Baby Health Checks in Australia: The Schedule by State and What Happens at Each Visit

Baby health checks in Australia are free visits with a child health nurse or GP, typically at birth, 1 to 4 weeks, 6 to 8 weeks, 4 months, 6 months and 12 months, then 18 months and 2 years. Each state sets its own ages and record book. Every visit measures growth and asks about development, feeding and sleep.

This guide lists the visit ages each state or territory publishes, what a nurse does at a check, what to bring, and the questions that come up at the 4 month and 6 month visits. It is the companion to our baby milestones by age checklist, which covers what most babies are doing at each of these ages.

How many health checks does a baby have in the first year?

Most babies in Australia have around six scheduled health checks in the first year, then one at 18 months and one at 2 years. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) gives the national pattern as birth, 1 to 4 weeks, 6 to 8 weeks, 4 months, 6 months and 12 months, followed by 18 months, 2 years, 3 years and 4 years or before school.

The checks are free through the child health nurse service, and a GP can do them too. Some parents attend every visit, and some skip a few once they feel confident. Babies who were born early, who are growing slowly or who have a health condition are often seen more frequently, and the nurse will suggest a plan.

Each state and territory publishes its own list of visit ages, which is why the schedule in your baby's record book may differ from a friend's interstate. The next section lists what each state's own health service publishes.

Which visits does each state schedule in the first two years?

The table below lists only the visit ages each state's own health service publishes online. Where a service does not publish a schedule, the row says so, because the local clinic is the right place to confirm it.

Three things stand out in the table. The 4 month visit is on the schedule in Victoria, WA and the ACT, while NSW skips from 6 to 8 weeks straight to 6 months, and SA folds 6 months into a 6 to 9 month window. Every service in the table describes its checks as free. And every state issues a record book, whatever its colour, that travels with your baby to each visit.

Child and Adolescent Health Service WA · Child Health appointments

Every child in WA gets five free child health appointments with a child health nurse.

Interstate moves are common in the first two years. NSW Health(opens in a new window) issues a free Blue Book to children born elsewhere who now live in NSW, and other services will usually enrol a new arrival at the next age on their own list.

What happens at a baby health check?

A nurse or GP weighs and measures your baby, examines them head to toe, asks about feeding, sleep and development, and checks that immunisations are on track. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) describes the same shape at every age, with a few extras at certain visits such as hips and eyes.

Weight, length and head circumference

Three measurements are taken at most visits: weight, length and head circumference. They are plotted on the WHO growth charts for birth to 2 years(opens in a new window), the same charts printed in your record book. A single measurement matters less than the line it draws over successive visits, which is the whole subject of our guide to baby growth charts and percentiles.

Pregnancy, Birth and Baby · Routine health checks

What's important is the pattern of growth over time and how the baby is 'tracking' along the same or a different curve.

Development questions

Most record books ask you to answer a short set of development questions before each visit. In NSW they sit under the heading Learn the Signs, Act Early, and the Blue Book(opens in a new window) includes them at every check from 2 months. Victoria uses the PEDS-R questions in the green book(opens in a new window), and the ACT's Blue Book(opens in a new window) has a series of questions to complete before each check. The nurse then watches your baby move, communicate and relate to people, and may set up small activities to see a skill in action.

Hearing and vision

Hearing and vision are part of the check from the first visit. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) lists both as tested during the baby checks, and WA's appointment guide(opens in a new window) shows the nurse checking eyes and vision at 8 weeks and 4 months, and asking about vision and hearing at 12 months. In NSW the newborn hearing screen (SWISH) is a separate program, and its result is recorded in the Blue Book.

Immunisation timing

Several checks fall close to a vaccination age on the National Immunisation Program, and the nurse will ask whether your baby is up to date. The routine childhood vaccines are free under the program(opens in a new window), although a clinic may charge a consultation fee.

Source: Immunisation for infants and children(opens in a new window), Australian Government Department of Health. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children with certain medical conditions are offered extra vaccines.

Feeding, sleep and how you are going

Expect questions about how feeds are going, how your baby sleeps and settles, and how you are. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) notes the nurse or GP will also ask about you, and the WA guide opens every appointment with 'check how you are feeling'. These questions are easier to answer with a recent picture in mind rather than a memory of the last blurry fortnight.

