“Parents know that I am not disregarding their concerns when I offer this resource.”

One of First Things First’s initiatives is to support statewide outreach through the Birth to Five Helpline. This resource, operated by Southwest Human Development, has experts available to provide the latest child development information to parents or professionals.
 
The staff – which includes early childhood development specialists, registered nurses, disabilities specialists, mental  health counselors and literacy specialists – can help parents with a variety of topics, including health and nutrition, language and literacy, sleep, colic and discipline.
 
Dr. Diana Dunnigan at Phoenix Indian Hospital reports that the Helpline resource has been extremely valuable to her and her colleagues. “This is a very nice resource for physicians and parents. It is difficult to address all of the parental concerns during a well-child visit (because) issues of behavior and discipline can be very time consuming.”

Dr. Dunnigan said very little pediatric training is targeted toward behavioral issues, which can be very frustrating to parents.

“The Birth to Five Helpline gives us a way to address the parental concerns in an efficient manner. Since they are connected to those who specialize in behavior and discipline, (parents) will get appropriate and consistent advice,” Dr. Dunnigan said. “The Helpline providers really spend the time with the parents that is needed to address these complicated concerns.  The parents know that I am not disregarding their concerns when I offer this resource.”

The Birth to Five Helpline is available toll-free at 1-877-705-KIDS.