My 2-month-old falls asleep nursing—should I wake them?

Falling asleep while nursing is very common for a 2-month-old and is usually normal. At this age, babies have strong sucking reflexes but tire easily. What matters is whether your baby is gaining weight appropriately.

If your baby's weight gain is steady, you get 6-8 wet diapers a day, and they seem alert and responsive when awake, it's okay if they fall asleep while nursing. You don't need to force them to stay awake and keep nursing.

But you can try gently continuing nursing if any of these apply:

• Your baby is falling asleep after only 10-15 minutes
• You're getting fewer than 6 wet diapers a day
• Weight gain is slow (checked by pediatrician)
• Your baby seems sleepy and hard to rouse overall

Ways to gently rouse: diaper change, gentle back rubs, undressing them slightly (without making the room too cold) can help. Switching to the other breast sometimes wakes them too.

General rule: watch your baby's signals. Rather than forcing them awake, shortening the time between feeds can be more comforting. If weight and diaper output are on track, falling asleep is fine to allow.