Speak to your childcare provider. All children must have a key person, who will help ensure that your child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs. The key person will build a relationship with you and provide you with information about how your child is learning and developing.
The following are really useful documents containing lots of information about stages of child development:
What should I do if I have a concern about my child’s development?
Each child is unique and will develop at their own rate and will have their own individual strengths. However, if you are worried that you child is not meeting key developmental milestones or that they are not progressing at a typical rate, it’s important to seek help.
You may want to have a look through this useful parent guide to understand what developmental milestones might look like.
You can also seek support and advice materials from NHS health professionals via the Health for Under 5’s website.
Who can I talk to if I am concerned about my child’s development?
If you feel you child has a medical issue, please make an appointment with your GP or call NHS 111.
If you are worried about your child’s general development, you can seek support and advice from your child’s Health Visitor. The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Healthy Together team have a telephone number for parents and professionals to call. The calls are answered by a Health Visitor who can talk to you about your worries and give advice and support. They can also make an appointment with the Health Visiting team.
The telephone number is 0300 300 3001
Both the health visitor and the GP will be able to make referrals on to specialists, e.g. speech and language services, if they think it’s appropriate.
If your child is attending an educational setting, such as a nursery, childminder, or school, we would also advise speaking to your child’s key person/ class teacher or the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) to share your worries.
Support from the Rutland Family Hub
You can also ask for support around your child’s development from the Family Hub. It doesn’t matter if you have never been to the Family Hub before, The Family Hub has a range of professionals that will be able to advise you. If you do attend a group, the experienced Family Support Educators would be happy to advise and support you. Email us at familyhub@rutland.gov.uk or call 01572 758 383.
Our Early Years Inclusion service also work closely with the Family Hub. The Early Years Inclusion service is made up of a team of experienced specialist advisors who provide advice to Early Years providers and families for children with possible Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). If you need more information and support after speaking to your child’s setting, please contact us. If your child is not in an educational setting, don’t worry, we can still help just contact us at the Family Hub on familyhub@rutland.gov.uk or by calling 01572 758 383, to seek support and advice from a member of the Early Years Inclusion team.