Child health clinic appointments

Please call the child health clinic telephone service as soon as possible after your child is born, while you are still in the maternity hospital. During this phone call, you will be asked about the process of your childbirth and your and the baby’s health. You will also be asked for your child’s detailed birth information. It is also important that you tell us if you have any hospital appointments coming up or if a midwife is coming to visit you at home.

If this is your first baby, we aim to arrange your first child health clinic appointment as a home visit. If this is not your first baby, you will be given an appointment at the child health clinic.

The child health clinics’ telephone service is open from Monday to Friday between 8:30 and 13:30, tel. +358 9 81622800.

The first appointment usually takes place within a week after you have been discharged from the hospital. During the appointment, we will discuss your experience of childbirth and your family’s well-being now that the baby is born. We will observe your baby’s health and growth. We will also give you as a family some advice on and support for breastfeeding and baby care, depending on what kind of advice you need.

• How to take care of your baby (link to be published later)
•  Breastfeeding (link to be published later)
• Mother’s recovery from childbirth (link to be published later)
• Early interaction and baby’s development (link to be published later)

We will take a look at your interaction with your baby and, depending on your family’s needs, discuss topics related to baby care and feeding. Topics may include the baby’s crying, calming the baby and ways to soothe the baby’s stomach pain.

We will also discuss parenthood, the parents’ relationship, sexuality and birth control.

In addition, we will provide information on the national vaccination programme.

• Relationship and sexuality (link to be published later)
• Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL):(external link) Vaccination programme for children and adults(external link)

The medical examination supplements the first medical examination that was performed at the maternity hospital.

Before you see the doctor, a nurse will examine the baby’s growth and usually administer a vaccine in line with the vaccination programme.

We will discuss your everyday life with the baby. We will focus on themes that are the most relevant for your family, for example how to soothe a baby’s stomach pain, crying issues, calming the baby, early interaction, holding the baby, skin contact, eye contact or breastfeeding.

This appointment is the first part of the child’s extensive health check. During the extensive health check, we will discuss factors that affect the well-being and health of your baby and your entire family. You will see a public health nurse during the first appointment and a doctor when your child is 4 months old.

We will monitor your baby’s growth and development and administer vaccines in line with the national vaccination programme.

You can prepare for this appointment at home by discussing your family’s resources and health habits using the Resource Barometer for Parents with a Newborn Baby. Both parents should fill in the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) questionnaire a couple of days before this appointment. The EPDS is used to support the assessment of the parents’ coping and well-being.

• Resource Barometer for Parents with a Newborn Baby (in Finnish)(external link)
• No, thank you!(external link) About alcohol for parents of small childre (in Finnish)(external link)
• Parenting and relationship (link to be published later)

We will take a deeper look into the themes of the 3-month appointment, in accordance with the needs of your family.

Before you see the doctor, a public health nurse will examine your baby’s growth.

You can also bring up other topics to discuss, such as breastfeeding, the development of the baby and your family’s well-being.

We will check your baby’s growth and development and administer vaccines in line with the national vaccination programme.

We will also discuss introducing solid foods to your baby, further breastfeeding, your baby’s motor development, your well-being as a family and other matters that you may bring up.

• Early infancy diet chart (to be published later)
• Food guide for families with babies (to be published later)
• Foodstuffs to avoid with children in early infancy (to be published later)

• Development of a baby’s skills (to be published later)

We will discuss matters such as getting used to solid foods, sleep, the child’s motor development and movement, safety at home and oral health care.

The public health nurse will examine your child’s growth and development.

The appointment can also be carried out as a group meeting.

• Development of a baby’s skills (to be publishded)
• How to take care of your oral health

Before you see the doctor, a public health nurse will examine your baby’s growth.

The doctor will assess your child’s growth and development and ask you about your potential concerns as parents.

We will examine your child’s growth and development and administer vaccines in line with the national vaccination programme.

We will discuss, for example, interaction, your child’s language and motor development, nutrition and daily rhythms.

• Food guide for preschoolers (to be published later)
• Foodstuffs to avoid with preschool-aged children (to be published later)
• Joy, enthusiasm and encouragement to make good lifestyle choices – Neuvokas perhe (neuvokas.fi) (external link) (the name is Finnish for “a resourceful family”)

Please also book a dental hygienist’s appointment (external link)for your child.

