A few days after you bring your baby home, the public health nurse knocks on the door. She weighs the baby, answers the questions you have been saving up, and hands you a thick book called My Child: 0 to 2 years. Over the next five years there will be more checks with her, with your GP and, eventually, at school.
This guide covers what those checks are, when they happen, what is free, what the My Child books are for, and where your child’s health record actually lives, which is not where many parents assume. It was checked against HSE sources in November 2026. It is general information, not medical advice: for anything about your own child, your public health nurse or GP is the right person to ask.
Disclosure
I am a doctor, and I founded exora, a personal health record app. It appears near the end, and I am explicit there about where it differs from what your public health nurse uses. Everything before that applies whatever you use.
The short version
- The checks are free. The HSE says your child’s vaccines and health checks “are provided free of charge through the HSE”.
- From birth to 2 there are usually 11 planned appointments, with your public health nurse (PHN) and your GP, including the vaccine visits.
- From 2 to 5 there are usually four more, including a check at school in junior infants.
- Every child under 8 living in Ireland can get a GP visit card, which includes free GP visits and assessments at age 2 and 5.
- The My Child books are guides, not records. The record of the checks is kept by the HSE and your GP. If you want a copy, you can ask for one, free.
The first days: newborn checks and the public health nurse
The HSE’s My Child: 0 to 2 years book (seventh edition, 2024) sets out the timetable. In the first days:
- At birth, a midwife checks your baby, and within the first 72 hours a doctor or midwife with specialist training examines your baby again. Your baby also has a hearing test.
- In the first week, you are offered newborn bloodspot screening, the heel prick, done by the hospital midwife or by your PHN at home.
- Within 72 hours of leaving hospital, or after a home birth, your PHN visits you at home. The book says they “will usually weigh and examine your baby”, and give advice on feeding, safe sleep and child safety.
That first visit is also when the book says all new parents get their copy of My Child: 0 to 2 years, and when your PHN gives you information about your baby’s vaccines and immunisation passport. Ask about baby clinics at your local health centre too: in many areas you can call in to have your baby weighed.
The checks from 2 weeks to 2 years
The book lists these after the first week:
- 2 weeks, with your GP. You make an appointment for a baby check with your GP or the practice nurse.
- 6 weeks, with your GP. A check for you and one for your baby. For your baby, the GP examines “from head to toe”, including hips, heart, eyes and, for boys, testicles. For you, it covers your recovery, your mood and contraception.
- 2, 4, 6, 12 and 13 months, with your GP or practice nurse. These are the vaccine visits. “It takes five visits to fully vaccinate your child.”
- 3 months, with your PHN. A developmental check at the health centre or at home, covering growth and development, feeding and weaning, and child safety.
- 9 to 11 months, with your PHN or a community medical doctor. A check of general health, including teeth, development and growth.
- 21 to 24 months, with your PHN. The same ground again, as your child becomes a toddler.
At the 9 to 11 and 21 to 24 month checks, if you or the nurse are concerned, the book says your child may be invited back for a re-check or referred for further assessment. A re-check is common and is not a diagnosis.
The HSE groups these into four stages, up to 6 months, 6 to 12 months, 1 to 2 years and 3 to 5 years, and says checks happen with “your public health nurse (PHN), GP practice nurse or GP”, usually at home or at your local health centre (HSE: your child’s health and development checks). They are part of the HSE’s National Healthy Childhood Programme, which it describes as “the HSE’s universal health programme for all children to support them and their parents from birth” (HSE: child health public health).
From 2 to 5, and starting school
Your PHN gives you the second book, My Child: 2 to 5 years, close to your child’s second birthday. It says your child “will usually have four planned appointments for healthcare checks between the ages of 2 and 5”, free of charge. Two it describes in detail:
- Usually between 3 and 4 years, at the health centre or at home. Your PHN weighs and measures your child, checks they are developing as expected, checks hearing and eyes, and talks about health, nutrition and safety.
- In junior infants, at school. You sign a consent form with questions about your child’s general health, and the school or local PHN checks hearing and eyes.
Junior infants is also when the school vaccines start. The HSE says that in most places a doctor or nurse gives them at school, and in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal your GP practice gives them (HSE: vaccines for your child).
The under 8s GP visit card
The HSE says: “All children under 8 years of age living in Ireland can get a GP visit card” (HSE: under 8s GP visit card). It includes:
- free GP visits
- assessments at age 2 and 5
- out-of-hours urgent GP care
- care for children with asthma.
It does not cover medicines or hospital charges. You can register online with your PPS number, your child’s PPS number and your GP’s name, and the HSE says babies under 4 months can be registered before they have a PPS number.
Growth, and the charts
At most checks your child is weighed and measured. The HSE explains that “Your GP or public health nurse will record measurements of your child’s weight, length or head circumference”, and that there are different charts for boys and girls (HSE: how your child’s growth is measured).
The curved lines on a chart are centiles. The HSE says a child’s measurements may go up or down by one centile line, but “it’s less common for them to cross 2 centile lines”, and if that happens, to talk to your PHN or GP. What matters is the pattern over time, not one measurement.
