0-1 year

In this section you will find useful information to support you as a parent or carer of a child aged 0-1 years old.

Caring for your newborn baby

Helpful information and advice can be found from the NHS and Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative websites including breastfeeding and bottle feeding advice, postnatal care, being a new parent and support available, newborn essentials, sleep and night time resources and newborn screening tests.

For those looking for a trusted, evidence-based pregnancy app, the Baby Buddy App is free to download. It has tools to help parents in their transition to parenthood and can help develop knowledge and confidence.

Babies Cry You Can Cope. During this challenging time, stress levels at home may be increased. ICON provide guidance for coping when your baby is crying, visit the website for more information.

Nutrition and staying healthy

Bottle feeding advice including how to help keep your baby safe and healthy, how to make up bottles, winding your baby and sterilising equipment.

Start 4 Life and Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative provides useful advice and videos including how to breastfeed, positioning and attachment, how to know your baby is getting enough milk, expressing breastmilk, challenges and the support available.

Change 4 Life provides information, advice and support to help your family be healthier and happier by providing healthy recipe ideas, food facts and exercise activities.

Introducing your baby to solid foods also referred to as weaning is recommended from around 6 months of age, unless clinically indicated otherwise. Start 4 Life and First Steps Nutrition provide useful information on when and how to introduce solid foods to your baby’s diet, healthy recipes, portion sizes and safety advice.

The Infant and Toddler Forum provide information to ensure every child has the healthiest start in life.

Start 4 Life provides useful information on baby vitamins.

Prolonged jaundice

Jaundice is one of the most common conditions in newborn babies. However, if your baby appears to still be jaundiced at 2 weeks of age, further assessment is required to decide if further treatment is needed. Click here for more information and prolonged jaundiced screening information for parents.

Yellow Alert app provides additional information about prolonged jaundice

Dental care

It is encouraged that you should brush your baby’s teeth as soon as their first milk tooth is visible. For general dental care advice and how to care for your baby’s teeth click here.

NHS dental care is free for children. To find an NHS dentist in your local area click here.

Channel Mum provides useful information on teething and dental care.

Safe sleep

The Lullaby Trustand the NHS provide safer sleep advice for you and your baby to help reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, including ideal room temperature, sleeping positions, sharing a room with your baby and sleeping environment (Available in various languages).

The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a cot or Moses basket clear of excess blankets, pillows or toys. However, some families choose to bed share, to increase safety when co-sleeping advice can be found at The Lullaby Trust.

Immunisations

Your child will be offered a number of vaccinations at 8, 12 and 16 weeks as well as 1 year. Here are some vaccination tips for parents and the UK vaccination schedule.

Your child’s development

Born to move is an NHS app to help parents or carers with their newborn babies right up to pre-school. Born to move is about encouraging daily active play and interaction to help the learning and wiring of your baby’s brain at this critical early stage. It’s designed to give you friendly advice and tips to support your child to develop intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically and build the foundations for a healthy, happy and confident baby.

Playing and interacting with your baby will help develop their social, intellectual, language and problem-solving skills. Start 4 Life and Hungry Little Minds provide playtime ideas and activities for you and your baby, including advice on tummy time.

The Paediatric Physiotherapy service at Poole hospital aims to help with the restoration of movement and function when a child is affected by injury, illness or disability for both inpatients and outpatients.

Remember, you can speak to a member of the health visiting team by ringing your local hub in your area if you require further support

Healthy wrigglers drop in

Do you need some advice, support or information? Do you want to know more about your baby’s development? Would you like to meet other parents? Join these new online sessions exploring baby’s first year of development.

Topics include:

• introduction to solid foods
• play and communication
• sleep patterns and advice 
• safety accident prevention advice
• information on your child’s development and head heart and hands.

Join us and meet other new parents from the comfort of your own home.

Groups run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and afternoons. A chance to ask whatever’s on your mind. To join a session please call either: 01305 363 043 (Bournemouth and Christchurch) or 01202 646 425 (Poole).