• The public health nurse will examine your child’s growth and development.
• Your child will receive a vaccine in line with the national vaccination programme.
• We will discuss factors that affect the well-being and health of your baby and your entire family.
• Important topics are the rapid development of your child’s learning ability, will and speech.
• You can prepare for this appointment at home by discussing your family’s resources and health habits using the Resource Barometer for Parents with a Small Child. You can use the Esikko form (“ESIKKO – Initial Evaluation of a Child’s Preverbal Communication and Language Skills”) to chart your child’s development in the areas of communication and speech. You can also fill in a survey regarding substance use to chart potential health risks.

• The public health nurse will book a doctor’s appointment for your family.

• Invitation to an extensive health check (to be published later)
• Resource Barometer for Parents with a Small Child (to be published later)
• Survey regarding substance use (to be published later)

• We will discuss factors that affect the well-being and health of your baby and your entire family.
• We will take a closer look at the issues you brought up during your previous appointment with a public health nurse, depending on your needs as a family.
• This visit includes a health check by a doctor.

• The public health nurse will examine your child’s growth and development.
• The development of the child’s speech will be monitored.
• We will discuss parenthood, the development of the child’s own will according to the child’s age, toilet training and weaning off the dummy and the bottle.

• Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL):(external link) Growth and development of a child at ages 2 and 3(external link) (in Finnish)

• The public health nurse will examine your child’s growth and development.
• We will discuss your ability as a family to support the child during their age-related stages of development.
• We can also discuss topics such as parenting, the learning of habits, speech development, the importance of play and creativity, and siblings.
• Other themes include eating, toilet habits, sleeping and screen time.
• Your child gets to draw and cut with scissors and recognise body parts, colours and size differences.
• Your child’s near vision will also be checked.
• We will also tell you more about your child’s extensive health check at 4 years of age and invite both parents to attend it.

• Please also book a dental hygienist’s appointment(external link) for your child.

• Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL):(external link) Growth and development of a child at ages 3 and 4(external link) (in Finnish)

• If your child attends day care, you as parents will have a discussion on your child’s early childhood education with the day care centre. This is also known as a Hyve discussion. A summary of your discussion will be sent to the child health clinic if you allow it. If you take care of your child at home, you can fill in the questionnaire at home or at the clinic. If you have any questions or concerns that arise from the questionnaire, we can discuss them during your appointment.
• Questionnaire for parents of a 4-year-old taken care of at home (to be published later)

• The public health nurse will examine your child’s growth and development.
• The child’s near vision and growth will also be checked.
• Your child will receive a vaccine in line with the national vaccination programme.
• Your child will spend some time alone with the public health nurse, performing various exercises that are suitable for the child’s age, such as drawing, cutting with scissors, throwing a ball and jumping with both feet. 

• Invitation to an extensive health check (to be published later)
• Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL):(external link) Growth and development of a child at ages 4 and 5(external link) (in Finnish)
• Finnish Road Safety Council:(external link) Child in a car(external link)

• We will discuss factors that affect the well-being and health of your child and your entire family.
• We will take a closer look at the issues you brought up during your previous appointment with a public health nurse, depending on your needs as a family.
• This visit includes a health check by a doctor.
• After the extensive health check, a summary called the Hyve summary will be sent back to your child’s day care centre if you allow it.

• The public health nurse will examine your child’s growth and development.
• We will discuss, for example, the child’s social skills, two-way friendships, the regulation of emotions and the importance of exercise, good health and sufficient family time.
• We will examine the five-year-old’s hearing using an audiometer.

Please also book a dental hygienist’s appointment(external link) for your child.

Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL):(external link) Growth and development of a child at ages 5 and 6(external link) (in Finnish)

Home exercises for articulation disorders (in Finnish)

• The public health nurse will examine your child’s growth and development.
• Your child will receive a vaccine in line with the national vaccination programme.
• We will discuss, for example, the child’s social skills, two-way friendships, the regulation of emotions and the importance of exercise, good health and sufficient family time.
• The public health nurse will write a brief summary of your child’s time as a client of the child health clinic and add it to the child’s health information for the purposes of school health care. The summary will include information on your child’s growth and development. Your child’s next health check will be the initial health check performed by school health care staff before or during your child’s first school year.

• Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL):(external link) Growth and development of a child at ages 6 and 7(external link) (in Finnish)

Additional appointments at the clinic or at home and other support you may need will be planned based on your family’s individual needs and situation. If necessary, we can draw up a service needs plan and invite other municipal services or specialised health care providers to help you.

Many people book additional appointments to have their child’s growth and development monitored or to talk about various issues, such as parenting challenges, relationship problems or breastfeeding.