Some vitamins and minerals are very important when you’re pregnant. That’s why if you are pregnant, you can get free vitamins through your local NHS health board. Just ask your midwife for more details.

Some vitamins and minerals are very important when your little one is growing. Even though you can get lots of vitamins from a healthy balanced diet, you still might not get everything you need at certain times in your life. That’s why there are free vitamins available for infants under 3 years old and breastfeeding women.

All you need to do is ask your midwife, Family Nurse or Health Visitor for more information.

You can find more advice on how to make sure you and your children get enough Vitamin D here.

All children get free school meals during term-time if they go to a local authority school and are in primary 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. They may also be eligible for free meals in secondary school, depending on your situation.

Please visit the mygov.scot website to find out if your child is eligible to receive free school meals.

Children under the age of 5 who attend a registered Early Learning and Childcare setting for 2 or more hours per day are entitled to 189ml of free dairy milk to support your child’s growth.

Ask your childminder or nursery for more details.

If you are pregnant you can access a NHS dentist for free. All you need to do is ask your midwife or GP for a MATB1 certificate and a valid prescription maternity exemption certificate (MatEx).

These free courses from NHS Scotland and SilverCloud can help you boost your wellbeing and mental health, and support your children too. There are programs on sleep, stress, resilience, body image and money worries as well as programs to help you support an anxious child or teen.

You can find out more about the courses available here and sign up for free using the code Scotland2020.

Family Fund provide financial grants to families raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people on lower incomes. You can find out more about their eligibility criteria on their website.

They also provide information and signpost to other charities and services which families may find useful.

Family Fund also run free online workshops to help with:

• understanding the benefits of being online  
• navigating Scotland’s welfare benefits
• how to switch and save online  
• using online budget tools  
• completing an online grant search  
• supporting your young person into adulthood.

You can find out more about the workshops and sign up here.

They have also created a series of short interactive online guides to help families across Scotland feel more confident with their finances. 

If you have a child who is 16 to 19 years old and wants to continue learning at school or college, your child may be eligible for an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). An EMA is a weekly payment of £30 and is currently paid in addition to Child Benefit and other benefits. To see if your child is eligible visit the mygov.scot website.

All children in Scotland can get 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) when they turn 3. Some children can also get it when they are 2. This could be at a nursery, childminder, or playgroup. Your local authority will have more information on where you can get these hours that are totally free to you.

Your local authority may also be able to offer funded or subsidised childcare over and above this. Contact your local authority to find out more.

For information on help paying for childcare visit Parent Club's page on getting to grips with childcare costs.

Starting school can be a very exciting time but it can also be expensive. Just like the other Best Start Grants, you can spend the School Age Payment on whatever your child needs.

You can apply from 1 June in the year your child is first old enough to start school until the last day in February the next year.

You don’t have to take up a place at school to qualify for a payment. Parents and carers of children who homeschool, or who start school a year later, should still apply during the window when the child is first old enough to start school.

For more information on eligibility and to apply visit the mygov.scot website or call Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.