What to bring to a baby health check

Bring the record book, a short list of questions, and a note of the last week or two of feeds, sleeps and nappies. Three items cover almost everything a nurse asks for.

• The record book. The NT Government(opens in a new window) asks families to take the yellow book to every health appointment, immunisation, GP and hospital visit, and the same applies to the Blue, Purple and green books. The nurse records the measurements and the assessment in it, and it is where you fill in the development questions beforehand.
• Your questions, written down. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) suggests using the record book to note questions or concerns and raising them at the appointment. Three or four written questions survive a crying baby better than a mental list.
• A note of feeds and sleeps. Feeding and sleep come up at every visit, and 'how often is she feeding?' is hard to answer from memory when two people share the nights. A tally of the last fortnight, whether on paper or from an app you already log in, turns a guess into a number. If you track wet nappies as well, bring that count too.

Arrive a few minutes early if the book's development questions are not yet filled in. The ACT service notes the nurse can help with any question you are unsure how to answer.

When is the 4 month check, and what gets asked?

The 4 month check is scheduled in Victoria, WA and the ACT at around 4 months, and it sits alongside the 4 month vaccinations everywhere. In NSW and SA there is no separate visit at this age, and parents with questions at 4 months can book an extra appointment or ask at the immunisation visit.

At the WA 4 month appointment(opens in a new window) the nurse measures your baby, checks skin, head shape, eyes and hips, and looks at development across communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving and social skills. Victoria's 4 month visit(opens in a new window) focuses on the green book questions, safe sleeping, food in the first year, play, immunisations and family wellbeing.

Questions parents often raise at this visit, drawn from what Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) and Victoria's visit guide say to mention:

• Is it typical that my baby is not rolling yet? Many babies are only starting to try at 4 months.
• Is tummy time going well enough? Around 30 minutes across the day in short sessions is the usual aim.
• Do I need to do anything about sleep? Sleep patterns that worry you are worth naming.
• Is my baby responding to sounds and making sounds? Both are on the list to tell the nurse about if the answer is no.
• What about solids? Around 6 months is the usual start.

The 4 month vaccinations bring their own questions about side effects and timing, and the nurse can answer those on the day.

What happens at the 6 month check?

The 6 month check reviews growth and development at the point where solids, sitting, rolling and teething all tend to arrive, and it coincides with the 6 month vaccinations. It is a scheduled visit in NSW and the ACT, falls inside SA's 6 to 9 month window, and in Victoria the nearest visits are at 4 and 8 months.

Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) describes a 6 month old who can push up on straight arms, often sits with support, may pass toys from hand to hand, turns to their name and is starting on solids. The Raising Children Network(opens in a new window) adds babbling, rolling both ways and the first signs of separation anxiety. Our 6 month baby milestones guide covers the full picture for this age.

Questions parents often ask at the 6 month check, based on the concern lists in both sources:

• Is my baby sitting and rolling on track? Not trying to roll on the floor, or not sitting with help, are the movement signs to mention.
• How do I start solids, and what about allergy foods? Iron-rich foods first, and talk to the nurse before common allergy foods if there is a family history of allergy.
• Is this teething? Many babies start around 6 to 7 months, and very uncomfortable teething is worth raising.
• Is sleep usually more settled by now? Some babies seem more settled in eating and sleep over the next month or two, and some do not.
• Is my baby responding to their name and making new sounds? Squeals, growls and raspberries are typical, and no new sounds is a sign to raise.

At any age, a skill your baby had and has stopped doing is worth a conversation with the nurse or GP.

A health check is a snapshot. The record book, and your own notes between visits, are what turn snapshots into a line.

Between visits

Six months is a long gap between the 6 to 8 week check and the next one in NSW, and a lot happens in it. The nurse asks about the whole stretch, and the honest answer for most of us is a shrug and 'pretty good, I think'.

If you already log the day in BabyLog, the checkup report on Pro turns the weeks before a visit into one summary: feeds, sleeps, nappies, growth measurements and milestone observations, framed either for childcare around daily routines or for a clinician as a checkup. The builder lists the standard visit ages and suggests a period for each, and you share the result as a private link with a code or as a PDF, so the nurse can read it without an account. It is a summary of what you recorded, not a medical record, and it sits beside the Blue Book rather than replacing it.

Milestones themselves are recorded in one tap when you notice something new, stamped with your baby's age, and they appear in the report's checklist. See how it works on the developmental app page.

Common questions