A man allegedly tried to rob two Ngaruawahia dairies at gunpoint while an 11-month-old baby and its teen parents waited in the getaway car, police say.

When stopped and confronted by armed police, the mother got out of the car cradling her baby.

The Waingaro and Herschel St dairies were robbed at gunpoint on Monday by a hooded man wearing a bandana, the New Zealand Herald reports.

He left both shops empty-handed after demanding cash and cigarettes.

However, when he went to leave the second dairy he found the getaway car had driven off - the driver spooked by the police cars attending the first robbery.

Police dogs tracked the man and neighbours also spied him hiding in the bushes before he was arrested.

Sergeant Mark Toomey of Ngaruawahia police described the alleged robberies as opportunistic and said the daylight incidents smacked of desperation.

Rangimarie Dylan Tumai, 21, of Rangiriri and 18-year-old Trident James Wilson of Ngaruawahia have appeared in Hamilton District Court, each on two charges of aggravated robbery. An 18-year-old woman was arrested but not charged.