Newborns and infants (0-12 months)

Some premature pēpi (babies) need eye checks to screen for a condition called retinopathy of prematurity. Find out what happens when your premature baby has an eye check to look at the back of the eye.

Keep your child safe in the car. Make sure your baby is in a rear-facing car seat until they are at least 2 years old. Keep your child in a booster seat until they are 148cm tall - for most tamariki (children), that's somewhere between 10 and 12 years of age.

Vitamin D helps your baby use calcium to build and maintain strong bones.

Research shows that giving your baby the common allergy causing foods before they turn one can help reduce the risk of them developing an allergy to that food.

Iron is important for brain development and making new red blood cells to prevent a low red blood cell count.

If a premature baby has apnoea of prematurity, it means they stop breathing at times for 15 to 20 seconds. 

Some helpful tips on looking after your baby with home oxygen, including how to monitor their progress and when the home oxygen can stop.

Some pēpi (babies) will need home oxygen to help with their breathing.

Some pēpi (babies) can have watery sticky eyes. Most of these pēpi have conjunctivitis. But some pēpi can have sticky eyes which don't get better. This can happen if the tear ducts become blocked.

If your baby has normal (physiological) jaundice, they don't need any special treatment. If the bilirubin level is high, phototherapy (bright light therapy) is the most commonly used treatment.

ABO incompatibility is one of the diseases which can cause jaundice. It happens when a mother's blood type is O, and her baby's blood type is A or B.

Rhesus disease is one of the diseases which can cause jaundice. It can only happen if a mother's blood type is Rhesus negative and her baby's blood type is Rhesus positive.

Pēpi (babies) will start getting their first teeth at around 6 months. Find out how you can look after them.

Tamariki (children) at 3 to 5 years of age are busy, are interested in new things and enjoy being active. Learn more about keeping your child safe and healthy.

Watch a video to see 3 different whānau share their stories about the rewards and challenges of being parents. We hear how the Well Child Tamariki Ora nurses give them support and advice about caring for your child from 1 to 5 years of age.

Learn more about how you can help your baby to learn and develop from 6 to 12 months of age.