Ready, Steady, Grow!

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Are you ready? Are you steady? Let's grow!

The time from birth to 5 years old sets us up for life. A child's interaction with their parents or carers in that time shapes their physical development, communication and personal, social, and emotional development.

These pages provide general advice on what you can do with your child to help them grow and develop. If you are feeling desperate, or if your child has additional needs or presents with different behaviours, please contact your health visiting services, your nursery, your family hub, or your GP.

Key messages

  • You don't have to do this alone. There is support available to help you and your child on your parenting journey.
  • Nothing is too trivial. If you're worried, be honest and open with your health visiting services, your nursery, your family hub (which is a place where children, young people and their families can go when in need of help and support), or your GP. We are here to help.
  • Different parents, carers, and children will require different support at different times.
  • Children copy your emotions and everything you do and say. This is how they learn. This is why your interaction with your child shapes their whole life.

Who we are 

We are a group of professionals working to improve the health and wellbeing of children and families in the crucial first few years of life. These webpages are created in partnership by midwives, Family Hubs, the Safeguarding Team, the Prevent Team, the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Team, the Parenting team, the Public health team, the Early Years team, Librarians and the Family Health and Lifestyles 0-19 service, which includes Health Visitors, Community Nursery Nurses, Family Nurse Partnership, MAMTA, School Nursing and the Be Active Be Healthy team including the Infant Feeding Team and Stop Smoking in Pregnancy Team.

Contact details

If you want help with navigating these webpages, please call 0800 8870545, the number for Here to Help: Your Family Hub

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