When your baby is 9–12 months old they will have a health and development visit with the Well Child Tamariki Ora nurse. Find out about things to think about before the visit.
Remember to take your baby’s My Health Book with you to the visit.
What happens at the visit?
At the 9–12 months visit, the nurse will:
- ask about breastfeeding and the foods that your baby may be eating
- measure your baby’s length, weight and head size, and check how they move
- check that your baby can see and hear well
- check your baby’s teeth and gums
- check your baby’s development
- ask if your baby has been immunised
- talk to you about how you are, how you are getting on and being a parent – including breastfeeding and moving on to solid food, being safe, smoking in the house, family violence, etc.
Your baby’s development
The nurse will ask questions about your baby’s learning, development and behaviour. This may include questions about how your baby:
- talks and makes speech sounds
- understands what you say
- uses their hands and fingers to do things
- uses their arms and legs
- behaves
- gets along with others
- is learning to do things for themselves.
The nurse will also ask if you or your whānau have any concerns about your baby. If there are problems, finding them early and supporting you to deal with them can make a big difference to you and your baby.
Before the visit
Before your baby’s check, read through the 9–12 months check pages in the My Health Book. Think about how well your baby can see and hear.
Can your baby see well?
Do they:
- pick up small things like bits of fluff from the floor?
- follow the movement of a dangling ball in all directions?
- look for dropped toys?
- watch what people are doing near them?
- tilt their head sideways to look at things?
- have a lazy eye, ‘cross’ eye or squint (when both eyes don’t look straight at you most of the time)?
Can your baby hear well?
Do they:
- respond to their own name?
- look around to find new sounds – even quiet ones?
- understand ‘no’ and ‘bye-bye’?
- listen when people talk?
- like copying sounds?
- use babbling that sounds like real speech?
- try to talk back when you talk?
Talk to your nurse or your doctor if you think your baby is not seeing or hearing well.
Things to talk about at the visit
The visit is a good time to talk with the nurse about your baby and being a parent. You could talk about:
- feeding your baby
- your baby’s behaviour
- ways to play, have fun and be active with your baby
- teething and tooth-brushing
- enrolling your baby with the Community Oral Health Service
- immunisation
- knowing when your baby is sick and what to do about it
- being smokefree
- keeping your baby safe – at home and while out and about
- car seats and car safety
- choices for daycare, preschool and kōhanga reo.
Related websites
Early learning - Ministry of Education
Information about finding, choosing and starting out at a daycare, preschool or kōhanga reo.
