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The next INFANT training will be 13th October – 21st November 2025. Learn More

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Professionals

Each organisation is different and while the goal and content of INFANT will remain the same, implementation may vary. There is flexibility in how the program might best be implemented, facilitated, embedded in services, and where it is held.

Here we highlight what our research has told us regarding the most important steps for successful implementation of INFANT.

  • First Steps
  • Setup and Training
  • My Baby Now App
  • Translated Resources
  • Case Studies
  • Policy Documents
  • Awards

First Steps

  • Is there a need for INFANT in your area?
  • How could INFANT be set up in your area?
  • Consider your implementation plan
  • Begin implementing INFANT
  • Implementing INFANT Internationally

Is there a need for INFANT in your area?

You know your community and you are the expert here. The following questions may help with establishing a case and advocating for INFANT in your catchment area:

  • What is the birth rate in your organisation’s catchment?
  • What are the eating and activity patterns of children in your catchment? Consider looking at your local health data.
  • How many new parent groups run in your catchment per year?
  • What polices, programs, initiatives and services are on offer to families with children under 2 years?
  • Can these policies, programs, initiatives and services support the implementation of INFANT in your area?

How could INFANT be set up in your area?

Talking to your local stakeholders can help answer questions from Step 1 and to co-design the delivery of INFANT in your catchment.

Stakeholders could include services and structures such as:

  • Maternal and Child Health Services
  • Local Government
  • Community Health Services
  • Public Health Units
  • Primary Health Networks
  • State Government Population Health and Wellbeing teams
  • Other relevant organisations in your area

Consider who may be the lead organisation and what delivery model might work in your area – begin thinking about where INFANT group sessions could be held, participant referral and administration tasks, and who else (other members of your team, organisation or community) could also be trained as facilitators.

Consider your implementation plan

Once training is complete, and your organisation is ready to move forward, the lead organisation will need to prepare an implementation plan indicating the roles of all organisations involved. This is outlined in the INFANT training.

Begin implementing INFANT

Once you have facilitators trained and an implementation plan in place, you are ready to start implementing INFANT!

Implementing INFANT Internationally

The INFANT team is very committed to working with international partners to adapt the program materials for audiences outside of Australia.

Please get in touch with the INFANT team to discuss.

Is there a need for INFANT in your area?

You know your community and you are the expert here. The following questions may help with establishing a case and advocating for INFANT in your catchment area:

  • What is the birth rate in your organisation’s catchment?
  • What are the eating and activity patterns of children in your catchment? Consider looking at your local health data.
  • How many new parent groups run in your catchment per year?
  • What polices, programs, initiatives and services are on offer to families with children under 2 years?
  • Can these policies, programs, initiatives and services support the implementation of INFANT in your area?

How could INFANT be set up in your area?

Talking to your local stakeholders can help answer questions from Step 1 and to co-design the delivery of INFANT in your catchment.

Stakeholders could include services and structures such as:

  • Maternal and Child Health Services
  • Local Government
  • Community Health Services
  • Public Health Units
  • Primary Health Networks
  • State Government Population Health and Wellbeing teams
  • Other relevant organisations in your area

Consider who may be the lead organisation and what delivery model might work in your area – begin thinking about where INFANT group sessions could be held, participant referral and administration tasks, and who else (other members of your team, organisation or community) could also be trained as facilitators.

Consider your implementation plan

Once training is complete, and your organisation is ready to move forward, the lead organisation will need to prepare an implementation plan indicating the roles of all organisations involved. This is outlined in the INFANT training.

Begin implementing INFANT

Once you have facilitators trained and an implementation plan in place, you are ready to start implementing INFANT!

Implementing INFANT Internationally

The INFANT team is very committed to working with international partners to adapt the program materials for audiences outside of Australia.

Please get in touch with the INFANT team to discuss.

Setup and Training

All organisations delivering INFANT will need to have trained facilitators. This ensures you have the most up-to-date evidence-based resources to support delivery of INFANT and consistent messages in your practice.

INFANT set-up includes

  • Access to and completion of INFANT facilitator training. Register for the training here.
  • Training includes an initial 6-8 hours online and refresher training every two years.
  • Training may contribute to Continuing Professional Development with relevant professional associations.
  • Access to all INFANT content and resources to support delivery of group sessions.
  • Delivery of INFANT according to the INFANT Facilitator Guidelines.
  • Completing a brief 12-monthly feedback report (e.g. number of programs, completion rates). This contributes to the evaluation of the program.

INFANT team offers

  • Support for Implementation – the INFANT team provides all resources required to implement the INFANT program (eg. INFANT Implementation Manual, Facilitator Guidelines, Implementation plan and more).
  • Evidence-based resources and content – the INFANT team provides all session resources (eg. session powerpoints, videos, handouts and flip charts).

My Baby Now App

The My Baby Now app was co-designed with parents, maternal and child health nurses and experts at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University and the University of Sydney. It was designed to complement INFANT.

