KEY POINTS:
A baby boy fighting for his life in Starship Hospital in Auckland with non-accidental head injuries is improving.
The four-month-old baby had been in Starship's intensive care unit for five days after an ambulance was called to his home in Papakura, south of Auckland, on Saturday.
Senior Sergeant Denise Traill, of Counties Manukau police, said today the boy had been moved to the hospital's high dependency unit in the past two days.
"He's now breathing for himself and the fact that he was able to be moved is a good thing," Ms Traill said.
"He's not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, but there is progress."
The boy had been on a life support system after police said his head injuries were not accidental and were potentially life-threatening.
Police investigating how the child was injured have now completed their examination of the boy's home and have handed it back to his family.
They are continuing to speak to the child's parents, aged 18 and 19, and his maternal grandmother, who lived with them in the Papakura house.
"We have spoken to who we believe we need to speak to and it is a matter of progressing that," Ms Traill said.
"The family are still co-operative."
Ms Traill said it was still too early to say what charges, if any, would be laid in relation to the child's injuries.
The boy's 18-month-old sibling has been taken into Child Youth and Family care.
CYF said it had not been told before of any concerns over the baby.
- NZPA
