School-age (6-9 years)

Glandular fever is a condition that spreads from person to person through saliva. It’s most common in older tamariki (children) and teenagers.

Many tamariki (children) come across porn and online sexual images now, whether it’s by accident, a friend has shown them, or because they’re curious. Sexual content is now featured across many mainstream social media platforms and often easier to find than avoid. Over a quarter of tamariki have seen porn by age 12. Having simple and age-appropriate conversations around porn and online sexual content with tamariki is a great way to help protect and prepare them to navigate their online world.

There are many reasons why tamariki (children) may be having trouble with their sleep. The Murdoch Children's Research Institute has podcasts and sleep strategies that can help you to manage some of the sleep issues tamariki may have.

Your child will start to lose their primary or baby teeth around the age of 6 and will have all their adult teeth (except for wisdom teeth) by the age of 14. Find out what to expect and how to care for their teeth.   

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.

Communication skills are strongly linked to the development of reading and writing. The better a child's conversational skills now, the easier it will be for them to understand what they read later on.

Hearing is a critical part of a child's communication development so it's important to identify any loss as early as possible.

Rewards can really motivate a child to improve their behaviour. They work best if given soon after the behaviour, not after a few days.

Tamariki (children) with restless legs have an uncomfortable feeling in their legs when trying to fall asleep. If your child has restless legs, find out how you can manage this.

If your child is anxious about going to sleep or you think it may be hard to keep them in their bedroom, then using the 'checking method' may be helpful.

If your child is anxious about going to sleep, then 'camping out' may be helpful. You put a chair or camp bed next to your child's bed and gradually remove the chair as your child begins to fall asleep alone.

For tamariki (children) who have a difficult time staying in their bedroom or cry out, making a bedtime pass for your child may be valuable.

Putting tamariki (children) to bed when they are not tired increases the chances of bedtime struggles. Therefore, for some tamariki it is best to start by setting the bedtime at the time they usually fall asleep and gradually making the bedtime earlier.

Sleep is important for children's learning and behaviour. Sleep also helps children's brains grow.

Screening for some vision problems for your child should happen around 11 or 12 years of age. Your child will not have their hearing checked at school so if you are concerned about your child's hearing, it's important that you visit a health professional.

Show your child that you are interested in what they say, not how they say it. Help your child learn how to say tricky sounds by repeating them correctly as naturally as possible.