Your pregnancy, including preparing for your baby and a week by week guide.
Breastfeeding, best-practice formula feeding and mixed feeding.
Understanding and responding to baby's cues/signs.
When and how to introduce solid foods and a sippy cup.
Active play ideas.
Strategies for limiting screens.
Experiences, strategies and tips from other mums, dads and carers.
Introducing solids, including articles/ videos, on baby led weaning and vegetarian/vegan diets.
Family meal and recipe ideas.
Looking after yourself.
Sleep and settling tips.

Key research findings

A feasibility study of the app during pregnancy found:

  • Mothers without a university education perceived the app to be higher quality, more useful and impactful than mothers with a university education
  • Greater engagement with the app in pregnancy was significantly associated with positive changes in breastfeeding attitudes amongst mothers without a university education. [1]

A health economics analysis of health service usage found:

  • Mothers using the app required fewer primary health care visits for advice on infant feeding, growth, and development in the first nine months of life, resulting in conservative government cost savings estimated at $6.9 million annually from reduced GP and paediatrician visits alone. [2]

English and Translated Resources

The Western Public Health Unit in Victoria, in collaboration with INFANT have translated the highly visual INFANT booklets and videos into 6 prioritiy languages: Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Urdu and Vietnamese. These resources support mums, dads and carers with evidence-based feeding and active play advice for babies aged 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age and have been carefully curated to complement the four INFANT group sessions. These translated resources are in an initial pilot phase and will be evaluated and refined over time.

Please complete this form to access the resources. We are using this information for research purposes only, to inform the ongoing evaluation of the translated booklets.

Case Studies

Some organisations who have, or are currently implementing INFANT, have provided a case study as examples of different implementation models.

Stonnington LGA
Alpine LGA
Corangamite LGA
Mildura LGA
Indigo LGA
Cardinia LGA

Policy Documents

The following documents may be useful in making the case for early years programs and INFANT in your organisation.

What is INFANT?
INFANT Economic Case Study
INFANT Women's Health
INFANT Mental Heath Overview
INFANT - Supporting children to thrive in the early years
INFANT - Helping Australian families raise healthy, happy children from the start of life

Awards

  • 2023
  • 2024

2023

A/Prof Rachel Laws, Dr Penny Love, Prof Karen Campbell, Prof Kylie Hesketh, Dr Sarah Marshall, Ms Anthea Gregorio, Ms Kathy McConnell, Ms Ricky Gelman, Ms Sonya Stanley, Ms Toni Penny, Ms Sheree Spiteri, Dr Victoria Brown, Prof Liliana Orellana, Dr Harriet Koorts along with colleagues from Deakin’s Institute for Physical activity and Nutrition won two awards at the inaugural Deakin Faculty of Health Partnerships in Practice event:

  • Influencing Policy and Practice Award
  • Overall Faculty Partnership in Practice Award

Overall Faculty Partnership in Practice Award

The overall faculty Partnerships in Practice Award was for the partnership work with Victorian Department of Health, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Vic Health), Municipal Association of Victoria, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (VACCHO), Sunraysia Community Health, Western Alliance, Raising Children Network, City of Whittlesea, The University of Sydney, RMIT University for the project INfantFeeding Active Play and Nutrition (INFANT): From RCT to state wide scale up.

In accepting the award, INFANT’s Principal Investigator A/Professor Rachel Laws said these awards would not have been possible without the amazing support and input from all the collaborating partners.

“INFANT has been a labour of love and has involved more than a decade of tireless work and commitment by a huge number of people. Without our partners, we could not take INFANT from a research trial to a program that reaches and benefits families and communities.

It’s wonderful that, together with our partners, INFANT can have such a widespread positive impact on the community!”

See how the INFANT early years program supports young families


INFANT has been endorsed by the US Centre for Disease Control funded review as the strongest international model for wide-spread implementation of a community complementary feeding intervention. Find out more here and read the full report here.

2024

Finalist at the 2024 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards

Children thrive when they start life with healthy habits, like enjoying nutritious food and active play. Melbourne’s West has diverse communities and more babies born than anywhere else in Victoria. In an Australian first, the Western Public Health Unit at Western Health has translated the Infant Program resources, in collaboration with INFANT, to reach Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Mandarin, and Vietnamese-speaking families. Western Health has been named a finalist at the 2024 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards, in the Excellence in multicultural community health category for this collaborative work.


The US National Cancer Institute recommended INFANT as an evidence-based program in 2024, rating it highly for research integrity and dissemination capability. It is the only program in its database of 207 recommended healthy lifestyle programs that starts from birth.

