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Together · 5 min

A list for the health visitor

A running list of questions about your baby, kept in one place, so the next visit or call covers what you really wanted to ask.

5 minutesFrom the library, free to readFour steps
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In the first months, questions arrive at all hours: about sleep, feeding, crying, rashes, weight. By the time you see someone, half of them have gone. A running list keeps them, and helps you get answers from the people trained to give them.

The steps

Four small steps,in your own time.

  1. Choose one place for questions: a note on your phone or a small notebook kept by the changing mat.

  2. When a question comes up, write it down straight away, with the date and a few words about what you noticed.

  3. Take the list to your next visit with the health visitor, nurse, midwife or doctor. Questions about how and where your baby sleeps, and about feeding, belong here: they can give advice for your baby.

  4. Write the answers next to the questions, and cross off what has been dealt with.

The reason

Why it helps

A tired brain forgets, and a short appointment goes quickly. A list means the questions you care about get asked. It also helps you see patterns over days or weeks, which can be useful for the professional too.

A gentle variation

If someone else looks after the baby sometimes, a grandparent or a partner, ask them to add their questions to the same list. If you are not sure whether something can wait, ring your health visitor, nurse or doctor rather than waiting.

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WE · TRIBE

Try itwith someone.

Look through the list together with your partner or a helper before the appointment, so you both know what you want to ask, and one of you can write down the answers.

Make it a plan in HIVELIVE, with WE

Try it today

Today, start one list for questions about your baby, and keep it where you change nappies.

Add it to your day

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