A mother of three was sentenced in the New Plymouth District Court for a series of assaults she meted out to a child in her care.

A woman who punched, slapped and throttled a young child has accepted she needs help to parent, a court has been was told.

Lyndsay Rona Jane, a mother-of-three, previously pleaded guilty to a representative charge of assaulting a child, which covered three separate assaults perpetrated against the 6-year-old victim between May 2015 and December 2016.

The assaults took place at Jane's Waitara home, including one incident which fell on the victim's birthday.

On that occasion, in May 2016, the 31-year-old yelled at the child before grabbing her around the throat and lifting her off the ground.

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She only let go after the victim started to have difficulty breathing.

In another assault, Jane used a shoe to slap the child across the leg several times, which caused the victim to cry.

The third assault involved the defendant punching the victim in the stomach with a closed fist before she slapped the child across the arm.

On Wednesday, Jane reappeared in the New Plymouth District Court for sentencing.

Duty lawyer Josie Mooney said while the probation report raised concerns about the defendant's attitude, Jane accepted she needed help with her parenting.

The report recommended Jane be sentenced to a term of supervision or imprisonment, as her home address was not deemed suitable for an electronically monitored sentence.

"She is most definitely seeking the assistance that is being offered through the supervision," Mooney said.

Judge Chris Sygrove accepted it might have been difficult for Jane to speak openly about her problems but he hoped she benefited from the help on offer so she did not have to resort to using violence against children again.

He sentenced Jane to 12 months supervision.