2023

A/Prof Rachel Laws, Dr Penny Love, Prof Karen Campbell, Prof Kylie Hesketh, Dr Sarah Marshall, Ms Anthea Gregorio, Ms Kathy McConnell, Ms Ricky Gelman, Ms Sonya Stanley, Ms Toni Penny, Ms Sheree Spiteri, Dr Victoria Brown, Prof Liliana Orellana, Dr Harriet Koorts along with colleagues from Deakin’s Institute for Physical activity and Nutrition won two awards at the inaugural Deakin Faculty of Health Partnerships in Practice event:

  • Influencing Policy and Practice Award
  • Overall Faculty Partnership in Practice Award

Overall Faculty Partnership in Practice Award

The overall faculty Partnerships in Practice Award was for the partnership work with Victorian Department of Health, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (Vic Health), Municipal Association of Victoria, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (VACCHO), Sunraysia Community Health, Western Alliance, Raising Children Network, City of Whittlesea, The University of Sydney, RMIT University for the project INfantFeeding Active Play and Nutrition (INFANT): From RCT to state wide scale up.

In accepting the award, INFANT’s Principal Investigator A/Professor Rachel Laws said these awards would not have been possible without the amazing support and input from all the collaborating partners.

“INFANT has been a labour of love and has involved more than a decade of tireless work and commitment by a huge number of people. Without our partners, we could not take INFANT from a research trial to a program that reaches and benefits families and communities.

It’s wonderful that, together with our partners, INFANT can have such a widespread positive impact on the community!”

See how the INFANT early years program supports young families


INFANT has been endorsed by the US Centre for Disease Control funded review as the strongest international model for wide-spread implementation of a community complementary feeding intervention. Find out more here and read the full report here.

2024

Finalist at the 2024 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards

Children thrive when they start life with healthy habits, like enjoying nutritious food and active play. Melbourne’s West has diverse communities and more babies born than anywhere else in Victoria. In an Australian first, the Western Public Health Unit at Western Health has translated the Infant Program resources, in collaboration with INFANT, to reach Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Mandarin, and Vietnamese-speaking families. Western Health has been named a finalist at the 2024 Victorian Public Healthcare Awards, in the Excellence in multicultural community health category for this collaborative work.


The US National Cancer Institute recommended INFANT as an evidence-based program in 2024, rating it highly for research integrity and dissemination capability. It is the only program in its database of 207 recommended healthy lifestyle programs that starts from birth.

Become an
INFANT Facilitator

Learn more

My Baby Now App

For clinician access to MBN, all you need to do is download the app and complete a brief registration form, which then creates an account to access the app.

Download Now

I strongly agree that INFANT is one of the most important primary preventions and interventions in supporting the important milestones of all young generation’s lifelong health to be successful and healthy physically, mentally and emotionally development and growth in their first 1000 days journey.

INFANT facilitator

I think the implementation of INFANT will benefit our MCH service in many ways. It will compliment the information provided in the 4 month KAS and reduce the need for additional consultations, particularly in our first time parents, at the 3 month and 6 month marks as they will have access to speak with a MCHN. The trade off of 1.5 hours in the MCHN calendar to facilitate the INFANT session will likely reduce requirement of additional consultations and potentially save time overall.

INFANT facilitator

I have really enjoyed this course and found it a great forum for learning – working at your own pace and with the time you have at home/work available to complete. I particularly love the MBN app and can see a big uptake of this from our parents, especially existing in such a digital age.

INFANT training participant

I can see that once time is taken to embed this program into an existing service, like the MCH service, it will become an invaluable ongoing part of our content delivered to parents/families.

INFANT training participant

The My Baby Now app is such a sensational easily accessible resource for parents that l will promote at every KAS visit.

INFANT facilitator

I have really enjoyed the INFANT program. The My Baby Now app has been so helpful in discussing topics and referring to with parents during the consults. The information is easy to follow and understand for parents. l have found that parents really enjoy reading new information that is up to date and evidence based.

INFANT facilitator

The INFANT program has made me think about presentations and fostering an interest in healthy eating and activity for children and families from all different backgrounds and cultures for better health outcomes for people living in Australia.

INFANT facilitator

We’re delighted that these in-language resources will allow us to bring INFANT to a wider range of families.

INFANT facilitator

I really liked having actual speech pathologists, physiotherapists and dietitians there to talk about content and answer specific questions.

INFANT program participant

I think the implementation of INFANT will benefit our MCH service in many ways. It will compliment the information provided in the 4 month KAS and reduce the need for additional consultations, particularly in our first time parents, at the 3 month and 6 month marks as they will have access to speak with a MCHN.

INFANT training participant

It is great to see a community of professionals dedicated to promoting healthy eating and active play in these first few years of life. I have loved the concise, clear nature of the session plans and information. The additional discussions and information on implementation strategies and possible challenges and solutions was very beneficial in considering how to embed this program successfully in our local LGA.

INFANT training participant

I think there is an opportunity for INFANT to bring together several disciplines who can work toward a common goal, that is, to improve the health & wellbeing of the families & communities in which we live and work.

INFANT training participant

In the spirit of reconciliation, the INFANT team acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. The INFANT team at Deakin University is based on the land of the Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

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