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Police plan to conduct forensic tests on a digger to determine how a 16-month-old boy died at a rural property in Broadlands, between Rotorua and Taupo.
Conflicting reports have emerged about how Kotua Geordie Reid died after police were initially told he had fallen from the digger.
The child died on Wednesday after his parents rushed him from the Te Toke Rd property to an ambulance station in Reporoa, about 14km away.
He was transferred to an ambulance but did not survive the journey to Rotorua Hospital.
The police northern communications centre said two 111 calls were received from the property before Kotua's parents took him to the ambulance station, one saying the boy had been run over by the digger and another saying he had been crushed.
An autopsy conducted yesterday found the toddler had died as a result of head injuries.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper, of Rotorua, said a police investigation would continue but stopped short of calling the death suspicious.
"All we're doing is trying to confirm how he died, which is what we normally do," he said.
"We're not treating it as a murder or anything at this stage, unless something else comes to the fore."
Mr Loper would not say how many people were at the property when the child was injured but said no one was under suspicion. He said earlier that the parents had been spoken to and were "extremely upset".
Mr Loper also refused to elaborate on the head injuries the boy received. "We're not releasing any more information," he said.
Detectives from Rotorua and Taupo descended on the isolated property on Wednesday afternoon and warned media not to approach, saying it was a crime scene.
Uniformed officers in a car about 300m down the road took the licence plate details of all vehicles coming into and leaving the area.
An orange digger could be seen parked on the property next to one of two rundown houses.
Mr Loper said the digger would be taken to Taupo for forensic testing and interviews with witnesses would continue.