Which charts? An HSE clinical guideline gives the UK-WHO charts as an example for children over 2 (HSE: paediatric obesity guideline). I could not find a current HSE page for parents that names the charts, so if you want to know which one your child is plotted on, ask your PHN. That matters if you use any other chart, including the one I describe below.
Milestones
My Child: 0 to 2 years includes a guide to milestones by age, from 1 to 2 months onwards, covering movement, communication and social and emotional development. It is careful about how to read it: “The ages given are averages, and it is normal for children to gain one skill earlier than another”, and “For each milestone, there is a wide range of ages when children may reach it.”
What it asks is that you speak up: “If you are worried about your child’s development or hearing, talk with your GP or public health nurse.” You do not need to wait for the next scheduled check to do that.
If your baby was born early, the book notes this “can affect the way they develop” and that they may need more appointments to check their development. Ask your PHN whether to use your baby’s actual age or their corrected age when you read a milestone guide.
Where your child’s record actually lives
Parents who have lived in Australia or the UK often expect a parent-held record book, like the NSW Blue Book or the UK’s red book, with each check written in. The My Child books are not that. They are free guides, full of advice, with space for your PHN’s and health centre’s contact details. Copies can be downloaded from the HSE, so losing one costs you nothing.
The record of each check is kept by the professionals: your PHN service and your GP. The parent-held piece is the immunisation passport. Since late 2025, childhood vaccines recorded by GPs also flow into the HSE’s national immunisation system; our guide to getting vaccination records in Ireland explains what that does and does not give you.
If you want a copy of your child’s records, for a move, a specialist, or your own peace of mind, you can ask. A parent or guardian can usually make a data access request on a child’s behalf, and it is free; for the HSE, a Freedom of Information request is another route. Our Ireland records guide walks through both, and managing family health records in Ireland covers what changes as children get older.
Until then, a simple habit helps: after each check, note the date, the weight and length, and anything the nurse or GP said, and keep any letters. It takes a minute, and means the history is yours as well as theirs.
Where exora fits, and where it does not
exora does not replace your PHN, your GP or the My Child books. Where it helps is keeping a copy of what matters, together with the rest of your child’s health record, on your phone. exora is free to start, with an optional membership.
- Photos and letters. Upload a photo of a note, a letter or a discharge summary, and exora reads it for you, with a reading system built for medical records. Milestones it finds are matched to the checklist, and any it is unsure of are left for you to confirm.
- A milestone checklist based on the US CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. milestones, from 2 months to 5 years, with corrected age for babies born early and a report you can share at the next check.
- Growth charts with percentiles for height, weight, BMI and head circumference.
- Birth history, filled in from a discharge summary where it can be.
- One profile per child, each with their own record, alongside their vaccinations and everything else.
There is more on the growth and development feature page.
Where it does not help, plainly:
- Its charts and milestones are not the HSE’s. exora’s growth charts use the WHO charts to age 2 and the US CDC charts from 2 to 20, and its milestone list is the CDC one. These may differ from the charts and milestone guide your PHN uses, so where they disagree, your PHN’s chart and judgement are the ones that count.
- It does not follow the Irish vaccine schedule. It can compare vaccinations with the schedules of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK; Ireland’s is not one of them.
- It can misread. The reading is automated, so check anything that matters against the original. That is why every fact links back to it.
- No HSE connection. exora has no link to the HSE Health App, your GP’s system, the PHN service or any HSE service, and no Irish health-data certification. It works only from the documents you add.
- Your data is stored in Sydney, Australia, outside the EU. How we handle it is on our security page; read it before you upload anything.
- It is not medical advice, and it does not assess your child. The checklist is a guide; any concern goes to your PHN or GP.
If you are travelling with a young child, my guide to travelling abroad with a medical condition covers the EHIC, which each child needs their own of.
The short version, again
Your PHN visits within 72 hours of you leaving hospital, then come GP checks at 2 and 6 weeks, PHN checks at 3 months, 9 to 11 months and 21 to 24 months, five vaccine visits by 13 months, a PHN check usually between 3 and 4, and a school check in junior infants. They are all free, and the under 8s GP visit card adds free GP care and assessments at 2 and 5. The My Child books are guides; the record is kept by your PHN and GP, and you can ask for a copy free. If anything worries you between checks, ring your PHN or GP.
Sources
- HSE: My Child: 0 to 2 years, seventh edition, 2024 (PDF) (checks from birth to 2, PHN visit, immunisation passport, growth, milestones)
- HSE: My Child: 2 to 5 years, seventh edition, May 2024 (PDF) (checks from 2 to 5, junior infants check)
- HSE: My Pregnancy and My Child books (free downloads)
- HSE: your child’s health and development checks
- HSE: child health public health (National Healthy Childhood Programme)
- HSE: under 8s GP visit card
- HSE: how your child’s growth is measured
- HSE: paediatric obesity guideline (PDF) (UK-WHO charts as an example)
- HSE: vaccines for your child
Claims about HSE child health checks, the My Child books, the GP visit card and growth monitoring are sourced to hse.ie, linked inline, and were checked on 9 November 2026. Schedules and books are revised from time to time, so the edition you were given may differ. This is general information, not medical advice. If you are worried about your child’s health or development, talk to your public health nurse or GP. How exora handles your information is in our privacy policy.
