Should you need urgent health advice please contact your GP or call NHS 111. In an emergency please visit A&E or call 999

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Your child’s six to eight week development check

You will be contacted by your Public Health Nurse (Health Visitor) to arrange a contact when your baby is 6-8 weeks old.

During this contact you will be able to discuss lots of different things, including:

  • Feeding
  • Development
  • Crying baby
  • Safe sleep and safety
  • Vaccinations
  • Oral health
  • Emotional health and wellbeing, and bonding with your baby

Part of this contact involves your baby being weighed and measured. The Health Visitor will also handle your baby to assess muscle tone.

If your baby has any birth marks that have developed since birth, these will be documented on the body map in the red book.

You will receive a Book Start pack containing some books that you can share with your baby.

You will also be asked about your emotional wellbeing during this contact. Your Health Visitor can offer support if you are experiencing low mood after having your baby, so be sure to say if you are feeling low, hopeless or not enjoying things that you used to.

You can find more advice and information in our ‘Your baby at six to eight weeks’ collection.

If you would like to speak to the health visiting team about this contact, you can call the Healthy Together Helpline on 0300 300 3001, or you can get in touch via our confidential text messaging service, ChatHealth; details of which you can see below:

 

ChatHealth Logo

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust runs a confidential secure text messaging service for parents of children aged 0-19 years called Chat Health. The service operates Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, excluding bank holidays. All texts will be responded to by a public health nurse (health visitor/school nurse) within 24 hours. Outside of the service working hours, you’ll receive a message back to inform you that your text will be responded to once the line reopens.

Should you require urgent health advice in the meantime, please contact your GP, visit an NHS walk-in centre or call NHS 111. For emergencies, dial 999 or visit A&E.

Page last reviewed: 28-09-2020

Next review due: 28-09-2023