleep area. These steps gave them a sense of control, even when results were slow or unclear.

Unhelpful Tips and Parental Frustration

Many parents try common sleep training tips, but often these ideas fall short. One popular suggestion is to establish a bedtime routine, but sometimes this stops being effective.

For some babies, pacifiers offer no comfort, and even background sounds like white noise may only slightly reduce crying. Actions such as rocking the baby, driving in the car, or soothing in the crib can end up making the situation worse, with some babies crying so intensely they may start choking or become more distressed.

Most available recommendations focus on ”letting the baby fall asleep on their own” or putting them to bed “drowsy but awake.” Although these ideas seem clear, they can be difficult to apply, especially for babies younger than four months. Some babies immediately wake up and start crying once placed in their bed, making these methods ineffective.

Parents also face a dilemma with sleep training approaches like CIO (cry it out), which are generally not suggested for very young infants but seem to be the only definitive guidance given for later.

The difficulty with these commonly given strategies is that they are often too broad or lack practical steps. Parents are left unsure how to help their baby fall asleep on their own, particularly when their infant’s reaction does not match the expected outcome in the advice. This gap between generic ideas and what actually works can leave families feeling lost and frustrated during a challenging period.

Trying a New Sleep Approach

Families searching for effective sleep training can benefit from a blended technique, which mixes popular methods for infant sleep. The idea is to use a calm, hands-on routine that helps babies learn to settle in their own crib with minimal stress. Parents start by rocking their baby until the baby is calm, not necessarily asleep, and then gently place the baby in the crib.

If the baby cries, parents continue soothing with gentle touches such as patting, rubbing, or using soft sounds like shushing or white noise. They do this in the crib for about 20 to 30 seconds. If the baby doesn’t settle down, parents pick up and rock the baby again until calm. Parents repeat the process until the baby finally drifts off to sleep without extra help.

This approach removes the need to leave the child alone to cry. Babies learn to sleep in their own space while feeling supported, and parents can see progress night by night. The method is especially useful for those who found that single methods did not work for their family.

Gradual Improvement Over Time

During the first nights of sleep training, small changes in routine led to noticeable results. Putting the baby into bed while still awake caused some initial fussing, but quick comforting eased these moments before they escalated. The goal was to keep the baby calm without allowing cries to build up, which helped prevent major distress and encouraged a sense of security.

Over several nights, these efforts built consistent sleep habits. Although falling asleep took time and sometimes required creative soothing strategies like gently placing a head on the baby’s chest, these tactics promoted self-soothing skills.

Sticking to the same bedtime approach each night helped the baby adjust. By combining gentle reassurance in bed with prompt but brief comforting, sleep patterns began to shift. The baby managed to fall asleep earlier than before and spent more time settling on her own.

The Turning Point in Sleep Training

After only a few days of gentle, consistent efforts, the child settled to sleep on her own in less than ten minutes without being picked up. Simply being nearby and providing brief physical comfort, like resting a cheek on her chest, soothed her. This new ability to self-soothe at bedtime meant that, with time, going to sleep became a smoother and calmer process.

The following nights followed a similar positive pattern. Laying the baby down, saying goodnight, and leaving the room became part of the normal routine. While naps remained a bit more challenging for a while, nighttime settling became far less stressful.

Most evenings, it never took longer than ten minutes to help her fall asleep. By three months, she regularly drifted off by herself for bedtime and her first nap of the day, with no need for extensive rocking, patting, or other sleep crutches.

Now, at seven months, she stands out among peers for how easily she settles at sleep times. She no longer relies on outside items or elaborate routines to fall asleep. Some crying still happens when she’s overtired, but extra soothing usually proves unhelpful. At this stage, a quick, simple routine and allowing space for self-settling support healthy, independent sleep habits.

Tools to Support Infant Sleep

Having the right gear can make a big difference when implementing sleep training routines with a very young baby. Switching from a bassinet to a crib often helps babies adjust to their own sleep space. Selecting a high-quality crib and comfortable bedding lays the foundation for safe sleep.

Sleep sacks offer a safe alternative to loose blankets, keeping babies comfortable without the risks of suffocation. White noise machines help babies associate certain sounds with sleep, making the routine more predictable and reliable.

Many parents also use the baby shusher to soothe their little ones, especially during those early months when babies need extra reassurance. Each tool contributes to building an environment that encourages healthy sleep habits from an early age.