---
title: "Add a child to a family"
description: "Add a child to an existing family, with date of birth, health details, emergency contacts, a room, the days they attend, and a tuition plan."
type: guide
updated: 2026-10-09
canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/owners/families/add-a-child-to-a-family
roles: ["super_admin", "center_admin"]
platforms: [web]
---
Once a family exists, add each of their children from the family's card.

## Add the child

1. Go to **Families & Children → Families** and find the family.
2. In the family card's **Children** section, click **Add child**.
3. Fill in the **Add Child** form:
   - **First Name** and **Last Name** (required)
   - **Date of Birth** (required). This drives age-group logic and age-up reminders.
   - **Gender** (optional)
   - **Allergies** (optional), comma separated, like `Peanuts, Dairy`
   - **Medical Conditions** (optional), comma separated, like `Asthma`
   - **Medications** and **Dietary Restrictions** (optional), comma separated
   - **Notes** (optional) for anything else
   - **Emergency contacts** (optional): name, relationship, and phone for each
   - **Custom fields** (optional): any extra fields your organization tracks. Adding a new field here adds it for every child in your organization.
   - **Room**: if you have one room, the child joins it. With several rooms, pick one or leave **No room (enroll later)**. With no rooms yet, the child is added without one.
   - **Days they attend (optional)** and **Tuition plan**: these appear once a room is picked.
4. Click **Add Child**.

<ScreenshotWithPointers
  src="/screenshots/owners/families/add-child-modal.png"
  alt="The Add Child form with name, date of birth, gender, allergies, medical conditions, notes, and room fields"
  caption="Add Child. Name and date of birth are required; allergies and medical conditions are comma-separated."
/>

The child appears under the family right away.

## About the room and enrollment

Picking a room enrolls the child in it starting today, with the days and tuition plan you chose. To use a different start date or set the **enrollment type**, open the child's profile and use the **Enrollment** section on the **Details** tab. (A room card's **Enroll child** collects these up front.) See [Move a child from one room to another](/owners/centers/move-a-child-between-rooms) for how enrollment works.

If you chose **No room (enroll later)**, the child exists but isn't on any roster yet. Enroll them from their profile's Enrollment section (or a room card) whenever you're ready.

## Siblings

Add each child separately. They all share one family record (parents, billing, primary contact), but each child has their own room, activities, and attendance.

## Troubleshooting

**I don't see an Add child button.** Make sure you're on the family's card in **Families & Children → Families**. The button is in that card's Children section.

**I added the child to the wrong family.** There's no way to move a child between families. On the wrong family's card, use **Archive child** on the child's row, then add them again under the correct family.

**The days and tuition plan fields aren't showing.** They only appear once the child has a room. Pick a room, or set them later from the child's profile.