Newborns and infants (0-12 months)

Frequent feeding is normal when your baby is first born. Your baby may feed as often as every 1 to 2 hours. After the newborn period, your baby should be feeding at least 8 times in 24 hours including during the nighttime.

Breastfeeding is a learned skill for both mum and baby, and it's very common to need a bit of extra support before you both become experts.

See hunger cues in pictures. Frequent feeding is normal when your baby is first born. Baby may feed as often as every 1 to 2 hours. After the newborn period, your baby should be feeding at least 8 times in 24 hours including during the nighttime. 

If you are worried about how your baby is feeding, ask to have a breastfeeding assessment.

Tongue tie is a condition that involves a small piece of tissue connecting the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. This is called the frenulum. When a baby's frenulum is short or tight it can stop their tongue from moving properly. This is called a tongue tie. Tongue tie may cause a problem with breastfeeding for some pēpi (babies).

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.

Pēpi (babies) need good levels of iron in their body to support healthy growth and to prevent low levels of red blood cells. Premature pēpi or those born small will need iron supplements.

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.

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.