Birth to Five Helpline
Call 877-705-KIDS (5437) for Free Child Development Support
The Birth to Five Helpline is a free service open to all families with young children looking for the latest child development information from experts in the field. Professionals may also take advantage of this free service.
Call the Helpline to speak with one of our bilingual (English/Spanish) early childhood specialists, on duty Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. You can also leave a voicemail or complete our online contact form (below) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Introduced in 2005, the toll-free Birth to Five Helpline combines sensitive, supportive listening with sound information from professionals who have expertise in early childhood development and parenting/caregiving.
Topics addressed include, but are not limited to:
By calling the Helpline, you can also access support as needed from Southwest Human Development’s wide range of early childhood development staff, including psychologists, master’s level counselors, registered nurses, disabilities specialists, early literacy specialists and occupational, speech/language and physical therapists. In addition to providing you with counseling and resource/referral information, we send individualized child development information as applicable.
Fussy Baby Program
An extension of the Birth to Five Helpline is the Fussy Baby program. This program provides telephone and, in some instances, home visiting support to help families navigate challenges associated with hard-to-soothe infants, excessive crying, sleeping problems and feeding difficulties.
Click here for more information about the Fussy Baby program
For Professionals
If you are a child care provider, preschool provider or quality improvement professional looking for consultation or resource information, please contact the Birth to Five Helpline at 877-705-KIDS (5437). If you would like to submit a question for the Birth to Five Helpline online, please complete the form below and a child development specialist will call you within 24 hours (Monday through Friday).
