What’s Happening This Week
By the end of week 2 your baby should have regained their birth weight. That’s the milestone to track above all others this week. If your pediatrician is seeing the baby at the 2-week visit, weight is the first thing they’ll check.
Your baby is spending slightly more time awake than in week 1 — still only 45–60 minutes between sleep periods, but enough to look around, lock eyes with your face, and listen to your voice. They’re not smiling yet (that comes around week 5–6), but they can maintain eye contact for a few seconds.
The Moro startle reflex is still very active. Your baby may startle themselves awake repeatedly. Swaddling helps — it dampens the arm-flinging.
Feeding This Week
Breast milk supply is in full swing. Your body is calibrating based on how much your baby feeds — this is why feeding on demand matters so much in weeks 1–2. Skipping feeds or topping up with formula without a medical reason can reduce supply.
Reading feeding cues accurately:
- Early cues: rooting, sucking on hands, opening mouth, turning head
- Active cues: increased movement, bringing hands to mouth
- Late cue: crying. At this point your baby is already stressed — harder to latch
Aim to catch early cues. A calm baby latches better.
Cluster feeding is common in the evenings. Your baby may want to feed every 45–60 minutes for 2–3 hours. This is normal — not a sign of low supply. It’s often a growth-preparing behavior and helps boost evening milk.
By day 10–14, diapers should consistently show 6+ wet per day and 3–4 yellow seedy stools (some babies go less frequently — both patterns are normal if output is otherwise normal).
Sleep This Week
Still 16–17 hours total, still no day/night differentiation. Start gentle day/night differentiation cues: bright light and normal household noise during the day, dim light and quiet at night for feeds. You won’t see results yet but you’re laying the foundation.
Wake windows: 45–60 minutes maximum. Overtired newborns are harder to settle than well-rested ones.
Is This Normal?
Cord falls off. The umbilical cord stump dries, shrivels, and falls off somewhere between day 7 and day 21. No special care needed — keep it dry, fold the diaper below it. Do not pull it off even if it looks like it’s hanging by a thread. After it falls off, a small raw spot may ooze slightly for a day or two — this is normal. If the surrounding skin is red or there’s any pus, call your doctor.
Frequent night waking. Your baby waking every 2–3 hours at night is physiologically normal. Their stomach holds only 20–30 ml in week 2. They cannot sleep longer. Anyone suggesting a newborn should “sleep through” at 2 weeks is wrong.
Mother’s Body This Week
Postpartum blues often peak around days 3–5 and can linger into week 2. Emotional lability — crying without reason, feeling inadequate, overwhelmed, or detached — affects most new mothers. This is driven by the sharp drop in estrogen and progesterone after birth. It typically resolves by 2 weeks.
If by week 2 the low mood is worsening rather than improving, or you feel disconnected from your baby, hopeless, or unable to function — this may be postpartum depression, not blues. Tell your doctor. It’s common, it’s treatable, and it’s not a failure.
When to Call the Doctor
- Birth weight not regained by day 14
- Fewer than 6 wet diapers per day
- Cord stump base is red, swollen, or has pus or bad smell
- Persistent fever (37.5°C or above) or feeling cold (below 35°C)
- Jaundice that has not started improving by day 10, or visible on palms and soles at any point
- Baby is difficult to wake for feeds or seems unusually limp
- You are experiencing worsening mood, unable to care for yourself or baby — call your OB or physician
Real Questions from Indian Mothers
These are real questions asked by parents in the Babynama community, answered by our pediatricians.
“Hi Mam, I feel in day time, my milk supply is less and at night it is good. Could there be any reason for that?”
Usually the prolactin levels are good at night. So the supply is also better. We need to keep the prolactin levels higher during the day by direct feeding and/or pumping to maintain good supply