Sunnah Habits for Babies and Toddlers (0 to 2)

The first two years can feel like survival. Feeds, nappies, broken nights, and a small person who needs you every few minutes. When people talk about “raising children on the sunnah”, it can sound like something for later, once they can talk and sit still.

But your baby is already learning what your home feels like, which words come before food, what your voice sounds like at bedtime, and whether the people around them are gentle. This guide gathers a handful of small, realistic sunnah habits for the 0–2 years. Each one fits into what you are already doing. None of them needs a quiet hour you don’t have.

For the bigger picture across all the ages, see the age-by-age Islamic parenting guide.

Babies learn through love

Before any word or ritual, the foundation is warmth. A baby whose cries are answered, who is held and smiled at, learns that the world is safe. That is not a soft extra. It is how the Prophet ﷺ treated children.

Evidence · Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ kissed his grandson al-Hasan ibn ʿAli while al-Aqraʿ ibn Habis was sitting with him. Al-Aqraʿ said, “I have ten children and I have never kissed any of them.” The Prophet ﷺ looked at him and said: “Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.” Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (RA).

Child-development researchers say something similar in their own language. The Harvard Center on the Developing Child describes “serve and return”: a baby babbles, points or cries, an adult responds, and back and forth it goes. Those everyday exchanges help build the architecture of the developing brain.

Bismillah at feeds and meals

The sunnah of saying “Bismillah” before eating is well established.

Evidence · Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ said to ʿUmar ibn Abi Salamah (RA), who was a boy in his care: “Young man, mention the name of Allah, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is in front of you.”

To be honest about the evidence: this instruction is for the person eating. A newborn can’t say it, so saying it out loud on their behalf is an extension of the sunnah, not a separate sunnah in its own right. It is a lovely one, though. By the time your child is two, they may have heard “Bismillah” before thousands of feeds, and it often becomes one of their first words.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ

• When: before breastfeeds, bottles, first spoonfuls and snacks.
• How: slowly and clearly, with a smile, as the feed begins.
• If you forget: say it when you remember. The Sunnah gives an adult who forgets a phrase for this: Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirah (in the name of Allah, at its beginning and its end).
• After: a soft “Alhamdulillah” when the feed is done.

Protection duas over your child

The Prophet ﷺ himself said a protection dua over his grandsons.

Evidence · Hadith

أُعِيذُكُمَا بِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ التَّامَّةِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْطَانٍ وَهَامَّةٍ وَمِنْ كُلِّ عَيْنٍ لاَمَّةٍ

“I seek protection for you both in the perfect words of Allah, from every devil and every harmful creature, and from every evil eye.” The Prophet ﷺ said this over al-Hasan and al-Husayn, and said that Ibrahim used to say it over Ismaʿil and Ishaq. Narrated by Ibn ʿAbbas (RA).

U’idhukuma bi kalimatillahit-tammah, min kulli shaytanin wa hammah, wa min kulli ‘aynin lammah.

The wording in the hadith is for two children (u’idhukuma). Many parents adapt it for one child, but that adapted wording isn’t in the text, so if you want to stay with the exact words, say it as narrated, or ask a scholar you trust about adapting it.

The other habit many families keep is reciting the three Quls at bedtime.

Evidence · Hadith

Every night when the Prophet ﷺ went to bed, he cupped his hands, blew into them and recited Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas. Then he wiped his hands over as much of his body as he could, starting with his head, face and the front of his body. He did this three times. Narrated by ʿAishah (RA).

Again, the hadith describes what the Prophet ﷺ did for himself. Reciting the Quls and gently passing your hands over your baby is a common extension of it, and a calm way to end the day. As your child grows, bedtime duas and a calm sunnah routine shows how this becomes a routine they join in with.

Qur’an in the home

Evidence · Hadith

“The house in which Allah is remembered and the house in which Allah is not remembered are like the living and the dead.” Narrated by Abu Musa (RA).

You don’t need a long session. A few short surahs during a night feed, Al-Fatihah on the school run, Ayat al-Kursi as you settle them. Your own voice, even if your tajwid is still a work in progress, is the sound your baby knows best. Our guide to reciting Qur’an to your baby looks at which surahs, live voice versus recordings, and what the evidence does and doesn’t say.

Saying “Allah” and “alhamdulillah”

Toddlers learn words by hearing them in context, again and again. So weave Allah’s name into ordinary moments:

• Wonder: “Look at the moon! Allah made the moon.”
• Gratitude: “Mmm, bananas. Alhamdulillah.”
• Sneezes: “Alhamdulillah!” Toddlers find this hilarious and will soon sneeze on purpose.
• Bumps: “Ouch. Bismillah. Let me see.” A calm word in a small crisis.
• Greetings: “Assalamu alaykum, Nana!” when someone comes through the door.

Five simple first words, and how toddlers pick them up, are in first words: teaching toddlers about Allah.

Mercy and play

Play is not a break from tarbiyah (raising a child). At this age, it is tarbiyah.

Evidence · Hadith

Anas (RA) said the Prophet ﷺ mixed so closely with them that he would say to Anas’s little brother, who had a pet bird: “O Abu ʿUmayr, what happened to the little bird (nughayr)?”

The Prophet ﷺ knew the name of a small boy’s pet and asked after it. He carried his granddaughter Umamah in prayer, putting her down for sujood and picking her up again (Sahih al-Bukhari 516). Peekaboo, carrying, tickles, silly songs: these are part of the sunnah of mercy. See why play is sunnah for ideas by age.

A simple daily rhythm

You won’t do all of this every day, and you don’t need to. Here is one way to fit it around the prayer times you already know.

Context notes

• In a Muslim-minority country, nursery staff won’t say bismillah or recite over your child, and that is fine. The feeds and bedtimes at home are where these habits grow.
• In a Muslim-majority country, the adhan from the local masjid can become your natural cue for the next habit: adhan, then a feed with bismillah, or a moment on the mat beside you.
• In an extended family, grandparents often bring habits of their own. A South Asian nani may recite over the baby every night; a Turkish anneanne may say maşallah at every smile. Welcome the dhikr. Where a custom has no basis (a black thread “against the evil eye”, for example), the protection duas above are a gentle, sunnah alternative to offer.

Don’t aim for perfect

Some days the only sunnah you manage is holding your crying baby through the night. That counts. The Prophet ﷺ cut his prayer short when he heard a baby crying, out of concern for the mother (Sahih al-Bukhari 707). Mercy for your child and mercy for yourself go together.