Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

Due to maintenance, the following systems will be unavailable from 11.45am on Tuesday 24 December until 8.00am on Thursday 2 January: our online Council Tax, business rates and housing benefit services, and our welfare assistance form. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Incredible Babies - a course for you and your baby

Incredible Babies is a 10 week programme for you and your baby to attend together.

During the sessions you will learn about how your baby develops, ways you can support their development and meet other parents.

Sessions are free and run weekly from Family Hubs.

What you will learn

You will learn how to:

understand what your baby wants or needs
cope with crying
keep your baby safe and baby proof your home
understand how your baby learns from you
help and support your baby's development
set up routines and bedtime rituals
keep your baby and yourself calm
introduce food to your baby
understand the importance of looking after yourself

To get the most out of this programme it is best to start before your baby is 6 months old so you can learn about how to support their development right from the start.